US Sergeant Found Guilty of Murdering Fellow Americans - East Idaho News
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US Sergeant Found Guilty of Murdering Fellow Americans

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GETTY N 110211 LawGavelCourt?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1368521302046Hemera/Thinkstock(JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.) — Army Sgt. John Russell was found guilty Monday of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of four soldiers and a Navy officer while they were stationed in Iraq in 2009.

Col. David Conn, the military judge in the case at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, was responsible for the verdict.

Russell now faces the possibility of life in prison with or without the possibility of release.

The shootings took place at a combat stress clinic where Russell was being treated for severe depression with psychotic features and post-combat stress.

However, prosecutors maintained that Russell was feigning being mentally ill in order to get an early retirement out of the military.  They said the sergeant was out to kill a psychiatrist who refused to give him a Section 8, but instead wound up gunning down two patients, a bystander and two mental health workers, including a Naval commander.

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