Bales won't face the death penalty after pleading guilty and admitting that he went into two nearby villages and slaughtered 16 civilians while they slept.
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 7, 2013
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington - On Wednesday, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, pleaded guilty to slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians most women and children at the Alkozai village on March 11, 2012. He admitted to leaving his campound before dawn to commit the cold blooded massacre. After the mass murder, he returned to his camp and told fellow soldiers about his massacre. The soldiers didn't believe him and went back to sleep. Bales then left Camp Belambay in Kandajar Province again and went to another village called Najiban to kill more civilians.
Bales told the military judge, Col. Jeffrey Nance that he his "act was without legal justification...there is not a good reason in this world for why I did the horrible things I did."
His lawyers argued that bail had been suffering from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury at the time of the massacre. Bales had also been consuming banned alcohol, snorting Valium and taking yhree doses of steroids a week triggering his anger, according to his defense lawyers.
In August, Bales will be facing life in prison with or without the possibilty of parole. His guilty plea on Wednesday assures that he won't face the death penalty.
He is married and has two children ages 3 and 4.
Staff Sgt. Bales was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, of the 2nd Infantry Division.
Staff Sgt. Bales was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, of the 2nd Infantry Division.
