Fort Riley ? A soldier convicted of murdering unarmed Iraqis said Thursday that he falsely implicated his platoon leader so he could get a lighter prison sentence.

Pvt. Michael Williams startled the courtroom with his testimony, saying he had lied in previous sworn statements in which he claimed 2nd Lt. Erick J. Anderson ordered him to shoot an Iraqi man in August 2004.

The hearing concluded and an investigative officer will determine whether Anderson will face a court martial. A decision isn’t expected until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Williams said the Iraqi man was dead when Anderson arrived and that Anderson never gave any order to kill him.

“I just felt that pressure of getting a life sentence instead of 25 years,” Williams said. “It’s just a lot of my fear.”

Williams’ original statement, made in Iraq, led to murder charges being filed against Anderson in October, alleging he ordered Williams and a second soldier in a separate incident to kill Iraqi civilians.

Williams, of Memphis, Tenn., was convicted of two counts of murder, including fatally shooting an unarmed Iraqi in a house during a search on Aug. 28, 2004. An Army investigator testified Wednesday that Williams implicated Anderson in the shooting only after his prison sentence was reduced to 25 years from life.

Anderson is charged with murder, conspiracy, dereliction of duty, making a false statement and conduct unbecoming an officer. The two incidents occurred while the platoon, part of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, was conducting missions near Sadr City.

Second Lt. Erick J. Anderson, left, leaves Patton Hall with his attorneys Neal Puckett, right, and Capt. Tim Thomas Thursday at Fort Riley. Anderson is charged with murder, conspiracy, dereliction of duty, making a false statement and conduct unbecoming an officer.

Prosecutors said in closing arguments that many of the witnesses changed their stories of the events of more than a year ago out of loyalty to Anderson, whom many considered a good leader. Still, Capt. Chuck Neill said the original statements given to investigators in Iraq speak volumes.

“These are the kind of events that would stay in someone’s mind,” Neill said.

However, Neal Puckett, Anderson’s civilian attorney and former Marine Corps judge, said the government’s case was a “used car” that would “never pass go in a courtroom.”

Williams, who has been reduced from the rank of sergeant to private, testified Thursday that after entering the house, he and his team found a man with an AK-47 rifle. Williams said he was prompted to shoot the man twice in the chest during a more thorough search, when he said the man reached for the gun.

Contradicting his own statements and those of other soldiers in the platoon, Williams testified Thursday that he fired a third shot at the Iraqi to make sure he was dead before Anderson arrived at the house. Prosecutors argue that after entering the house, Anderson told Williams the man wasn’t dead yet and said to finish him off.

A second soldier, Spc. Brent May, of Salem, Ohio, was convicted of murder in the same incident and sentenced to five years in prison.

In pleading guilty to the shootings, Williams signed a stipulation that did not mention Anderson giving an order to shoot. But days later, he said, he gave a handwritten statement to Army investigators because he thought it was necessary to keep his deal for only 25 years in prison.

“This is what they want,” Williams said of his statement.

Williams, whose case is under appeal, said he realized the new testimony was damaging.

“It destroys my credibility,” he said.

Puckett said that testimony damaged the government’s case against Anderson and proved that Williams was nothing more than a crazed killer who looked out for himself.

“Who knows what’s in his brain. He was looking to send bad guys to Allah,” Puckett said.

Williams was given immunity from being charged with crimes related to his testimony.

In a separate incident, prosecutors allege Anderson ordered two sergeants to kill a teenager on Aug. 18, 2004, during night operations near Sadr City. Staff Sgts. Johnny Horne Jr., of Wilson, N.C., and Cardenas Alban, of Inglewood, Calif., were convicted of killing the teenager they claim was fatally wounded. They describe the shooting as a “mercy killing,” authorized by Anderson.

The former commander of Charlie Company, Capt. Robert Humphreys, testified after Williams that many problems in Anderson’s platoon were a result of failure to maintain discipline by noncommissioned officers.

Humphreys said several soldiers were identified in summer 2004 before the company moved from Kuwait to Iraq as being problems.