Nicholas Slatten, 35, found guilty of murder for his role in the killing of at least 14 unarmed civilians in a bustling square.
Former Blackwater guard convicted for 2007 massacre of civilians in Baghdad.
A former security guard for the US firm Blackwater has been found guilty of murder for his role in a notorious massacre of unarmed civilians in downtown Baghdad in 2007.
Nicholas Slatten, 35, was convicted of first-degree murder by a federal jury in Washington on Wednesday after five days of deliberations.
Slatten was convicted of killing Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y, 19, an aspiring doctor who was one of more than a dozen civilians killed by Blackwater guards in Baghdad’s Nisour square on 16 September 2007.
While escorting a diplomatic convoy, Blackwater guards opened fire in the bustling square with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers – allegedly without provocation – leaving at least 14 civilians dead and at least 18 wounded.
His first conviction was thrown out and the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict at his second trial. »
