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A senior military official in Washington says the lead prosecutor in the Fort Hood shooting case will be a man who secured the death penalty in a similar case four years ago. The official told The Associated Press on Friday that Col. Michael Mulligan will head the prosecution of Maj. Nidal Hasan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 Texas Army post shooting. Mulligan prosecuted a 2005 case in which Sgt....

A GENERAL has affirmed the death sentence for a US Army sergeant convicted of murdering two fellow soldiers in a grenade attack in Kuwait at the outset of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the army said today. Sergeant Hasan Akbar, 35, is the first US soldier to face the death penalty for killing another soldier since the end of the Vietnam War.

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, Muslim American soldier, killed two colleagues and wounded 14 other troops after tossing grenades into tents while soldiers slept at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait on March 23, 2003. He wrote in his diary: "I am going to try and kill as many of them as possible." Remember him? The case is still dragging on, though - via Army Times (hat tip: Mike at Kokonut Pundits, whose cousin Maj. Gregory Stone was one of Akbar's victims): The death sentence for convicted murderer Sgt. Hasan Akbar was approved late last week at Fort Bragg, N.C., by Lt. Gen. John...

I HAD JUST SETTLED DOWN to go to sleep when two thunderous explosions shattered the desert stillness. The blasts were still echoing when a young soldier at the back of my tent started shouting in pain. While other soldiers began tending their wounded comrade, I made my way outside. SCUD alert warnings were already going off--this was March 23, 2003, just days before the start of the Iraq war.For a long moment I assumed that our camp in Kuwait had been hit by one or more missiles. But as I took in the chaos, the reality of the situation slowly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a little-noticed move, the U.S. Army has issued new regulations governing the death penalty, raising speculation that the military might be preparing for its first execution since 1961. "This publication is a major revision," said the document issued January 17 and signed by Sandra Riley, administrative assistant to the secretary of the Army. "This regulation establishes responsibilities and updates policy and procedures for carrying out a sentence of death as imposed by general courts-martial or military tribunals," the document said. There are currently six men on military death row in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. One, Dwight Loving,...

Facts and Figures Total Death Row Inmates: 8 (as of 4/29/05) RACE Black - 6 White - 1 Asian - 1 GENDER Male - 8 United States Military Death Row Roster 1. Kenneth Parker (B) 2. Wade L. Walker (B) 3. Jessie Quintanilla (A) 4. James T. Murphy (B)* 5. Ronald Gray (B) 6. Dwight J. Loving (B) 7. William Kreutzer (W)* 8. Hasan Akbar (B) *Awaiting re-trial or re-sentencing. (Source: NAACP Legal Defense Fund) Number of Executions 135 people have been executed by the Army since 1916 (Source: National Law Journal, 4/5/99) Date of last military execution On April...

In his 20 years in the military, Lt. Col. Tim Gardipee of Missoula has served combat tours in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo. But Gardipee says one of the most difficult and emotionally trying duties he has been assigned by the U.S. Army came last month at Fort Bragg, N.C. The Army Reserve officer was selected from a pool of officers at Fort Bragg to serve on the court-martial jury in the trial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who was convicted of the premeditated murder of two fellow American soldiers and wounding of 14 others, at just past midnight March 23, 2003,...

THE U.S. military values some lives more than others. That’s the only conclusion you could draw from the trials of two U.S. soldiers--one accused of killing two American officers, the other of executing two Iraqi civilians. Last week, Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to death for using grenades and his rifle at a base camp in Kuwait to kill two officers and injure 14 other soldiers shortly after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. The chief prosecutor at the military trial, Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan, said that “[Akbar] is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer.” But Akbar’s military attorney never presented...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Relatives of those killed in Sgt. Hasan Akbar's grenade attack on his comrades said yesterday that he deserved a jury's death sentence, but experts in military law say it's hardly certain the execution will ever happen. The military hasn't executed one of its own since 1961, while states have put scores of civilian killers to death. Experts say the key difference in military justice is the role of the president, who, unlike a governor, must take an active role when a service member gets the ultimate punishment. ''It is unique to the military justice system that there...

