Marines never mentioned alleged execution caught on video A best friend and colleague of one accused said the first he heard of the alleged murder was when police began an investigation. Another comrade said the alleged incident had never been mentioned at the tiny checkpoint he shared with the accused men. The trio from 42 Commando are accused of murdering a captured Taliban fighter in a battlefield execution, after the insurgent had been badly wounded by cannon fire from an Apache gunship. All three have pleaded not guilty and been granted anonymity to protect them from potential terrorist attack. Marine A, an experienced sergeant, is accused of firing a 9mm pistol into the chest of the wounded man at point blank range, while "encouraged and assisted" by Marines B and C. Several witnesses close to the accused told the high security court martial at Bulford, in Wiltshire, that the men had never referred to the alleged killing, or explained how the man had come to die. The Marines were among a patrol which found the gravely wounded fighter after he had been shot by a helicopter gunship as he attacked a nearby patrol base. The Marines reported on the radio he had died of his wounds. Earlier in the week, the trial saw video, taken by a helmet-mounted camera, of Marine A shooting the man and telling his patrol to keep quiet because he had broken the Geneva Convention. Lt Lloyd Fallesen, who had been close friends with Marine C since childhood and who served at a small neighbouring base in Helmand at the same time, said he had been unaware of the incident until a police investigation began. Sgt Mark Murphy, who was stationed at the same checkpoint as the accused, but was not on the patrol, said the incident with the man had not been discussed at all when they returned.