US Sergeant sentenced to life for killing US soldiers in Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A U.S. Army sergeant was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday for killing five fellow servicemen in a shooting spree in Iraq, one of the worst cases of violence by an American soldier against other U.S. troops.

In a deal that spared him the death penalty, Sergeant John Russell pleaded guilty last month to killing two medical staff officers and three soldiers at the Camp Liberty combat stress clinic, near Baghdad’s airport.

The military has said the 2009 shooting might have been triggered by combat stress.

Russell faced an abbreviated court-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state to determine the level of his guilt, and the military judge in the case ruled on Monday that the 48-year-old Texan had killed with premeditation.

At an early morning hearing at the Pacific Northwest military base, the judge tasked with determining Russell’s sentence, Army Colonel David Conn, said Russell had been mentally ill at the time of the killings but was nevertheless responsible for his actions.

“You are not a monster,” Conn said. “But you have knowingly and deliberately done incredibly monstrous things.”

“Sergeant Russell, you have forced many to drink from a bitter cup. That cup is now before you,” Conn said, before asking Russell, who wore green military dress, to stand.

He sentenced the 48-year-old Texas native to life in confinement without the possibility of parole, a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge from the Army, which is accompanied by forfeiture of pay.