![Military hearings begin for US soldier accused of killing superiors in Iraq](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] A military tribunal began hearings Monday in the case of a US Army sergeant accused of killing two of his superior officers [JURIST report] in Iraq. The Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder; UCMJ text] will determine whether Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez faces a court martial for the deaths of Capt. Philip Esposito and Lt. Louis E. Allen in a June bomb blast in Esposito's office in Tikrit. According to a witness, Martinez said that he hated Esposito and planned to kill him. This is the second known incident in which a US soldier has been accused of killing other soldiers during the war in Iraq. Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the 101st Airborne Division was convicted [JURIST report] and sentenced to death [JURIST report; Army News Service report] in April for killing two officers and wounding 14 other soldiers. Martinez's hearing is taking place in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and could last until Wednesday. AP has more.