Washington, December 21 (RHC)-- In Washington, D.C., former Blackwater contractor Nicholas Slatten has been found guilty of first-degree murder for his role in the 2007 Nisoor Square massacre in central Baghdad. 

On September 16, 2007, Blackwater contractors killed 17 civilians after opening fire with machine guns and grenades on a crowded public space. Slatten was convicted of killing 19-year-old Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y, an aspiring doctor.  Slatten had previously been found guilty in 2014, but the verdict was thrown out on appeal least year. 

Three other Blackwater mercenaries charged in the case are awaiting re-sentencing after their 30-year sentences were vacated.