Raleigh, N.C. ? The Marine Corps dropped murder charges Thursday against an officer accused of riddling two Iraqis with bullets and hanging a warning sign on their corpses as a grisly example to other suspected insurgents.

Autopsies conducted on the Iraqis’ exhumed bodies backed 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano’s assertion that he shot them in self-defense after the men disobeyed his instructions and made a menacing move toward him, Marine officials said.

“The initial findings of the autopsies did not support the allegation that 2nd Lt. Pantano committed premeditated murder,” Marine spokesman 2nd Lt. Barry Edwards said. “Rather, the initial findings corroborated 2nd Lt. Pantano’s version of the events.”

The decision to drop the charges was made by Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commander of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune. The move ends the prosecution of Pantano.

“Down at the unit level, there was never a question about Ilario’s conduct and whether or not he did the right thing,” said Charles Gittins, Pantano’s civilian lawyer. “It was up in the higher echelons. The people removed from combat situations needed to put more trust in their officers rather than assuming they’re guilty.”

The two Iraqis were killed during an April 2004 search outside a suspected terrorist hideout in Mahmudiyah, Iraq.

Prosecutors said Pantano, 33, intended to make an example of the men by shooting them 60 times and hanging a sign over their bodies – “No better friend, no worse enemy,” a Marine slogan. Pantano did not deny hanging the sign or shooting the men repeatedly.

Earlier this month, a Marine hearing officer recommended the murder charges be dropped, saying that one witness’ accusation that Pantano shot the men while they were kneeling with their backs to him was unsupported by other testimony or evidence.