The instant a military panel convicted U.S. Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the killing of two army officers and wounding 14 other U.S solders at a military base in Kuwait the first week of the Iraq war, Akbar's father screamed racism. He claimed that white racists and Nazis had harassed his son in the barracks, and that drove him to his murderous assault. He demanded an army investigation. That isn't likely to save Akbar from getting the death penalty. The death penalty for him sends the stern message that any hint of disloyalty or rebellion within the ranks will not...

The military has not executed one of its own since 1961, while states have put scores of civilian killers to their deaths. Specialists say the key difference in military justice is the role of the president, who unlike a governor, must take an active role in signing off when a service member gets the ultimate punishment.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to die Thursday night for a grenade and rifle attack that killed Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert and an Air Force officer and wounded 14 others. Helen Seifert, of Williams Township, began to weep as she watched the man who killed her son chained and led away from the courtroom.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Hours after giving a brief, barely audible apology, a soldier was sentenced to death by a military jury for attacking comrades with a rifle and grenades early in the Iraq invasion. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 34, could have been sentenced Thursday to life in prison with or without parole for the March 2003 attack on members of the elite 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Two officers were killed and 14 other soldiers were wounded. "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had...

A US soldier said to have hated America has been sentenced to death for the murder and attempted murder of comrades during the invasion of Iraq. Sgt Hasan Akbar used grenades and a rifle to kill two officers and wound 14 other personnel at a camp in Kuwait in the opening days of the war.Prosecutors said the murders were ideologically driven hate crimes. Defence lawyers do not dispute the attack but argue Akbar was too mentally ill to have planned the attack. The death penalty was announced a week after he was convicted by a military jury at Fort Bragg,...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury sentenced Sergeant Hasan Akbar (search) to death for the 2003 murders of two officers in a grenade attack at an Army camp in Kuwait.

Fort Bragg -- An Army sergeant convicted of murdering two officers in a grenade attack on his comrades in Kuwait quietly said he was sorry Thursday before a military prosecutor urged the jury to sentence the soldier to death because he was an idealogically driven killer. "I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy, and I had other problems," Sgt. Hasan Akbar told the 15-person military jury. Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Facing a possible death penalty for his fatal attack on fellow soldiers, Sgt. Hasan Akbar will make an unsworn statement to the jury in his own defense, a lawyer said Wednesday. The statement by Akbar is to come Thursday, the fourth day of the sentencing phase of his court-martial, said the defense lawyer, Maj. David Coombs. Akbar was convicted last week of premeditated murder and attempted murder in the March 2003 attack on the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Akbar will speak from the witness box, and prosecutors will be able to call...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The parents of an officer killed by a soldier's grenade and rifle attack on a 101st Airborne Division camp in Kuwait testified Tuesday that their son's death created a hole in their lives that they can't fill. "When you think about all the plans you were going to carry out ... that's not going to happen now," said Richard Stone, father of Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone. "With Greg, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him." Gregory Stone and Army Capt. Christopher Seifert were killed and 14 other service members...

(FORT BRAGG) - The prosecution has rested its case in the sentencing phase of the court-martial of an Army sergeant convicted of murdering his fellow soldiers. Seven witnesses testified, following the 15 that testified on Monday. Defense attorneys are expected to call their witnesses Wednesday. The defense admits Sergeant Hasan Akbar carried out the attack, but claims he was mentally unstable at the time. The judge in the case says he expects deliberations to begin on Thursday. Meanwhile, jurors have been sent home for the day with copies of Akbar's diary and a mitigation report. Witnesses detail physical, emotional trauma...

Last Friday I wrote that "Hasan Akbar's jihad has reached its conclusion." That seems to have been premature: it has now come to light that he stabbed an MP last month, and I suspect he will go on looking for opportunities to kill. But Judge Stephen Henley is unmoved; it was, after all, just an "opportunistic stabbing." An "opportunistic stabbing"? What the heck does that mean? What about Akbar's stated motives, priorities, and values? I suppose 9/11 was just a case of "opportunistic building destruction." "Judge won't allow evidence of fight in Akbar sentencing," from AP, with thanks to the...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. | -- In the weeks after her husband's death in Kuwait, Terri Seifert did not have many answers. She was strong nonetheless. As the weeks turned to months and answers began to filter in about Army Airborne Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert's fatal shooting at Camp Pennsylvania, Terri Seifert seemed to get stronger for herself and for her son, Benjamin, Lt. Col. Kenneth Romaine said Monday. But, there was one thing she could not do, Romaine said, because it was a job her husband was expected to do with his first son. "It was somewhere around Benjamin's first...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - A sergeant's attack on his own colleagues in the 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait made key planners unavailable just before the invasion of Iraq, a commander testified Monday. ``Everybody knew this would be a big fight,'' Col. Ben Hodges testified Monday at a sentencing hearing for Sgt. Hasan Akbar, convicted in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two soldiers and wounded 14. ``I never dreamed my first casualties would occur inside Camp Pennsylvania and they would be caused by one of my own soldiers.'' Hodges commanded the 101st's 1st Brigade Combat Team and was...

