On May 22, 2009, James Owen Kitterman (c. 1949 – May 22, 2009), an American citizen, was killed in Iraq's
Green Zone.
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Kitterman was a former
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
chief petty officer
A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.
Canada
"Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxià ...
.
[
He had worked in Iraq since the US invasion in 2003, for ]Kellogg, Brown and Root
KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering. KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial and intelligence. After Halliburton acquired Dress ...
and other firms. He was the president of his own construction firm Janus Construction, based in Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
.
CNN reported on June 7, 2009, that Kitterman had been bound, blindfolded and gagged, prior to being stabbed.[
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Suspects
Five men were arrested on June 5, 2009, at the barracks and office of security firm Corporate Training Unlimited
Corporate Training Unlimited is a security contracting firm.
The firm was founded by Donald Feeney Jr. in 1986.
Founder
Don Feeney grew up in Brooklyn, joined the Army at 17, and joined in the Delta Force in 1978, survived the Operation Eagl ...
(CTU). One of the arrested men was Donald Feeney Jr., a former Delta Force soldier and the founder of CTU. Also arrested were Donald Feeney III, one of Feeney's sons, two members of CTU, Micah Milligan and Mark Bridges, and an insect exterminator named Jason Jones who was spending the night on his way to Camp Taji.[
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The ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reported that the five suspects were arrested by Iraqi authorities following a tip from the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
.[ The ''Associated Press'' reported that the five men were arrested during a raid on the Corporate Training Unlimited's offices and barracks because their weapons permits had expired. Iraqi officials suspected that two of the men were involved in the murder.
Later, CNN quoted officials at the US Embassy who stated the five men were not suspected of the murder and that all five had alibis. Sarah Smith, a spokesperson with CTU, acknowledged that Feeney and his colleagues knew Kitterman, and respected him:
One of the proclamations of America's administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, was that American contractors would be immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts.][ This proclamation remained in effect until the Iraqi legislature countermanded it in 2008.
]
Release
Three of the contractors were later released on June 11 due to lack of evidence. Milligan and Jones, who were held longer by the FBI, were released in July.[ Larry Eugene Young, a CTU employee, was killed by mortar fire in the Green Zone on the same day as Kitterman's murder.Contractor Casualties]
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See also
* Kirk von Ackermann
* Ryan G. Manelick
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitterman, Jim
2009 deaths
American people of the Iraq War
United States Navy sailors
Year of birth uncertain
2009 murders in Iraq