CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Aug 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. military jury sentenced a Marine squad leader who led his men in kidnapping and killing an Iraqi grandfather to 15 years in prison on Friday. The jury at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base found Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III guilty of unpremeditated murder, larceny and other crimes on Thursday. The prosecution had sought to convict him of premeditated murder, with a series of witnesses testifying that Hutchins led the plot involving eight Americans.
Anti-war protesters hold pictures of South Koreans killed overseas during a candle-light vigil demanding negotiations between the U.S. government and the Taliban for the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, August 4, 2007. The Afghan government and Taliban kidnappers on Saturday sought a venue for negotiations to try to free 21 South Korean Christian hostages held for more than two weeks, the provincial police chief said. The slain Koreans (from L-R) are Kim Sun-il, killed by Iraqi militants in Iraq on June 22, 2004, Yoon Jang-ho, killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on February 27, 2007, Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min, kidnapped and killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan on July 25, 2007 and on July 31, 2007 respectively. The banner reads: "How many more will be victimized? Stop the war and dispatch of troops which is causing the deaths!"