David Passaro

David Passaro (b. 1966), a CIA contractor and former U.S. Army special operations soldier, was charged on June 17, 2004 with two counts each of assault and assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the June 21, 2003 death in Afghanistan of Abdul Wali. Passaro's arrest was the first civilian to receive charges in connection with the prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. He received 8 years in prison and dishonorable discharge from the Army.

Wali turned himself in at a U.S. base in Afghanistan on June 18, 2003 to talk to authorities about rocket attacks against the base. He died three days later. At the time of Wali's death, Passaro was on leave from a civilian Army medical job at Fort Bragg and performing contract work for the CIA.

Passaro's attorney, Gerald Beaver, used as a defense a June 27, 2003 transcript of an Islamic radio broadcast which stated that Wali died of a heart attack. However, the U.S. Justice Department said that no autopsy had ever been performed to establish a cause of death.

In 1990, Passaro graduated from the police academy in Hartford, Connecticut. He was relieved of duty after he was arrested by state police. Passaro's ex-wife, Kerry, stated that he had assaulted a neighbor and was violent throughout their marriage.