Afghan attacks soldier Robert Bales to plead guilty
Sgt Bales is charged with 16 counts of murder, six of attempted murder and seven of assault
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A US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in two rampages last year will plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, his lawyers say.
Staff Sgt Robert Bales will make the plea in a hearing on 5 June.
He left a US outpost in Kandahar province in the early hours of 11 March 2012, attacking two villages nearby. Most victims were women and children.
Family members of those killed told the Associated Press news agency they were outraged he might not die.
"For this one thing, we would kill 100 American soldiers," said Mohammed Wazir, who had 11 family members killed, including his mother and two-year-old daughter.
"A prison sentence doesn't mean anything," Said Jan, whose wife and three other relatives died in the massacre, told AP. "I know we have no power now. But I will become stronger, and if he does not hang, I will have my revenge."
Sgt Bales's lawyers say he is contrite about the killings, but would not discuss the details of what the soldier plans to say to the judge at the hearing.
Lawyer John Henry Browne described Sgt Bales as "crazed" and "broken" on the night of the attack.
The judge, as well as the commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where Sgt Bales is being tried, must approve any plea deal. A military jury would then decide if a life prison term for Sgt Bales would include the possibility of parole.
At the time of the attack, Bales was serving his fourth tour of duty and had been drinking alcohol and snorting Valium.
In addition to the 16 murdered, six Afghans were injured.
Seventeen victims were women or children, and many of them were shot in the head. Some of the bodies were piled up and burned.
Sgt Bales' defence team said they had determined the soldier would not be able to prove any claim of insanity or diminished capacity.
While prosecutors originally said they would seek the death penalty, no US service member has been executed in more than 50 years.
