Marine pleads not guilty to murder

A Marine charged with kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges Wednesday.

Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, 23, is among seven Marines and a Navy corpsman charged last year with kidnapping, murder and other offenses stemming from the civilian's death in the town of Hamdania.

The three most junior Marines and the sailor have pleaded guilty to reduced charges and agreed to testify in the case. They each received sentences of less than two years.

At his pretrial hearing Wednesday, Magincalda requested that at least one-third of the jury be made up of enlisted Marines. A trial date was set for April 18.

Prosecutors say the eight-man squad conspired to kidnap and kill a known insurgent in April. When they could not get to him, prosecutors allege, they kidnapped a 52-year-old civilian man from a nearby house, took him to a roadside hole, shot him, and put a shovel and machine gun by his body to make it look as if he was planting a bomb.