Soldier Hears Charges in Officers' Killing

FORT BRAGG, N.C., Nov. 3 -- An Army National Guard soldier was arraigned Friday on charges of killing two superior officers in Iraq, the first case of a U.S. soldier charged with killing his commanding officers in the Iraq war.

Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez faces two counts of premeditated murder in the June 2005 deaths of company commander Capt. Phillip Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen at a base near Tikrit. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Martinez, a former supply sergeant in the headquarters company of the 42nd Infantry Division, declined to enter a plea during his arraignment at Fort Bragg, or to choose of what kind of military panel he wanted for his court-martial.

Defendants in a U.S. military trial have the option of their verdict being decided either by a panel made up of officers or one in which at least one-third are enlisted personnel.

The presiding judge, Col. Patrick Parrish, set a tentative trial date of June 4.

The Army alleges that Martinez detonated a land mine and several grenades outside Allen's office in Tikrit.