“Got him with my hunting knife,” Gallagher wrote in a text with the photo. The prosecution said Gallagher was incriminated by his own text messages and photos, including one of him holding the dead militant up by the hair and clutching a knife in his other hand. They said there was no physical evidence to support the allegations because no corpse was ever recovered and examined by a pathologist. “I was feeling like we’re finally vindicated after being terrorized by the government that my husband fought for for 20 years,” she said before the couple drove away from Naval Base San Diego in a white convertible Mustang to start celebrating.ĭefense lawyers said Gallagher was framed by junior disgruntled platoon members who fabricated the allegations to oust their chief and the lead investigator built the probe around their stories instead of seeking the truth. His wife, Andrea Gallagher, who was by his side throughout the court-martial said she was elated.

His lawyers said he might talk after the jury decides his sentence, which could happen as early as Wednesday. He declined to address questions about his SEAL team.

“I thank God, and my legal team and my wife,” he said. Gallagher, dressed in a Navy white uniform and sporting a chest full of medals, told reporters outside court that he was happy and thankful. The case exposed a generational conflict within the ranks of the elite special operations forces and the outcome dealt a major blow to the prosecution of one of the Navy’s most high-profile war crimes cases.Īfter the verdict was read, the defense attorneys jumped up from their seats as Gallagher turned and embraced his wife over the bar of the gallery. The verdict was met with an outpouring of emotion as the military jury also cleared Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of attempted murder in the shootings of two civilians and all other charges except for posing for photos with the body of the dead captive. SAN DIEGO, California: A US Navy SEAL was acquitted Tuesday of murder in the killing of a wounded Daesh captive under his care in Iraq in 2017.

Navy seal convicted of war crimes