(FORT BRAGG) - The commander of the 101st Airborne Division brigade hit by a grenade and rifle attack two years ago says he never thought there was danger within the camp where the assault occurred. Colonel Ben Hodges opened testimony Monday morning in the sentencing phase of Sergeant Hasan Akbar's trial. Akbar was convicted last week of killing two officers and wounding 14 more, including Hodges. Akbar, 34, also could be sentenced to life in prison. Hodges, who commanded the First Brigade Combat Team as it prepared to invade Iraq, said he never thought the first casualties his five-thousand-person unit...

A jury has unanimously found Sergeant Hasan Akbar guilty in the attacks on fellow soldiers just days before the Iraq war. Akbar was charged with two counts of first degree murder and three counts of attempted first degree murder. Two officers died and 14 others were injured. A sentencing hearing will be held to decide his fate. Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in the Iraq war.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — A military jury has convicted Sgt. Hasan Akbar on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder stemming from an attack on an Army camp in Kuwait.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- A military jury in North Carolina has convicted an Army sergeant of murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades in Kuwait as they prepared to invade Iraq. The court-martial determined that Sgt. Hasan Akbar murdered the two officers who were killed in the attack two years ago. Fourteen other troops were wounded. The jury's unanimous guilty verdict means Akbar could be sentenced to death. A sentencing hearing will be held on Monday. The jury deliberated the verdict for more than two hours Thursday. Akbar, 33, stood at attention as the...

Apr. 20, 2005 - The father of an Army sergeant accused of killing two officers at the start of the Iraq war urged the military Wednesday to investigate religious and racial harassment he said his son faced from fellow soliders before he unleashed the grenade and rifle attack. John Akbar's statement to The Associated Press titled "Concerned Father Seeks Justice For Loved Son" came as testimony wrapped up in Sgt. Hasan Akbar's court-martial on murder charges that carry a possible death penalty. Jurors were to return Thursday for closing arguments and the start of deliberations. The elder Akbar said his...

(FORT BRAGG) - The father of the army sergeant accused of murder is speaking out. Sergeant Hasan Akbar's father, John Akbar, issued a statement Wednesday concerning events leading up to his son’s court-martial. Akbar is accused of killing two people, and injuring 14 others during a grenade attack. The prosecution said Akbar is a murderer who deployed to Kuwait with a plan to attack his unit. But in a statement given to News 14 Carolina, John Akbar said that is not the son he knows. John Akbar explained, "He (Akbar) has always been a role model for his younger brothers...

