Three Somali pirates went to court on Thursday for allegedly killing four California yacht owners in February 2011.
Defense attorneys for the Somali pirates said there was no legitimate evidence proving the defense had opened fire on a U.S. Navy warship, catching the yacht in the crossfire.
The attorneys also said that the other 11 men being charged with the murder have pleaded guilty to piracy. They are currently serving mandatory life sentences.
Yacht owners Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with their two friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle were shot to death after allegedly being taken hostage at sea a few hundred miles off the coast of Africa, south of Oman.
The three pirates have pled guilty in the case, the Huffington Post reported on Thursday. They admitted they had plans to kidnap the Americans, take them back to Somalia and hold them for ransom money. But that plan fell to pieces once American Navy warships that patrolled the area noticed trouble for the yacht, named Quest.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Samuels, when the Navy made contact with the Quest, they began talking negotiations with the Somali men.
One group of the pirates favored accepting the Navy's suggestion to let the Americans go, and return to Somalia with the yacht. The other group threatened to kill the four Americans were they not allowed to return to their home in Somalia with them in tow.
Samuels claimed that the three men on trial-Ahmed Muse Salad, Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar-were among the latter, more aggressive faction.
It is still not clear as to what brought on the shooting, but both the prosecutor and defense attorney said that one of the men on the Quest shot a rocket grenade at the Navy ship, the USS Sterett, while small Navy SEAL boats waded in the water. A U.S. Navy helicopter equipped with a sniper buzzed around directly above the scene.
D.A. Larry Dash claimed the U.S. Navy snipers took the first shots, but Samuels maintained that the American officials were not to shoot back if fired upon.
Samuels continued, saying that the Navy did not shoot until a group of SEALs gained access to the yacht 10 minutes after. They shot one pirate, killing him on site. Another pirate feigned injuries, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the SEAL, and was stabbed to death.
Prosecutors claimed that they intended upon showing a video the Navy shot right before the shootings happened.
The trial is projected to last about six weeks.
