NCIS Report of investigation initiated on June 13, 2003 following notification from officers at Camp Pendleton that, on the morning of June 13, a member of a unit “reported that on the previous evening (12 Jun 03) at a unit party, a member of the unit named [redacted] told several other unit members (including [redacted]) that he and two other Marines had been ordered by his former [redacted] to execute three Iraqi enemy prisoners of war (EPWs). The executions allegedly took place [on April 6, 2003] while [redacted] unit was temporarily residing at an abandoned Iraqi pharmaceutical factory south of Baghdad. [Redacted] stated that [redacted] threatened to kill him if he did not carry out the executions. [Redacted] also claimed that after executing the EPWs, the bodies were disposed of in an eight foot deep hole.” The officer who initially received this report stated that “he called in the Marines who allegedly heard [redacted] make these statements . . . each of the (three) other Marines who were present confirmed hearing [redacted’s] statements, and believed they were credible.” The five Marines were then interviewed, along with three other Marines and a civilian. All of them confirmed the [redacted] version of [redacted’s] statements. The Marine who had allegedly made the statement was interviewed. He “stated that the alleged executions of EPWs never took place, and stated it was a story he made up. [Redacted] stated he made up the story to tell his friends. [Redacted] stated unlike his colleagues, he didn’t have good stories to tell about his deployment to Iraq. [Redacted] stated he was intoxicated, and thought up the story while at the party.” He was subjected to a polygraph test on June 18; “an evaluation of the examination indicated [redacted] was being truthful in his responses.” Accordingly, it was determined “no further investigation is deemed necessary. This investigation is closed.”