Master Cpl. Matt Morse had just finished a 12-hour shift and was taking off his flak jacket inside the tent he shared with members of his platoon when he heard a jarring sound.
“We heard a pop and it sounded like a nine-millimetre (pistol),” Morse said in testimony heard Thursday at the Cpl. Matthew Wilcox court martial being held at the Victoria Park garrison in Sydney.
“We weren’t too sure if anyone was hurt until I heard ‘oh my God, where is your TCCC bag?’” Morse recalled.
The voice Morse heard was that of Wilcox on the other side of a large plywood divider that separated the large army tent into two rooms. Wilcox was looking for help and searching for the Tactical Combat Casualty Care bag — a first-aid kit.
The soldier who laid shot was 25-year-old Cpl. Kevin Megeney.
In testimony heard last week, both Wilcox and Megeney were playing a game of “quick draw” at the time of the shooting in Kandahar, Afghanistan on March 6, 2007. Despite rushing Megeney to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead about half an hour later.
Wilcox, 23, of Glace Bay, is a member of the 2nd Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders.
He’s charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and negligent performance of duty in Megeney’s death.
