Oklahoma Soldier Pleads Not Guilty

A Fort Campbell soldier from Oklahoma has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the death of an Iraqi detainee.

Friday, January 23rd 2009, 1:10 pm

By: News On 6

Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -- A Fort Campbell soldier from Oklahoma has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the death of an Iraqi detainee.

A spokesman for the military installation said Friday that 1st Lt. Michael Behenna entered his plea to the charges of premeditated murder, assault and making a false statement.

Behenna and Staff Sgt. Hal Warner, both assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, were charged in the death last May of detainee Ali Mansour Mohammed in Iraq.

Related story: 12/7/2008 Soldiers To Go Before Military Judge

Military prosecutors accused Behenna of stripping the detainee naked and shooting him in the head and chest.

Behenna and Warner, both from Oklahoma, are scheduled for separate military trials next month at the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.