SEATTLE (AP) — The Army has dropped a murder charge, but added others, including steroid use, against a soldier accused in a deadly shooting rampage in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is now accused of gunning down 16 civilians in pre-dawn raid on two Afghan villages in March.
Bales attorney Emma Scanlan says she received the new charges Friday and there’s nothing surprising in them.
There had been talk for some time that the number of victims in the massacre had been over-counted by one.
Bales now faces 16 counts of premeditated murder; six of attempted murder; seven of assault; one of possessing steroids; one of using steroids; one of destroying a laptop computer; one of burning bodies; and one of using alcohol.
