WASHINGTON -- A former U.S. Army soldier was charged Monday with the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the slayings of three of her family members in their home south of Baghdad in March, federal prosecutors said.

Several soldiers allegedly planned the attack over drinks after noticing the woman near the traffic checkpoint they manned in Mahmudiyah, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The soldiers allegedly worked out an elaborate plot to carry out the crime and then cover it up, wearing dark clothes to the home, using an AK-47 assault rifle from the house to kill the family, and allowing authorities to believe that the attack was carried out by insurgents, according to investigators.

Former Pfc. Steven D. Green, 21, and other members of 1st Platoon, B Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, allegedly carried out the crimes on March 12. Several soldiers told authorities that Green killed all four people and that he and another soldier raped the young woman.

The plot worked, at least until soldiers began discussing the incident last month while they were going through stress counseling after two other members of their platoon were captured at a checkpoint and beheaded by insurgents. Army officials began investigating the day after hearing about the events in Mahmudiyah.

Green, who was honorably discharged from the Army for an unspecified "personality disorder" before U.S. officials were aware of the alleged crimes, was arrested Friday near Asheville, N.C., on a federal warrant. Several other soldiers who have been implicated in the attack but were not named in the federal court documents, remain with their unit in Iraq. None has been charged.

Cecilia Oseguera, a federal public defender who represented Green at an initial hearing Monday in Charlotte, N.C., said Green has not yet entered a plea and he is incarcerated awaiting a preliminary hearing on July 10. She declined to comment further. Members of Green's family could not be reached, and a relative in North Carolina declined to comment.

The case is the third in recent weeks to include murder charges against soldiers who allegedly killed civilians in Iraq, a spate of incidents that has drawn attention to the way U.S. troops operate in what is often a complex and confusing battlefield. The rape and murder allegations against Green, however, detail a crime that appears to have had little if anything to do with the prosecution of the war itself.

Federal prosecutors are pursuing four charges of murder and one charge of rape against Green, said Marisa Ford, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. attorney's office in the Western District of Kentucky. Officials plan to transfer him to Kentucky, near where the 101st Airborne Division is headquartered at Fort Campbell. While rare, the Justice Department is pursuing the charges because Green is no longer in military service.

If convicted, Green could face the death penalty.

According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Gregor Ahlers, the crimes appeared carefully crafted. Soldiers told Army investigators that Green and another soldier discussed raping the woman and had previously been to her residence, about 200 yards from their traffic checkpoint. Before leaving for the house, Green and two others drank alcohol and changed out of their uniforms into dark clothes.

One soldier was left at the checkpoint to man the radio, while four others headed to the home, armed with three M4 rifles and a shotgun, according to the document. With one soldier guarding the door, the three others entered. Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt, grabbed an AK-47 rifle from the house and herded an adult couple and a little girl -- who authorities estimated was 5 years old -- into a bedroom. Green then shot them, according to authorities.

"Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them, all are dead,' " Ahlers wrote. Green and another soldier then allegedly raped the other daughter before Green shot her two or three times in the head with the AK-47. Military officials estimated her age at 20, although neighbors and hospital officials in Iraq said she was 15. She apparently was set on fire in an attempt to hide the crime.

Neighbors said the rape victim was Abeer Qasim Hamza. They described her as a beautiful young woman who had expressed concerns about the American troops to her mother in the days before her death because the soldiers made advances toward her. According to death certificates viewed over the weekend, also killed in the attack were Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34; Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45; and Hadeel Qasim Hamza, 7. Army officials could not confirm the names of the dead Monday.

Soldiers told investigators that Green and others returned to the Army checkpoint with blood on their clothes, which they later burned. Green told one of the soldiers to throw the AK-47 into a nearby canal.

According to the criminal complaint, Iraqis notified the U.S. soldiers of the slayings and reported the house was on fire on the afternoon of March 12. A soldier who allegedly was in the house during the crime was one of those who later responded to the scene. Army investigators have a series of 15 photographs of the bodies, taken to record what was believed at the time to be an insurgent attack.

Mahmudiyah Mayor Mouyad Fadhil Saif said in a telephone interview that Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, who commands the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, told him during a meeting Monday that "a homicide was committed here" and that U.S. military leaders would offer an official apology when the investigation is complete.

Kunk also told the mayor that U.S. officials would ask family members of the victims where the bodies were buried so they could be exhumed for a forensic analysis. Saif said he advised Kunk to respect the family's wishes and those of local religious authorities about whether digging up the bodies was appropriate.

Maj. Jose Garcia, a spokesman for the brigade to which the 502nd is attached, confirmed Kunk met with the mayor but declined to comment on what was discussed.

Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, said Monday that how the military responds is crucial.

"The military is a reflection of society, and because of that there is always a percentage of soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors who get it terribly wrong," Batiste said. "I also think the people of Iraq respect the U.S. military and will keep that in perspective. They'll appreciate the way we investigate and hold people accountable."

An Army official said Monday that Green's discharge for a "personality disorder" does not necessarily indicate a mental disorder. Such a notation can be used to document willful disobedience or a personality that does not mesh well with military life.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.