The Maywand District murders were the thrill killings of at least three Afghan civilians perpetrated by a group of U.S. Army soldiers from January to May 2010, during the War in Afghanistan.

[3][4] During the summer of 2010, the military charged five members of the platoon with the murders of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar Province and collecting their body parts as trophies.

Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, the highest-ranking soldier and the ringleader, was also convicted on three counts of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

[18][19] Other images published later in Rolling Stone include one of two unidentified Afghans cuffed together around a milestone and wearing a cardboard handwritten sign made out of an MRE package box that read "Talibans are Dead".

[20] In Kabul, senior officials at NATO's International Security Assistance Force have compared the pictures published to the images of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

[22] David Bram from Vacaville, California was charged with conspiracy to commit assault and battery, unlawfully striking another soldier, violating a lawful order, dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and endeavoring to impede an investigation.

[28] A report in The Guardian said that soldiers told the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID) that Gibbs bragged of his exploits while serving in the Iraq War, saying how easily one could "toss a grenade at someone and kill them.

Gibbs was convicted by a military jury on 15 counts, including the premeditated murder of Mudin, Agha, and Adahdad as well as illegally cutting off pieces of their corpses and planting weapons to make the men appear to be Taliban fighters.

[31][32][33] In November 2011, Gibbs was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years, reduced in rank to Private, ordered to forfeit all pay and allowances, and dishonorably discharged.

[34] Andrew Holmes's attorneys argued they were constrained in defending him by the Army's decision to conceal photos of the man he had allegedly shot in January.

[46] SPC Corey Moore, of Redondo Beach, California, pleaded guilty to illegal drug use, assault for kicking a witness, and desecrating a corpse for stabbing a body.

[47] Jeremy Morlock, a 22-year-old Army specialist from Wasilla, Alaska, was sentenced to 24 years in prison, reduced in rank to Private, and dishonorably discharged after pleading guilty to three counts of premeditated murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and illegal drug use.

[51] Quintal was given a bad-conduct discharge and sentenced to 90 days of hard labor in a plea deal for frequently using drugs during his combat deployment, joining an assault on a comrade, and keeping digital photos of Afghan casualties.

SSG Stevens was sentenced to nine months in prison as part of a plea deal to testify against 11 other Lewis-McChord based Stryker soldiers.

He then contacted the Fort Lewis command center and spoke to a sergeant on duty who agreed that SPC Winfield was in potential danger, but he had to report the crime to his superiors before the Army could take action.

In 2011, Wagnon faced the following charges: possessing a human skull fragment, conspiracy to harm Afghans, premeditated murder, assaulting noncombatants, trying to destroy evidence.

The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations.

[66]According to a secret U.S. Army investigative report obtained by Der Spiegel, Colonel Harry Tunnell's (of the 5th Stryker Brigade) "inattentiveness to administrative matters … may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur.

Tunnell's leadership, which the report says included, a "lack of emphasis on administrative matters such as command inspections and urinalysis, 'may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur,' the investigation found".