CT. town honors Marine convicted in Iraq deaths

MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) - A Marine who was convicted in the 2005 killings of unarmed Iraqi has returned home to Connecticut for a golf tournament organized by local veterans for his benefit.

Former Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich told the Record-Journal of Meriden on Saturday ( http://bit.ly/NcUxNn ) that some people think prosecutors let a child-killer go free. He says that's absolutely not the case.

In February, he received a general discharge under honorable conditions -- one step below an honorable discharge. Wuterich was the only Marine convicted in the 2005 killings in Haditha.

Wuterich, who lives in California, pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty as the leader of the squad that killed 24 Iraqis. He apologized for the loss of life but said his squad did not behave dishonorably.

Some local veterans say the military gave Wuterich a bad deal.