American Soldier To Be Charged With 17 Counts Of Murder In Afghan Massacre
March 23 2012, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter
The American soldier who went on a cold-blooded shooting rampage in Afghanistan that killed 16 civilians will be charged Friday with 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder, according to a U.S. official.
As Breaking Celebrity News previously reported, Sergeant Robert Bales is currently being held in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he remains in pre-trial isolation.
The 38-year-old from Norwood, Ohio, has been in military custody since he surrendered following what U.S. officials described as a rampage on March 11 through villages in Kandahar province in which he allegedly shot, stabbed and set fire to men, women and children.
The charges will be formally filed on Friday, and the fact that there is 17 counts leads to speculation that there has been an additional death, reported CNN.com. But Afghan government officials in Kabul said the death toll remains officially at 16.
Despite the public outrage over the killings, Bales’ lawyer has warned that the case is going to be very hard to prove for the prosecution.
“They have no murder scene, no forensics," attorney John Henry Browne r