Soldier pleads guilty to murdering five colleagues in Iraq

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/22/soldier-pleads-guilty-to-murdering-five-colleagues-in-iraq/



Sgt. John Russell

Soldier pleads guilty to murdering five colleagues in Iraq
By Agence France-Presse
Monday, April 22, 2013 19:40 EDT

A US soldier pleaded guilty Monday to killing five of his colleagues in Iraq four years ago, in a plea deal to escape a death sentence, a military spokesman said.

Army Sergeant John Russell was accused of the May 2009 killings at a clinic for soldiers suffering from war-related stress at Camp Liberty, the largest US base in Iraq.

Russell, who has previously denied responsibility, “said ‘I killed these people,’ he acknowledged that,” said Gary Dangerfield, a spokesman for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), south of Seattle.

He added, however, that Russell has not admitted premeditated murder, which prosecutors have been trying to prove.