Thanks for the ping FMC. I agree with you, if Akbar, arguably a nut case gets the DP, what on earth possessed them to give him life?
It seemed to me that the Akbar case had some very unusually strong aggravating factors that called out for the death penalty. Akbar attacked several superior officers, with the enemy nearby, on the eve of their launch into battle. He basically went over to the enemy, and killed people to disrupt our combat operations.
While the murders in this case are bad (and warrant the death penalty in my opinion), it seems to me that this case lacked the overwhelming aggravating factors of the Akbar matter.