On May 22, 2009, James Owen Kitterman (c. 1949 – May 22, 2009), an American citizen, was killed in Iraq's

Green Zone The Green Zone () is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area in the Karkh, Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq. It is the chief government precinct and the seat of the Iraqi government. History Pre-200 ...

. Kitterman was a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards, usually above petty officer. By country Australia "Chief Petty Officer" is the second highest non-commissioned rank in the Royal Australian Navy ...

. He had worked in Iraq since the US invasion in 2003, for

Kellogg, Brown and Root KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering. KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial and intelligence. After Halliburton acquired Dres ...

and other firms. He was the president of his own construction firm Janus Construction, based in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. CNN reported on June 7, 2009, that Kitterman had been bound, blindfolded and gagged, prior to being stabbed.

Suspects

Five men were arrested on June 5, 2009, at the barracks and office of security firm Corporate Training Unlimited (CTU). One of the arrested men was Donald Feeney Jr., a former

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a Special operation forces, special operat ...

soldier and the founder of CTU. Also arrested were Donald Feeney III, one of Feeney's sons, two members of CTU, Micah Milligan and Mark Bridges, and an insect exterminator named Jason Jones who was spending the night on his way to Camp Taji. The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' reported that the five suspects were arrested by Iraqi authorities following a tip from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. The ''Associated Press'' reported that the five men were arrested during a raid on the Corporate Training Unlimited's offices and barracks because their weapons permits had expired. Iraqi officials suspected that two of the men were involved in the murder. Later, CNN quoted officials at the US Embassy who stated the five men were not suspected of the murder and that all five had

alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...

s. Sarah Smith, a spokesperson with CTU, acknowledged that Feeney and his colleagues knew Kitterman, and respected him: One of the proclamations of America's administrator of Iraq,

Paul Bremer Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is a retired American diplomat. He was the second ''de facto'' head of state of Iraq as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United State ...

, was that American contractors would be immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts. This proclamation remained in effect until the Iraqi legislature countermanded it in 2008.

Release

Three of the contractors were later released on June 11 due to lack of evidence. Milligan and Jones, who were held longer by the FBI, were released in July. Two Iraqis testified in the ICCC (Iraqi Central Criminal Court) said that Kitterman's murder was committed by another American who himself was killed not long afterward. Larry Eugene Young, a CTU employee, was killed by mortar fire in the Green Zone on the same day as Kitterman's murder.Contractor Casualties
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitterman, Jim Iraq War casualties American people of the Iraq War United States Navy sailors Year of birth uncertain 2009 murders in Iraq 2009 in Baghdad Deaths by person in Iraq Deaths by stabbing 2000s crimes in Baghdad Murder in Baghdad May 2009 in Iraq May 2009 crimes in Asia United States in the Iraq War American people murdered abroad Stabbing attacks in Asia Stabbing attacks in 2009

Suspects

Release

See also

References