US soldier sentenced to life imprisonment in Mahmudiya rape-murder case News
US soldier sentenced to life imprisonment in Mahmudiya rape-murder case

[JURIST] US Army Spc. James P. Barker, who pleaded guilty [JURIST report] Wednesday for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl [JURIST news archive] and the murder of her family in the Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya") area in March, was sentenced Thursday to no more than 90 years in prison. Barker's effective life sentence, which has the possibility of parole, was in exchange for his testimony against the other soldiers implicated [JURIST report] in the attack, who still face the death penalty.

Barker has claimed that he and other members of the 101st Airborne Division [official website] were involved with the rape of the girl, while former US soldier Pfc. Steven D. Green [JURIST news archive] raped then shot her, after shooting her father, mother, and sister. Green, who was discharged from the military because of a personality disorder before the allegations arose, has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] in his civilian trial in federal court in Kentucky. AP has more.

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