Special Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Jordan Schulz: Soldier's words on alleged war crime revealed

“Got to love hunting season.”

Those were the words Special Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Jordan Schulz wrote to a fellow soldier the day after he “notched up another one” by allegedly committing the war crime of murder.

The 43-year-old has been accused of unlawfully shooting a local man, Dad Mohammad, three times as he lay on his back in a wheat field at Dehjawze in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province on May 28, 2012.

Schulz, who is yet to enter a plea, was arrested in March 2023, becoming the first former or serving Australian Defence Force member to be charged with a war crime-related murder.

Evidence in the landmark case, previously obtained by AAP, can be revealed after a wide-ranging court order was lifted and replaced by narrower reporting restrictions on Tuesday.

Footage from a helmet-mounted camera shows Schulz and his patrol coming into Dehjawze by helicopter before disembarking, running past a compound and across aqueducts, before coming across Mr Mohammad.

Schulz walks into the field and points his rifle at the Afghan, who lies down on his back before being shot three times.

Military documents show his patrol had been sent to Dehjawze for “Objective Young Akira” to capture Mullah Payend, who was known by various other aliases.

The wanted man was thought to be providing religious training for insurgents in the area and was allegedly connected with suicide bombings in Tarin Kowt.

A report summarising Mr Mohammad’s death claimed he was seen “tactically manoeuvring” on the ground as Schulz’s helicopter approached.

Smoke and flares were dropped but the Afghan could not be engaged from the air and soldiers were sent out on foot, the document said.

Allegedly displaying “hostile intent”, Mr Mohammad refused to stop when ordered before being killed.

Soldiers claim they found a radio on the dead Afghan’s body and a mobile phone he had dropped that connected with Young Akira.

The report expressed skepticism about complaints made by local elders that Mr Mohammad had been unlawfully killed, saying they had a history of making similar claims spurred on by insurgents.

Despite no locals witnessing the shooting, the elders said Mr Mohammad had been shot in the head and stabbed in the neck and heart.

“The intent of the allegation is to discredit (operations) in the area and to capitalise through compensation for incidents that occur,” another report said.

But Australian Federal Police allege what Schulz said after the killing revealed his frame of mind at the time.

“I had a f***ing gooooooooooood day yesterday brother,” he wrote to another soldier the day after the shooting.

In late November, two SAS soldiers, who cannot be legally identified, were ordered to face questions at an upcoming committal hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court after refusing to speak with the AFP.

In June 2012, Schulz spoke with a superior about the incident.

That soldier will face questioning at the April committal hearing about how the interview was conducted and what was said.

Prosecutors alleged Schulz made admissions and possibly lied during the discussion.

The soldier will also be grilled over documents created after the incident, including claims Mr Mohammad had been carrying the radio and mobile phone.

The crown case is these items were planted on the body afterwards.

A second soldier on the ground with Schulz when Mr Mohammad was shot will also step into the witness box at the hearing.

He will be asked about where he was at the time of the shooting, what information he was given in briefings before and after the mission, and conversations he had with Schulz regarding the killing.

A third individual will also be made to give evidence about what he saw on the day, what he observed about Mr Mohammad and the mobile phone allegedly found on the dead Afghan.

A second round of hearings to compel further SAS troops to give evidence is expected to take place in February.