Several weeks ago, our president presented the first Medal of Honor since Somalia – posthumously – to the widow and orphans of Sgt. Paul R. Smith for heroic actions he took "above and beyond the call of duty" to save the men he was leading in Iraq. But as this is being written, another sergeant, Hasan Akbar, faces court-martial, charged with the murder of fellow members of an American brigade on the eve of the Iraq invasion. His lawyers say he's nuts, the same thing a shrink said when Akbar was 14. The rub is how this guy – whose...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A defense psychiatrist testified Tuesday that Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sane and knew the consequences of his actions when he threw grenades into tents occupied by fellow soldiers during a 2003 attack in Kuwait. Dr. George Woods Jr. initially testified under direct questioning that Akbar may have suffered from schizophrenia and depression at the time of the attack that killed two soldiers and wounded 14. But under cross-examination by lead Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan, Woods acknowledged he had ruled out a diagnosis of insanity. Woods reluctantly said "yes" when asked if Akbar "understood the...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -- Weeks before launching a deadly grenade attack on his comrades, Sgt. Hasan Akbar attended a camp screening of the movie "Apocalypse Now" and laughed during a scene in which U.S. troops were hit by a grenade, a soldier testified yesterday. The testimony came as Sgt. Akbar's attorneys opened their defense at his court-martial. Sgt. Akbar, 33, is accused of ambushing fellow troops from the 101st Airborne Division in their tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in March 2003, during the opening days of the Iraq war. An Army captain and an Air Force major were...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. A defense psychiatrist says the Army sergeant accused in a fatal grenade attack in Kuwait had a history of mental illness in his family that hurt him as he got older. Testimony from Dr. George Woods of Oakton, California, came after a hearing with the jury out of the courtroom about his qualifications and diagnosis. Woods testified that Sergeant Hasan Akbar's (AK'-bahrz) relatives had problems going back to 1968 when an uncle was discharged from the Marine Corps because he had an emotionally unstable personality. The psychiatrist also testified that Akbar's half brother also exhibited paranoia in...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - Defense lawyers opened their case Monday at the court-martial of a soldier charged with killing two officers, presenting a psychologist who said the defendant was incapable of relating to other people when he was a teenager. The trial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar court-martial entered its second week of testimony Monday, after prosecutors completed their case. Akbar, 33, is accused of ambushing fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in their tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in March 2003, during the opening days of the Iraq war. An Army captain and an Air Force major...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - Weeks before launching a deadly grenade attack on his comrades, Sgt. Hasan Akbar attended a camp showing of the movie ``Apocalypse Now'' and laughed at a scene of U.S. troops being hit by a grenade, a soldier testified Monday. The testimony came as Akbar's lawyers opened their defense at his court-martial. Akbar is accused of allegedly ambushing fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in their tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in March 2003, during the opening days of the Iraq war. An Army captain and an Air Force major were killed. Akbar's lawyers...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- When soldiers go on the rifle range, they are told not to fire too far to the left or right, for safety reasons, says Fort Bragg spokesman Maj. Richard T. Patterson. And when journalists come to Fort Bragg, they also must agree to a series of ground rules that spell out the limits of media access, for safety reasons, Patterson says. "We don't have things to hide," Patterson explains. He says the Army wants the American public to see the military's fair and impartial justice system, in which those on trial enjoy more rights at an...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- The government rested its case Thursday in the court-martial of an Army sergeant accused of attacking his fellow troops in Kuwait two years ago. Sgt. Hasan Akbar is charged two counts of murder three counts of attempted murder in connection with the March 2003 grenade and rifle attack on members of the 101st Airborne Division. Two officers were killed and 14 other people were injured in the attack. Government witnesses testified Thursday about crime scene photos and evidence, forensics and Akbar's diary. Akbar has written in a diary for years, but prosecutors are limited to more...

Diary: Soldier Wrote About Killing Buddies By ESTES THOMPSON Associated Press Writer FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -- An Army sergeant charged in a deadly grenade attack on his comrades wrote in his diary that his fellow soldiers were mistreating him, and that once he was sent to Iraq, "I am going to try and kill as many of them as possible," a jury was told Thursday. An FBI agent read four passages to the 15-member jury before the prosecution rested its case in the court-martial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar. His lawyers are scheduled to begin calling witnesses in their insanity...

(FORT BRAGG) - A sergeant on trial for a grenade attack at an Army camp in the Kuwait desert days before the Iraq invasion wrote in his diary before he was deployed about killing fellow soldiers. An FBI agent read four passages from Sergeant Hasan Akbar's computer diary Thursday. Akbar wrote about making the choice to kill Iraqis, whom he called his Muslim brothers, or "my battle buddies." He said in one passage that if the Army left him at Fort Campbell and didn't try to humiliate him, he wouldn't do anything. But the passage ended by saying that if...

