Abed Hamed Mowhoush

On January 21, 2006, an American military jury convicted Welshofer of negligent homicide in the death of Mowhoush. A military jury ordered a reprimand and forfeiture of $6,000 in pay, and restricted him to his home, office and church for two months.

U.S. forces initially claimed that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid and that he had died of natural causes, but The Washington Post later reported that he had given himself up in an effort to secure the release of his sons. Four U.S. servicemen were arrested in October 2004 in connection with the killing.

In October 2004, four arrests were made in connection with Mowhoush's death: Chief Warrant Officer Lewis E. Welshofer Jr., and Chief Warrant Officer Jeff L. Williams, who were the two soldiers conducting the interrogation, and Sergeant First Class William J. Sommer and Specialist Jerry L. Loper from the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who were assigned to the detention facility at the time of the interrogation, and who also faced dereliction of duty charges.

Abed Hamed Mowhoush (Arabic "عبد حمد مهاوش") was an air vice-marshal believed to be in command of the transport, logistics and airlifting division of the Iraqi Air Force during the regime of Saddam Hussein immediately prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, until his surrender to United States forces on 10 November 2003. He died on 26 November 2003 while in U.S. custody at the Al-Qaim detention facility approximately 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Baghdad, following a 16-day period of detention.

Mowhoush was commissioned as a heavy transport and airlift pilot officer in 1969 and commanded a wing of An-12 and An-26 heavy cargo planes during the Iran–Iraq War. He was in charge of airlifting logistics operations in the Iraqi Southern Air Command during the Gulf War. He was promoted to brigadier/air commodore rank in 1991 and in 1994 placed in charge of the Eastern Air Command. He was appointed as the commander of the Transport and Strategic Airlifting Command in 1999. He had a total of 3125 hours of logged flying experience on his log from 1969 until 1997 on the An-12, Il-76, and An-26.

Mowhoush died while being interrogated by two soldiers associated with the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade. At first the official military report stated that "Mowhoush said he didn't feel well and subsequently lost consciousness". However, when the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal erupted, the Pentagon acknowledged that the autopsy report indicated that the cause of death was "asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression", and that his body showed "evidence of blunt force trauma to the chest and legs". The Pentagon added that a homicide investigation was underway.