Soldier Robert Bales, Accused of Afghan Massacre, Gets Court Martial

Source: ABC News

By LUIS MARTINEZ (@LMartinezABC)
Dec. 19, 2012

An American soldier will face a court martial where he could be given the death penalty if found guilty of murdering 16 Afghan civilians in a nighttime rampage earlier this year, the Army announced today.

The charges stem from a horrific event in March when Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is alleged to have snuck out of his remote outpost in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar to go on a shooting spree in two nearby villages. The pre-dawn attack left 16 villagers dead and six injured. Nine of those killed were children.

In a preliminary hearing, several of his fellow soldiers testified that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements such as, "I thought I was doing the right thing." Some of the blood on his person was later matched to at least one of the shooting victims, according to prosecutors.

In addition to 16 counts of murder, Bales was charged with six counts of attempted murder and seven counts of assault ...

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/sgt-robert-bales-accused-massacre-court-martial/story?id=18018352#.UNKROonjn88