American court closes investigation into killing VP’s guard

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The general prosecutor of the Washington State closed on Tuesday the investigation into the killing of the bodyguard of Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi, according to a source from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. “The Attorney General decided today (Oct. 19) to close the investigation into the killing of Rahim Saadon, the bodyguard of the Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi, for lack of evidence in that case,” Jim Dalarouth told IraqiNews.com news agency. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, in a letter to Andrew Moonen‘s criminal defense attorney, said that there is “no question that the shooting … was a tragic event,” but that after sending two senior prosecutors to Baghdad and gathering evidence and statements, the government decided it could not build a case. Forensic evidence is difficult to obtain in the war zone, according to the letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Westinghouse, and while Moonen has admitted he was intoxicated and armed, in violation of Blackwater policy, the government stated it “would likely be required to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Moonen was not acting in self-defense,” a hurdle prosecutors found they could not clear. Moonen had admitted to killing Saadon in 2006, but said he did that in self-defense, the reason that made the prosecutor to release him. Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, arranged to have the State Department fly Moonen to the United States within hours of the shooting. Upon his return, Moonen was fired and fined, and Blackwater paid the slain bodyguard’s family $20,000. SH (S) 1