Morlock court martial on hold

An Army specialist from Wasilla charged with taking part in killing three Afghan civilians will have to wait a few more weeks to know his legal fate.

Spc. Jeremy Morlock, a Houston High School graduate, is accused of being one of five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state to execute the premeditated murders of civilians while deployed in that country last year.

Morlock was the first to be charged with the crimes, including three counts of premeditated murder, one count of assault, conspiracy to commit murder and assault, attempting to impede an investigation and illegal use of a Schedule I controlled substance.

Facing a potential life sentence without parole, The Washington Post reported in January that Morlock had tentatively reached a deal to plead to lesser charges in exchange for his testimony against other soldiers. The Post reported that Morlock’s deal would mean he would face up to 24 years in prison instead of a potential life sentence.

There can’t be a plea deal until Morlock’s court martial begins though, said Maj. Kathleen Turner, a public information specialist with Joint Base Lewis-McChord, at the time of the Post report. She declined to speak specifically on Morlock’s case, but said, in general, a plea agreement technically doesn’t exist until the judge signs off on it.

Morlock’s court martial was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., Thursday, but was postponed at the request of his attorney. The military base’s Public Information Office said the trial would likely be rescheduled for a couple of weeks, but a date hasn’t been decided upon yet. The delay, the office reported, was for a personal matter and not case-related.

If a plea deal is accepted when the court convenes, Morlock will be expected to plead guilty to the lesser charges and explain his crimes, Turner has said. He’s the third soldier reported to have reached a plea deal in exchange for their testimonies against Sgt. Calvin Gibbs of Billings, Mont., the accused ringleader of the group who allegedly intimidated others into taking part in the killings.

Morlock and the other soldiers are accused of killing the civilians with grenades and machine guns. In a videotaped interview with military authorities after his arrest, Morlock admits his role in the killings. In pre-trial motions, his defense attorney has argued that admission was influenced by medication he was taking at the time.

“’Hey, you guys wanna wax this guy or what?’” Morlock says in the interview about what Gibbs said. “And, you know, he set it up. So he grabbed the dude, you know, put him …”

“While he was still alive?” the investigator interrupts.

“Yeah,” Morlock answers. “It set the whole scenario up. … We had the guy by his compound so Gibbs, you know, walked him out and set him in place — ‘OK, stand here.’”

The civilian was not armed, Morlock says in the video, adding that after Gibbs would throw a grenade at a civilian, he would order the others to shoot.

“‘All right dude, wax this guy. Kill this guy, kill this guy,’” Morlock says on the tape.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.