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__________________________
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Office of the Armed Forces Medical
Examiner
1413 Research Blvd., Bldg. 102
Rockville, MD 20850
U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service Pathology
Consultation
Haditha Investigation
Location: Haditha City, Al Anbar Province, Iraq
Site: Designated "House #4""
Date of Event: 19Nov2005
Casualties: Four occupants of the house were killed, identified by
family members as
Jamal Aiad Ahmed (39 year old male); Jasib Aiad Ahmed (28 year old
male); Marwin Aiad Ahmed (27 year old male); and Khatan Aiad Ahmed (25
year old male).
Date of Report: 24 August 2006
1. Circumstances of death: Following an IED
detonation, several USMC fire teams were engaged in house clearing
that resulted in the deaths of Iraqi civilians. For complete details,
refer to the complete investigative reports.
2. Materials reviewed: NCIS Forensic Briefing
Folder containing Provisional Reconstructions, Iraqi Death
Certificates (translated), Iraqi medical reports (translated),
interview statements by Dawuud (translated). Death Scene examinations;
and photographs taken by U.S. Marine Corps Human Exploitation Team
members. Also reviewed was video footage taken at the Haditha morgue
facility following the incident. No bodies were available for autopsy
or evidence recovery.
3. Examination of the photographs: Multiple
photographs show the remains of four deceased adult males in the room
designated "Bedroom 1" (the more southern of the two bedrooms in the
dwelling). The victims have red numbers written on their bodies in
some of the photographs, and these numbers are designated below. The
identifications are the names indicated to belong to each victim from
the NCIS reports.
A. Victim #21 is an adult male with dark hair and a
dark mustache, and he is lying on his back with his left arm on his
chest and his right arm by his side. He is lying parallel to the bed
closest to the north wall of the room, next to victim #22. He is
wearing a green and white long sleeve shirt with embroidered letters
on the front. He has a least two gunshot wounds of the head with one
entrance gunshot wound on the bridge of his nose between his eyes,
just to the left of midline. The abrasion pattern of this entrance
wound indicates a directly front to back directionality, and there is
a corresponding apparent exit wound of the back of this head
(occipital scalp) with protruding brain matter. There is no soot or
stippling surrounding this wound. In addition, he has a second exit
wound of the left temple and left ear, which is partially avulsed,
with protruding bone and brain matter. There is a small square skull
fragment resting on his chest and middle finger of his left hand.
B. Victim #22 is an adult male with short dark
hair, a short dark mustache and dark facial stubble. He is lying on
his back with his left arm at his side and his right arm is
outstretched. He is lying parallel and next to the bed and victim #23.
He is wearing a burgundy and tan long sleeve sweat shirt with
embroidered letters and burgundy pants. He has an entrance gunshot
wound of the left cheek just lateral to the nose with no soot or
stippling around the wound evident. There is a dark area just below
the left lateral edge of his lower lip that may represent a second
entrance gunshot wound. He has extensive blood down his chin and the
front of his shirt. There are bone fragments and tissue on his shirt
over his right arm, most likely belonging to victim #21.
C. Victim #23 is an adult male with dark hair and a
dark mustache. He is lying on his back perpendicular to the bed with
his head near the foot of the bed and his legs towards the northern
wall of the room. He is wearing a matching royal blue sweat shirt and
pants with white and dark strips down the sides of the legs and around
the sleeves. He has an entrance gunshot would just below the left side
of his nose, and he has blood coming from his left external auditory
canal, consistent with underlying skull fractures. There is no soot or
stippling surrounding the entrance wound.
D. Victim #24 is an adult male with dark hair and a
dark mustache. He is lying on his back perpendicular to the bed with
his head near the foot of the bed and his legs towards the southern
wall of the room. He is wearing a matching grey blue and white sweat
shirt and pants. He has a large exit gunshot wound of the left side of
his forehead and temporal scalp with partial avulsion of the brain. He
has an atypical entrance gunshot wound of the lower aspect of his
right cheek, just lateral to the edge of his mouth. In some
photographs, it also appears that he has some blood and tissue on his
face just in front of his right ear. He also has blood and brain
matter on the front of his shirt.
4. Evaluation of Iraqi Death Certificates
(translated): All four death certificates indicate adult males with
shot or shots in the head, which is consistent with the photographic
evidence.
5. If any additional material becomes available, we
would certainly continue to review the case.
Elizabeth A. Rouse, MD
Lt Col, MC, USAF, FS
Regional
Medical Examiner
For the entire NCIS forensic report
on House 4, click at the link for a
pdf. |