Captain Robert Semrau, 36, was charged with murder for "shooting, with intent to kill, an unarmed male person" in Afghanistan, as well as behaving disgracefully and neglecting his military duty, said court documents.

He is being tried by a military judge and a five-member panel in the October 19, 2008 death.

Military documents outlining facts of the case agreed to by the prosecution and defense said Semrau's troops were on patrol in Helmand province when they were ambushed by Taliban fighters.

During that period Canadian soldiers were facing an increasingly tough insurgency as they defended key positions in the region. Semrau was mentoring Afghan soldiers as part of a NATO program.

Following several clashes, British and Afghan troops along with their Canadian mentors came across two "presumed" Taliban fighters: one dead, the other too severely wounded for treatment on site.

According to prosecutors, the wounded man was "insulted, spat upon, and kicked" by Afghan soldiers in Semrau's company. His rifle, ammo and vest were taken and the patrol moved off, deciding to leave his fate "in Allah's hands."

The wounded man was "still alive, moving slightly and moaning," prosecutor Captain Thomas Fitzgerald told the court.

Semrau, a Canadian private under his command and an Afghan interpreter codenamed Max soon returned to photograph the two insurgents, after deciding they could be "high value targets."

They found the wounded man "still breathing, his chest (was) rising slightly." "He had moved, changed position," said Fitzgerald.

The private snapped two pictures of the wounded man as Semrau stood guard.

Semrau then told Max and the private to "head back" as they "should not have to see this," said the prosecutor. The pair walked a short distance "when they heard two distinct shots."

The private "whirled around thinking he'd been caught in another ambush," his gun ready. He saw the victim was "no longer moving."

Semrau is alleged to have told the private under his command "that he couldn't live with himself if he had left a wounded human being and nobody should be made to suffer like that."

Later that day, Semrau was overhead saying that he fired the shots that killed the insurgent and that "anyone would do the same for any other human being in that situation. He is still a human being and should not suffer like that."

Neither Canadian, nor international law recognizes mercy killings.

Canadian soldiers had killed prisoners on the battlefield in Korea and after D-Day in retaliation for the murder of Canadians by the German SS, but charges were never laid in those cases.

The Afghan killing went unreported for two months until it was disclosed by an Afghan soldier and the private.

Fitzgerald told a courtroom the shooting of a "wounded, unidentified and unarmed" man was "shockingly appalling."

He outlined evidence in the case, including a nine-minute video shot by an Afghan soldier using a cell phone showing the victim and "the nature of his wounds," and the photos taken seconds before his death.

Investigators recovered two 5.56 mm shell casings at the scene, allegedly shot into the insurgent's chest at close range.

At some point during the proceedings, the court is also expected to go to Afghanistan to hear from up to a dozen Afghan witnesses in the case. A date has not yet been fixed.

The victim's body was never recovered, but Fitzgerald dismissed observers' suggestions that this posed an "insurmountable obstacle" for the prosecution.

"The absence of a body in a homicide is not a bar to prosecution and it is not a bar to conviction," he said.

Semrau joined the Canadian Forces in 2005 after serving several years with the British Armed Forces. His military career was unblemished before murder charges were laid in this landmark case.

He faces a possible life sentence, or 25 years in a military prison, if convicted.

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