Vilseck, Germany - The final trial of a group of US servicemen who were accused of murdering four blindfolded Iraqi men and dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal began Monday in Germany. Master Sergeant John Hatley, 40, the highest-ranked of five accused, has been charged with premeditated murder by the military court in Vilseck, Germany, where their unit is based.

Vilseck, Germany - The final trial of a group of US servicemen who were accused of murdering four blindfolded Iraqi men and dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal begins in Germany next week.

One of the accused received life imprisonment last month and another up to 35 years at the series of trials in Vilseck, Germany, where their unit is based. Master Sergeant John Hatley, 40, the highest-ranked accused, goes on trial from Monday, US officials said.

VILSECK, Germany, Dec. 3  -- A U. S. Army sergeant told his men four Iraqi detainees were killed to avenge the deaths of three members of his unit, soldiers testified Wednesday.

1st Sgt. John Hatley, Sgt. Joseph Mayo and Sgt. Michael Leahy Jr. -- who were then members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment -- are accused of shooting detainees before dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal in March or April 2007, Stars and Stripes reported Wednesday.

Several members of the company who were at the canal when the killings occurred testified after assurances the federal government would grant them immunity from prosecution.