Evidence altered, hidden in probe of Iraqi deaths
Case involves killings of 24 civilians in Haditha by Marines

(08-18) 04:00 PDT Washington -- A high-level military investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in November has uncovered instances in which U.S. Marines involved in the episode appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, according to two Defense Department officials briefed on the case.

The investigation found that a company logbook of the unit involved had been tampered with and that an incriminating video taken by an aerial drone the day of the killings was not given to investigators until Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the second-ranking commander in Iraq, intervened, the officials said.

Those findings, contained in a long report that was completed last month but not made public, go beyond what has been previously reported about the case. It has been known that Marines who carried out the killings made false statements to investigators and that senior officers were criticized for not being more aggressive in investigating the case, in which most or all of the Iraqis who were killed were civilians. But this is the first time details about possible concealment or destruction of evidence have been disclosed.

The report's findings have been sent to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is investigating members of the unit involved in the killings, as well higher-ranking officers in the 2nd Marine Division. No charges have been brought yet.

The report, based on an investigation by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, does not directly accuse Marines of attempting a cover-up, but it does describe several suspicious incidents, according to the Defense Department officials.

It says that the logbook, which was meant to be a daily record of major incidents the Marines' company encountered, had all the pages missing for Nov. 19, the day of the killings, and that those portions had not been found, the officials said.

No conclusions are drawn about who may have tampered with the log. But the report says that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the leader of the squad involved in the killings, was on duty at the unit's operations center, where the logbook was kept, shortly after the killings occurred, the officials said.

In Iraq on Thursday, sectarian and insurgent violence continued across the country. South of Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol, the U.S. military said in a statement. The U.S. military also announced that a soldier had died from enemy action on Wednesday in Anbar province, where U.S. troops often fight fierce battles with Sunni insurgents.

A car bombing in the Sadr City district of Baghdad killed at least seven people and wounded more than 20, authorities said.