Semrau court martial adjourned
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 | 5:44 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Canadian Forces Capt. Robert Semrau is accused of killing a severely wounded insurgent during an encounter in Afghanistan's Helmand province in October 2008. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) Closing arguments ended Wednesday in the court martial of Canadian Forces Capt. Robert Semrau, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of an unarmed insurgent in Afghanistan.
Court was adjourned in Gatineau, Que., and the judge may charge the jury tomorrow.
Semrau, 36, is believed to be the first Canadian soldier charged with murder as a result of a battlefield encounter in Helmand province in 2008.
Semrau's trial travelled to Afghanistan in June to hear testimony from witnesses. One Afghan National Army captain who was on the patrol with Semrau testified the Taliban fighter was "98 per cent dead" when they found him.
He said the man had lost both legs, his intestines were visible and he was unconscious after being blasted out of a tree by a helicopter gunship.
The captain said regardless of when or how the man died, the end result was a foregone conclusion. The body was never recovered.
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