The Esposito slaying
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- March
- 26
For those who have been following the murder trial of Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez in the slaying of Army Captain Phillip Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen, here’s an update: Fort Bragg may provide a live video feed for the court martial of the man accused of killing Esposito and Allen in Iraq two years ago. The officers’ deaths are considered to be the first
fragging incident since the United States invaded Iraq. Prosecutors in the case filed a motion before a military judge last week that there was a major interest in the case in New York because the 42nd Infantry Division is located there. Esposito and Allen, as well as Martinez, the man charged in their killing, are from the 42nd. The dead officers and the accused are from New York. The judge is yet to rule on the motion. The trial is scheduled to begin July 7.For those who haven’t been following the murder trial, here’s a brief recap: Esposito, 30, and Allen, 34, were killed in an explosion at Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit, Iraq, in June 2005.
Esposito was the company commander of the 42nd Infantry Division’s headquarter support company, and Allen was his second in command.Their deaths were first considered to be from enemy fire but the military soon started a criminal investigation. Martinez, a staff sergeant in their unit, was charged on two counts of premeditated murder. He has not entered pleas in the case. He faces the death penalty if found guilty.
A series of pretrial hearings have been held since the case first opened in Kuwait in Oct. 2005. The hearings were moved to Fort Bragg in January 2006. The widows of the two men — Siobhan Esposito and Barbara Allen — have made it to every single hearing, including the first one in Kuwait. Esposito was father to a little girl. Allen left behind four young sons.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 11:23 am by Hema Easley. 
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