http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D89EMDJG0.html
Investigators say grenades found on Akbar after attack
04/13/2005
By ESTES THOMPSON / Associated Press
An Army sergeant had grenades and 26 rounds of rifle ammunition on him when he was taken into custody after a middle-of-the-night attack at a camp in the desert of Kuwait, court-martial witnesses said Wednesday.
Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 33, of the 101st Airborne Division was found with three grenades stuffed in a bag designed to hold his gas mask and with 26 rounds in the 30-round magazine of his M-4 rifle, witnesses told jurors.
The jury also heard a stipulation, or agreement between the prosecution and defense, that the bullet that killed one victim came from a rifle bearing Akbar's fingerprints.
Defense lawyers are not disputing that Akbar carried out the attack that killed two officers and wounded 14 other soldiers at Camp Pennsylvania in March 2003. Instead, they are focusing on saving Akbar from a death sentence with an insanity defense.
The 101st was camped in the desert while it prepared to enter Iraq behind the 3rd Infantry Division at the start of the U.S. invasion two years ago.
Agent Shawn Burke of the Army Criminal Investigation Division testified that he found three unexploded grenades in the bag — two incendiary grenades that emit intense heat and one fragmentation grenade that blows shrapnel on explosion. The bag is called a promask carrier by soldiers, short for protective mask carrier.
"Is there a name on this promask carrier?" asked Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan, the chief prosecutor.
"Yes sir. The name is Akbar," Burke said.
Killed in the attack were Army Capt. Christopher Seifert, 27, who was shot in the back, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, who suffered 83 shrapnel wounds.
Akbar is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder.
The 15 officers and senior sergeants serving as Akbar's jury heard testimony that four grenade safety pins were found near the three tents that were attacked, as were three shell casings.
They also heard lawyers stipulate that Akbar's fingerprints were on the M-4 rifle that fired the bullet that killed Seifert. Akbar's fingerprints also were on a generator that was shut off before the attack, darkening the area outside the tents.
Both sides also stipulated that a grenade fragment removed Seifert's from hand was from an M-67 grenade like that used in the attack. And they agreed that bullet fragments removed from Seifert's back came from a bullet fired by Akbar's weapon.
An officer has already testified that Akbar confessed to the attack when he was apprehended inside the camp early on March 23, 2003.
After testimony wrapped up Wednesday, prosecutors told the military judge overseeing the case, Col. Stephen Henley, they plan to introduce two passages from Akbar's diary they contend show he planned the attack. Prosecutors must prove premeditation for jurors to be able to consider a death sentence.
Defense lawyers asked Henley to require prosecutors to introduce three other diary sections at the same time. The judge told both sides to prepare briefs and be ready to argue the point before testimony resumes Thursday.
The court-martial is the first time since the Vietnam War that a soldier has been prosecuted for the murder of a fellow soldier during wartime.
Akbar's division is based at Fort Campbell, Ky., but his trial was moved to Fort Bragg, home of the division's higher command, the 18th Airborne Corps.
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http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3206566
Testimony concludes for Wednesday in Akbar court-martial
FORT BRAGG, N.C. Seven witnesses took the stand in today's testimony at the court-martial of Fort Campbell Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar (AK'-bahr) before his trial recessed for the day at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The seven witnesses testified about a variety of topics. Included were the scene of the attack against the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait and an accounting of the equipment found.
One Army investigator testified that three grenades were found in Akbar's gear when he was apprehended.
The trial resumes tomorrow.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
Does sounds like he prepared well for what the defense will try to call an impulse due to mental defect. He's defective alright and it's still no excuse. There are just some people out there who are self centered, weak, mean, amoral, slimy, loathsome and only fit to be put away from society. So far he seems to fit the bill.
comment 17 update