Army Sergeant Accused of 2009 Iraq Shootings in Plea Talks, Lawyer Says

Lawyers for an Army sergeant accused of killing four soldiers and a Navy oficer in Iraq are reportedly trying to get their clients a plea deal.

The Associated Press is reporting via KOMO that attorneys for Sgt. John Russell, who is charged with going on the 2009 killing spree at Combat Liberty in Baghdad, are trying to strike a deal that would avoid the death penalty.

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Russell is assigned to 54th Engineering Battalion, which is based out of Germany but was operating under the command Joint Base Lewis-McChord (then Fort Lewis) at the time of the Iraq incident. He is currently confined at JBLM.

According to the AP, if the deal is accepted, Russell would plead guilty to five counts of intentional murder. They argue that their client has no memory of the killings and was mentally distraught immediately before it happened.

--contributed from sister Patch site in Washington state