FORT BRAGG, N.C. AP – Military prosecutors argued Wednesday that the first soldier accusing of killing a direct superior in Iraq – known as “fragging” during the Vietnam war – told other soldiers he wanted to kill and burn his National Guard officer.
Prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone told jurors that Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez was frustrated with Capt. Phillip Esposito’s strict oversight of the supply room where Martinez worked. Martinez, a New York National Guard soldier, told another soldier he planned to “frag that expletive” before a suspicious blast tore through Esposito’s living quarters, the prosecutor said during opening arguments of Martinez’s death penalty trial.