(FORT BRAGG) - Almost a dozen eyewitness accounts marked the second day of testimony in the court martial of Sergeant Hasan Akbar. Akbar is the army sergeant accused of murdering two fellow soldiers during the opening days of the war in Iraq. Eleven former and present soldiers testified in a Fort Bragg courtroom about what they saw on March 22nd of 2003 at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. One officer said that Akbar admitted to him that he threw grenades into tents where soldiers were preparing for bed. Akbar is accused of killing two people and wounding 14 others. A number...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -- An Army witness to a deadly grenade attack in the Kuwait desert carried out by one of their own testified Tuesday that he saw one of the victims get shot in the back, and urged the man to stay alive for his family. 1st Sgt. Rodlon Stevenson, who had been awakened by explosions in the officers' tents, said he tried to help Army Capt. Christopher Seifert, who was cold with shock, stay awake. ``I said, sir, you've got to fight this,'' Stevenson said. ``You've got a young kid at home. You've got to fight for...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - An Army sergeant charged with a grenade attack that killed two U.S. officers in Kuwait went on trial Monday, with his lawyer trying to stave off a possible death sentence by arguing that his client was mentally ill. But a military prosecutor said Sgt. Hasan Akbar knew exactly what he was doing, pointing to his detailed diary entries before the March 2003 attack and the fact that he stole the grenades and cut power to his camp just before striking. Premeditation is the central issue in the court-martial of Akbar, 33, who confessed several times and...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army sergeant on trial for an attack that killed two officers in Kuwait suffered from mental illness for years and could not have planned it, defense lawyers told a military jury during opening statements Monday.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -- An Army sergeant on trial for an attack that killed two officers in Kuwait suffered from mental illness for years and could not have planned it, defense lawyers told a military jury during opening statements Monday. Defense lawyer Maj. Dan Brookhart acknowledged Sgt. Hasan Akbar committed the March 2003 grenade and firearm attack, but said he was not capable of the premeditation required for his client to be eligible for the death penalty. He said his client's mental illness was triggered by his stepfather's sexual abuse of his sister. A military prosecutor responded by telling...

Opening statements began Monday in Sergeant Hasan Akbar's court martial. This is the first time a soldier has been tried for murdering another soldier in wartime since the Vietnam era. Military police officers kept close watch outside of the Judge Advocate General Building on Fort Bragg. On the inside, the first day of Akbar's murder trial got underway. The prosecution started with opening statements by Captain John Benson. Benson said the evidence will show that Akbar is guilty of the premeditated murder of two fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. Benson said they were killed and 14 others wounded...

Is it asking too much for something more than a verdict in the court-martial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, the man accused of killing two officers -- including Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert of Williams Township -- a few days after the start of the war in Iraq? Something like an answer to the question: Why? Jury selection in Akbar's court-martial is under way in North Carolina, but pre-trial events only seem to have muddied the picture. Akbar is accused of using grenades and a rifle to attack fellow troops at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in March 2003. He has been...

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A soldier charged in a fatal grenade attack on two officers in Kuwait tried to overpower one of his military guards Wednesday, causing the postponement of a planned pretrial hearing. Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar turned against one of his military police escorts at Fort Bragg's courts building around 7 a.m., two hours before the scheduled start of the hearing, the Army said in a statement. "The MPs quickly regained control of Akbar," the statement said. "During the incident both Akbar and one of the MPs suffered injuries and received medical attention." Further details on the incident...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Defense lawyers said Monday that an Army sergeant facing a court-martial on charges alleging he killed two officers in a grenade attack in Kuwait needs further treatment for a sleep disorder. Sgt. Hasan Akbar fell asleep during pretrial hearings last year and a judge ordered treatment for his sleep apnea condition, but his lawyer, Maj. David Coombs, said Akbar still has problems staying awake. "It has been a consistent problem," he said. Coombs asked the judge, Col. Stephen Henley, to order a break after each witness and to allow coffee at the defense table once Akbar's...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- A motions hearing started Monday in the case of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who faces an April trial on charges of killing two officers in an attack on his own men during the opening days of the Iraq invasion. A judge ruled late last year that Akbar's statement acknowledging that he rolled grenades into tents at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait, will be admissible when his court-martial begins. The trial is scheduled to start April 5. The judge excluded statements Akbar made to two sergeants who guarded him after the attack, saying Akbar had not yet been informed of...

A judge ruled that a sergeant's admission that he rolled grenades into his colleagues' tent will be allowed in his court-martial, which has been delayed until April. FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Sgt. Hasan Akbar's statement acknowledging he rolled grenades into the tents of sleeping U.S. soldiers will be admissible when he goes on trial in the attack that killed two officers, a judge ruled Thursday. But the judge excluded statements Akbar made to two sergeants who guarded him after the attack, saying Akbar had not yet been informed of his legal rights. Defense attorneys also succeeded in getting a nearly...