CROWN POINT | A group of local residents have urged Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter to file murder charges against President George W. Bush because of the deaths of U.S. troops overseas.

The group accuses Bush of causing the deaths of 4,179 U.S. military men and women by lying to the American people about the reason for starting a war with Iraq, according to a letter dated Oct. 9.

"I'm hoping he'll bring murder charges against the president, vice president and other top officials," said Munster resident Nick Egnatz, who signed the letter and dropped it off at Carter's office.

More than 30 people signed the call for murder charges against Bush. Most are region residents.

Carter said the service members' deaths did not occur in Lake County, so he does not have jurisdiction to file charges. It also doesn't meet the definition for an act of murder, he added.

"The alleged homicides, if you want to call them that, happened in Iraq," Carter said. "If Lake County residents get shot and killed in Chicago, I don't have jurisdiction over there. ... I understand their request and respect it, but there's no substance to it."

Egnatz said he has been advocating impeachment for years, but the idea of prosecuting Bush for murder didn't occur to him until he read "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder," a book by former Los Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi.

The book, which quietly climbed The New York Times' best seller list, is quoted extensively in the residents' letter to Carter.