Capt. Roger Maynulet is the other U.S. soldier who knows what it feels like to be court-martialed for a mercy kill. In May 2004, the decorated tank commander was part of a team of troops that opened fire on a car believed to be carrying the radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The tip turned out to be wrong, and the attack left the driver with skull wounds so severe that even the medic on scene declared him untreatable.
“He was in a state I didn’t think was dignified,” Maynulet testified at his trial. “I had to put him out of his misery. I think it was the right thing to do. It was the honorable thing to do.” The jury agreed. He was convicted of a lesser offence (assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter) and sentenced to no jail time. Dismissal from the service was his only punishment.
Today, Maynulet flies a news helicopter for a television station in Las Vegas. When contacted by Maclean’s, he declined to be interviewed. “It’s been five years and I’m trying to move on with my life,” he wrote in an email. “If you do speak with CPT Semrau please tell him my thoughts are with him and I hope he beats this.”
At least 7,695 Canadians are hoping for the same outcome. That’s how many people have signed up as members of a Facebook page created in Semrau’s honour. “He should be awarded a medal for undergoing the needless pain and suffering he and his family have endured by the very system that he has so nobly served,” wrote one poster. “This whole affair is nothing more than a travesty.” Says another: “This is a government frame job of the worst kind!”
Semrau’s parents, who now live in Camrose, Alta., have received an endless stream of similar phone calls and emails, each one offering prayers and support. “It has been absolutely overwhelming,” Jean says. “We are just so grateful.”
But as thankful as they are, the Semraus must choose their words carefully. A stranger on Facebook can say that mercy killing is in “the highest tradition” of the military, or that Semrau acted with “courage” when he pulled the trigger. The captain’s family cannot. They understand that Rob’s case will be decided in court—not on the Internet—and there are many more weeks of testimony to come.
“I’m not an ethicist and I’m not a politician,” says Semrau’s brother, when asked about his personal views on mercy killing. “All I can tell you is that we’re behind Rob 100 per cent as a family, and we’re confident he did nothing wrong.”
Last month, just days before Cpl. Fournier took the witness stand, Amélie Semrau gave birth to the couple’s second daughter. They named her Chloé. If her dad is convicted of second-degree murder, she will be 10 years old by the time he is eligible for parole.
