FORT CARSON, Colo. – Four soldiers were charged with murder Monday in the asphyxiation death of an Iraqi general during questioning in Iraq last fall.
Chief Warrant Officers Jefferson L. Williams and Lewis E. Welshofer Jr., Sgt. 1st Class William J. Sommer and Spc. Jerry L. Loper could get life in prison without parole if convicted in the Nov. 26 death of Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush (search), 57, at Qaim, Iraq.
The Army has said Welshover was part of a two-person interrogation team that questioned Mowhoush. In May, the Army said the Iraqi general was asphyxiated by chest compression and smothering.
Mowhoush, a member of the Republican Guard's air defense branch, was captured in a raid in Qaim. A U.S. military spokeswoman said at the time that Mowhoush was believed to have been financing attacks on U.S. forces.
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