CAMP PENDLETON -- A Marine general testified Thursday that he thought it was "truly unfortunate" that two dozen civilians had been killed in Haditha in 2005, but that there was no early indication that the deaths were not combat-related or warranted an investigation.

Special Report

Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, the former commander of the 2nd Marine Division in charge of the Marines in Haditha when 24 civilians were slain on Nov. 19, 2005, testified that initial reports he received indicated that the villagers were killed in combat.

Huck's testimony was done via video hookup from the Pentagon where he is now assigned and broadcast into a conference room at the I Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters at Camp Pendleton.

Huck's appearance, lasting more than two hours, came on the third day of a hearing for Capt. Randy Stone, who served as the staff legal officer for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in Haditha when the killings occurred.

Stone is one of four officers charged with dereliction for allegedly failing to fully investigate and report the events that resulted in the two dozen civilian deaths.

Huck testified that reports of the deaths had been sent up the chain of command and up to Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq at the time of the incident.

None of those superiors told Huck there should be further investigation into the deaths, Huck testified. The first time Huck heard that there were allegations of Marine misconduct in the incident, Huck said, was when he received questions on Feb. 12 about the deaths from a Time magazine reporter, despite having visited the unit's headquarter in Haditha on Nov. 22 and receiving no report that the issue merited review.

He said when he learned of the questionable nature of the incident, he went to top aid Col. R. Gary Sokoloski, his then-chief of staff, and said "What am I the last guy in the outfit to find out about this? I was highly irritated."

He said once he learned details of the event, he directed top aids to "get to the bottom of this" and by Feb 14 the incident was deemed to be under official investigation.

"I have no suspicion that a law of armed conflict violation had been committed," Huck said.

Two other officers, including the executive officer of the company involved in the incident, First Lt. Adam Mathes, also testified they'd been told the deaths occurred in combat.

Thursday's testimony was part of what is expected to be a several-day long hearing in which witnesses have begun painting a picture of what they say transpired before and during the shootings.

One of the shooters, a sergeant, testified Wednesday that the first five of the civilians killed that day were mowed by two sergeants who then agreed to blame the slayings on the Iraqi army.

The witness, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, said Wednesday he fired multiple rounds into five Iraqi men moments after Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich shot the victims as they were being held at gunpoint with their hands raised in the air.

"He made a mistake," Dela Cruz testified about Wuterich's actions. "He told me that if anyone asked, they were running away and the Iraqi army shot them."

That shooting took place shortly after a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel "TJ" Terrazas and injuring two other Kilo Company Marines.

The five Iraqis had emerged from a car that drove up shortly after the bombing and were making no effort to flee, Dela Cruz said.

Nineteen more civilians inside nearby homes also would soon die that Nov. 19 morning in what the platoon commander testified Tuesday was a "clearing" action. The storming of the homes occurred when the Marines suspected insurgents were using them as a base of attack, Lt. William Kallop testified.

Wuterich is charged with 13 counts of homicide for the men shot by the car and the deaths of eight people inside the homes.

Dela Cruz was originally charged with five counts of murder, Prosecutors dropped the charges last month, saying his testimony outweighed his involvement. Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt also face murder charges for their roles in the killings inside the homes.

The high number of civilian deaths at Haditha were shocking to Kilo Company's 1st sergeant, Alberto Espinosa, who testified Wednesday that he believed an immediate investigation was required.

Espinosa said he became increasingly frustrated that no formal review appeared to be taking place.

"I just couldn't believe it, sir," Espinosa said in response to a question from Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury, one of three prosecutors handling the case against Stone. "It was just too many casualties."

Another witness who testified Wednesday, battalion Sgt. Maj. Edward Sax, said that it wasn't until he saw a March "60 Minutes" television interview of Wuterich in which the staff sergeant said he never knew for certain that the people inside the homes ever fired at the Marines or were harboring insurgents.

"He had no reason to do it," Sax testified.

The case against Stone is the first to reach court in the Haditha incident. At its conclusion, the Marine Corps officer presiding over the testimony will write a report recommending whether he believes Stone should stand trial.

Hearings for the other Haditha defendants take place at Camp Pendleton in the coming weeks.

See Friday's North County Times for a full report on Thursday's court proceedings.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.