Robert Bales, the U.S. Army sergeant accused in an Afghani shooting massacre will plead guilty to escape the death penalty, his lawyer said Wednesday (May 29). Bales is charged with killing 16 while serving in Afghanistan.
The stage sergeant's killing spree is among the most bloody in a single-soldier attack. Attorney John Henry Browne says Bales is expected to plead guilty to premeditated murder June 5 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord just south of Seattle. "The judge will be asking questions of Sgt. Bales about what he did, what he remembers and his state of mind," Browne explained.
Bales was allegedly drunk, snorted Valium, and took steroids before sneaking off from Camp Belambay on March 11, 2012. The father of two slaughtered the innocent victims, and initially prepped an insanity defense, but doctors were unable to confirm any form of mental illness. "His mental state does not rise to the level of a legal insanity defense," Browne said. "But his state of mind will be very important at the trial in September.
The majority of the Ohio native's victims were women and children.
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