Alberto Martinez (United States Army)

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Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez United States Army
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	42nd Infantry Division

Alberto Martinez is a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army who stands accused of the 2005 premeditated murder of two of his superior officers while serving under them in Iraq.^[1][2] At the time of his deployment Martinez was serving with the 42nd Infantry Division of the New York National Guard. The accusations against him includes charges that he used grenades and a mine to murder Captain Phillip Esposito of Suffern, New York, and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of Milford, Pennsylvania, at the US Army base in Tikrit.^[3][4][5][6]

This case has received coverage as the second case of fragging, or assassinating a superior officer, to be charged against a US Army soldier in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq; however this case marks the only one where the officers killed were directly in the chain of command of the suspect as is the usual use of the Vietnam War era term "fragging."^[7]

[edit] See also

Hasan Akbar case

[edit] References

1. ^ "Defense in 'fragging' case granted help", AP News, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. 
2. ^ "Judge rules on Martinez motions", United States Department of Defense, September 7, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. 
3. ^ Hampson, Rick. "Motive behind 'fragging' case unclear", 2005-06-19. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 
4. ^ Associated Press. "Soldier accused of killing superior officer arraigned at Fort Bragg", 2006-11-03. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 
5. ^ Martin, David. "Soldier Charged In Officer Deaths: Allegedly Threw Grenades Into Room Shared By GIs At Iraqi Palace", 2005-06-16. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 
6. ^ "Soldier to receive fragging hearing Thursday", 'Army Times', 2007-10-17. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 
7. ^ Associated Press. "Defense in 'fragging' case granted help", 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.