US/Iraq

Former US soldier convicted of rape, four murders in Iraq

Article published on the 2009-05-08 Latest update 2009-05-08 14:12 TU

Former US soldier Steven Dale Green, convicted of murders and a rape in Iraq
(Photo: AFP)

A US court has found Iraq veteran Steven Dale Green guilty of rape and four murders. His lawyers say they expected a guilty verdict, and are now focused on having the court spare him the death penalty.

The jury in a federal court in Paducah, Kentucky, deliberated for more than ten hours and then announced Green guilty on 16 counts of rape, murder, and obstructing justice.

His lawyers told the press that the verdict was not a surprise.

"The goal has always been to save our client's life," said defence attorney Darren Wolff, "and now we're going to go to the most important phase, which is the sentencing phase and we're going to accomplish that goal."

Prosecutors declined comment.

During the trial, they said that Green attacked the family of 14-year old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi on 12 March 2006, at their home in a village about 30 kilometers south of Baghdad.

First, prosecutors said, he shot her sister, mother and father. Then he raped and killed her.

The story was corroborated in court by two other former soldiers, James Barker and Paul Cortez, who admitted going to the home with Green and also raping the girl. They have already received life sentences for the crime, along with a third soldier also present, Jesse Spielman.

The defence team said that the stresses of war had led Green to commit the crime. His attorneys said that his unit lacked leadership and suffered under gruelling conditions, and that Green had been psychologically destabilised by watching colleagues die.

The jury is scheduled to recommend a sentence on Monday.