XO: Martinez had poor ties with commander

[unhappycamper]

XO: Martinez had poor ties with commander
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Oct 19, 2007 8:29:55 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army supply sergeant charged with killing two of his superior officers in Iraq had a poor relationship with his company commander, who belittled him in meetings and even banned him from his own supply room, the unit’s former executive officer said Thursday.

“It was constantly bad,” former 1st Lt. Luis Budillo said of the relationship between Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez and Capt. Phillip Esposito.

Martinez, 40, of Troy, N.Y., is the only soldier charged with killing his commanding officer since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted of setting off several grenades and a mine in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces near Tikrit, Iraq.

The June 2005 blast, initially blamed on a mortar round, killed Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., and 1st Lt. Louis Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa., the unit’s operations officer.

Along with two counts of premeditated murder, Martinez is also charged with illegally giving government printers and copiers to an Iraqi and illegally possessing a firearm, alcohol and explosives. Barbara Allen has said her husband and Esposito were investigating Martinez for giving away Army office equipment.

Budillo, who served as the company’s executive officer, said Martinez was a solid member of the New York National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division who began having trouble after the unit was mobilized for a tour in Iraq. The wave of new Hummers, laptops, weapons and other supplies for the pending deployment overwhelmed the supply sergeant, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_fragmartinez_071018/