Securing America: Death Penalty Possible for Afghan Massacre

His alleged murder spree resulted in a temporary stop to combat operations in Afghanistan.  Now, military prosecutors are asking for a court martial that could get an Army Staff Sergeant the death penalty.

FOX News Radio’s Jessica Rosenthal has more in our ongoing series on national security:

Securing America.

In Staff Sgt. Robert Bales’s Article 32 hearing in Washington state, military prosecutors said he committed heinous crimes, had a clear memory of what he did and knew it was wrong.  His attorneys previously noted that Bales suffered a head injury in a previous tour and had received a screening at the Army’s Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic.

Testimony over the past week reveals that Bales had been drinking the night he allegedly killed 16 Afghanis – nine of them children.  He tested positive for steroids a couple days afterward.  He left the base that night, and when he came back, told a fellow soldier he’d shot some people, then left again and allegedly shot even more people in a different village.

Jessica Rosenthal, FOX News Radio.