by Associated Press
(JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash.) The soldier accused of killing 16 villagers in a nighttime rampage in Afghanistan returned to his base wearing a cape and with the blood of his victims on his rifle, belt, shirt and pants, a military prosecutor said Monday. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was incredulous when fellow U.S. soldiers drew their weapons on him when he returned to Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan last March, prosecutor Lt. Col. Jay Morse said as a preliminary hearing opened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Bales then turned to one sergeant at the scene and said: Mac, if you rat me out Morse said. Bales, 39, has been charged with 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Nine of the victims were children. The hearing will help determine whether the case goes to a court martial. (MORE: The Sergeant in Question: A Portrait of the Accused Shooter of Kandahar) Bales has not entered a plea. His attorneys have not discussed the evidence in the case, but say Bales has PTSD and suffered a concussive head injury during a prior deployment to Iraq. The father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., sat beside one of his civilian lawyers, Emma Scanlan, in green fatigues as an investigating officer read the charges against Bales and informed him of his rights. Bales said, Sir, yes, sir, when asked if he understood them. Morse said Bales seemed utterly normal in the hours before the March 11 killings. With his colleagues, Bales watched the movie Man on Fire, a fictional account of a former CIA operative on a revenge rampage. Just before he left the base, Morse said, Bales told a Special Forces soldier that he was unhappy with his family life, and that the troops should have been quicker to retaliate for a roadside bomb attack that claimed one soldiers leg. At all times he had a clear understanding of what he was doing and what he had ...@ Prosecutor: U.S. Soldier Had Blood of Victims on Him | TIME.com
(JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash.) The soldier accused of killing 16 villagers in a nighttime rampage in Afghanistan returned to his base wearing a cape and with the blood of his victims on his rifle, belt, shirt and pants, a military prosecutor said Monday. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was incredulous when fellow U.S. soldiers drew their weapons on him when he returned to Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan last March, prosecutor Lt. Col. Jay Morse said as a preliminary hearing opened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Bales then turned to one sergeant at the scene and said: Mac, if you rat me out Morse said. Bales, 39, has been charged with 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Nine of the victims were children. The hearing will help determine whether the case goes to a court martial. (MORE: The Sergeant in Question: A Portrait of the Accused Shooter of Kandahar) Bales has not entered a plea. His attorneys have not discussed the evidence in the case, but say Bales has PTSD and suffered a concussive head injury during a prior deployment to Iraq. The father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., sat beside one of his civilian lawyers, Emma Scanlan, in green fatigues as an investigating officer read the charges against Bales and informed him of his rights. Bales said, Sir, yes, sir, when asked if he understood them. Morse said Bales seemed utterly normal in the hours before the March 11 killings. With his colleagues, Bales watched the movie Man on Fire, a fictional account of a former CIA operative on a revenge rampage. Just before he left the base, Morse said, Bales told a Special Forces soldier that he was unhappy with his family life, and that the troops should have been quicker to retaliate for a roadside bomb attack that claimed one soldiers leg. At all times he had a clear understanding of what he was doing and what he had ...@ Prosecutor: U.S. Soldier Had Blood of Victims on Him | TIME.com