Green Beret charged with murder after confessing to killing Afghan man in TV interview

A decorated US Green Beret has been charged with the murder of an Afghan man in 2010 after he confessed to the killing in a TV interview.

Army Major Matthew Golsteyn said he shot and killed the man during his deployment in Afghanistan because he suspected he was a Taliban bomb maker.

Major Golsteyn has twice confessed to the killing, once during a polygraph test for a job at the CIA in 2011 and again during an interview with Fox News in 2016, according to NBC News who first reported the story.

The US Army launched a criminal investigation into the incident in 2011 but no formal charges were filed at the time because of a lack of physical evidence, military officials said.

In 2014 Major Golsteyn was stripped of his Silver Star medal, the third highest award for valor in the US military, and received an official reprimand for his actions.

However Major Golsteyn's interview with Fox News, in which he discussed the killing, is believed to have breathed new life into what was still a cold case killing.

He told Fox presenter Brett Baier that he was concerned that if he released the suspected Taliban member, he would go on to target Afghans who were providing information to American soldiers.

Asked by Mr Baier if he had killed the man, Major Golsteyn replied "Yes".

The US military on Friday confirmed that the major has been charged with premeditated murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

"Major Matthew Golsteyn's immediate commander has determined that sufficient evidence exists to warrant the preferral of charges against him," said Lieutenant Colonel Loren Bymer, a spokesman for the US Army Special Operations Command.

The charge sheet accused the Army Major of fatally shooting "a male of apparent Afghan descent known as Rasoul" on February 22, 2010, near Forward Operating base McQuery in Marjah, Afghanistan", according to a copy obtained by NBC News.

Major Golsteyn said the shooting came days after he witnessed the death of two US Marines, Sergeant Jeremy McQueary and Lance Corporal Larry Johnson, who were killed after entering a building rigged with explosives. Three others were injured in the attack, he said.  

The charging sheets provide no details about the circumstances surrounding the Afghan man's death.

But according to documents seen by NBC, Major Golsteyn told army investigators that he and his fellow soldiers were doing house-to-house searches when they found bomb-making materials they suspected were used in the attack on the Marines.

The soldiers took a local man who they believed was responsible for the materials into custody and brought him to the army base, from where he was later released.

It is unclear if this was because there was insufficient evidence to detain him. Military documents state that Major Golsteyn and another soldier returned the man to his home but instead of releasing him the major fatally shot the man and buried his body, NBC reported. 

The documents seen by the news organisation do not include Major Golsteyn's explanation for killing the man but refer to the incident as an "assassination".

They also claim that hours later the major dug up the victim's remains and burned them in a disposal pit.

The charges brought this week reportedly spring from new evidence that has reportedly cast doubt on Major Golsteyn's version of events. Major Golsteyn said he believed the allegations against him had been resolved years ago.

"I'm here right now because of that [Fox] interview," he told NBC. His lawyer, Phil Stackhouse, said he would be "relentless" in defending the soldier against the charges.

"Major Golsteyn is a humble servant-leader who saved countless lives, both American and Afghan, and has been recognised repeatedly for his valorous actions," Mr Stackhouse said.