Murder; Conspiracy
to commit murder;
3 years Confinement;
Reduction to E1;
Dishonorable Dis.
A U.S. soldier was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a
severely injured 16-year-old Iraqi boy, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry
Regiment, Fort Riley, Kan., also received a reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of wages and a
dishonorable discharge.
The military said in a statement on Friday that "Staff Sergeant Johnny M. Horne pled
guilty to one specification of murder as well as one specification of conspiracy to commit
murder,"
The statement added that the "convictions stemmed from Staff Sergeant Horne's murder of a
severely wounded Iraqi civilian in Baghdad's Sadr City district on Aug. 18."
Horne is one of six Fort Riley troops charged with murder crimes in recent months, two for
killings in Kansas, and four for slayings in Iraq.
The shooting took place in August when U.S. forces opened fire on a group of men along a road
in Al Sadr City in Baghdad. Troops from the 1st Battalion arrived on the scene to find a burning
truck and casualties around it.
Witnesses said that the Iraqi teen already had severe abdominal wounds and burns before the
shooting.
Horne claimed that he carried out a "mercy killing" and the criminal investigator said
that Horne had decided that "the best course of action was to put (the victim) out of his
misery."
Horne’s case was the first to be probed by the U.S. army in Iraq, where several U.S. troops are
accused of murdering civilians.
