A look at two Marines held in case of civilian death

By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Eight service members are under arrest, sitting in the brig at this Marine Corps base, while the military investigates the shooting death of a possibly innocent Iraqi civilian.

Thus far, the identities of only two of the arrested Camp Pendleton service members ---- seven Marines and one Navy corpsman ---- have trickled out.

One of them, Pfc. John J. Jodka, is from Encinitas and graduated from San Dieguito Academy High School in 2004. The other man, whose lawyer spoke to the North County Times on the condition that the Marine's identity not be made public, graduated from high school in 2001 and calls California's Central Valley his home.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating reports that on April 26, the troops, all from Camp Pendleton, allegedly conspired to kidnap and kill a 52-year-old Iraqi civilian in the village of Hamdania, west of Baghdad, and then staged a scene to make it appear the man was armed and planting a roadside bomb.

No charges have been filed, but attorneys for some of the detained men have said they expect the military to file charges shortly.

Some of the attorneys representing the detained service members have complained about treatment of their clients.

Little is known about the seven Marines and one Navy corpsman, but sources have said the highest rank among them is a staff sergeant.

An attorney for Jodka, the local high school graduate, said her client goes by "J.J." He celebrated his 20th birthday in the deserts of Iraq in April, just a few weeks before the alleged incident. It was Jodka's first trip to Iraq; he had been there about three months.

The other man is 23 or 24, according to his attorney and other sources, and was on his third deployment when the allegations arose. He had won Purple Hearts after being injured on two previous deployments.

Attempts to reach Jodka's family members in Encinitas on Wednesday were not immediately successful.

One of Jodka's attorneys, Jane Siegel, said Jodka has his family's support, and the family visits him at the Camp Pendleton brig "to keep up his spirits." Siegel said Jodka, who graduated from boot camp on July 29 and was in Iraq by January, was doing well when she visited him in custody on Monday.

"He is so 'Semper Fi,' " Siegel said.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the first words on Jodka's MySpace Web site are "Semper Fidelis, Always Faithful" ---- the motto of the Marine Corps. In his posted photo, he is wearing his dress blues. MySpace.com is an Internet online meeting place.

A Web log on Jodka's site give a glimpse into the likes and interests of the new Marine, as well as listing his military assignment as Kilo Company in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment.

The blog appears to have been created in December 2004, and shows the last log-in was nearly a month ago, on May 10.

Siegel said Jodka was brought back from Iraq in late April and detained in mid-May.

Jodka's list of favorite books, as they appear on his blog, begins with George Orwell's "1984." Also, according to his profile on the MySpace Web site, Jodka briefly attended UC Riverside right after high school.

Contact Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Staff writer Mark Walker contributed to this report.

Ellie