Former Blackwater guard testifies against friends

FILE - This Sept. 25, 2007 file photo shows an Iraqi traffic policeman inspecting a car destroyed by a Blackwater security detail in al-Nisoor Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Former Blackwater security guard Matthew Murphy and now-indicted ex-colleague Paul Slough were friends, having survived the war in Iraq together, creating a bond that under different circumstances might have lasted a lifetime. But from the witness stand in the Blackwater criminal trial this week, Murphy testified that he saw Slough fire at least two grenades into a car where a woman and her son died, two of the victims in the deaths of 14 Iraqis on Sept. 16, 2007 in downtown Baghdad. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File) FILE - This Sept. 25, 2007 file photo shows an Iraqi traffic policeman inspecting a car destroyed by a Blackwater security detail in al-Nisoor Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Former Blackwater security guard Matthew Murphy and now-indicted ex-colleague Paul Slough were friends, having survived the war in Iraq together, creating a bond that under different circumstances might have lasted a lifetime. But from the witness stand in the Blackwater criminal trial this week, Murphy testified that he saw Slough fire at least two grenades into a car where a woman and her son died, two of the victims in the deaths of 14 Iraqis on Sept. 16, 2007 in downtown Baghdad. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

By Associated Press July 3, 2014 4 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Former Blackwater security guard Matthew Murphy and now-indicted ex-colleague Paul Slough were friends, having survived the war in Iraq together, creating a bond that under different circumstances might have lasted a lifetime.

But from the witness stand in the Blackwater criminal trial this week, Murphy testified that he saw Slough fire at least two grenades into a car where a woman and her son died, two of 14 Iraqis killed on Sept. 16, 2007, in a downtown Baghdad square.

In three days of testimony, Murphy became the first Blackwater security guard to testify against his former associates in a trial expected to take months.

Slough is charged with manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and violating gun laws, as are two other defendants, Dustin Heard and Evan Liberty. A fourth defendant, Nicholas Slatten, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the driver of the car. All four have pleaded not guilty.

The plan that day nearly seven years ago was that the Blackwater convoy of four heavily armed vehicles including Murphy, Slough and 17 other guards would come to the aid of a separate Blackwater convoy, and that both would return to the safety of the Green Zone.