JURIST - Paper Chase: US soldier diagnosed as homicidal threat before Mahmudiya rape-murder

[JURIST] US military mental health workers had diagnosed an Army soldier as a homicidal threat three months before he was involved in the alleged 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 2006, AP reported Tuesday. Former US Army soldier Pfc. Steven D. Green [JURIST news archive], who has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to rape and murder charges, had sought treatment from an Army Combat Stress Team in Iraq in December 2005, complaining that he was angry about the war and that he felt driven to kill Iraqis to avenge the deaths of fellow soldiers. He was prescribed Seroquel, a mood regulator, and told to get some sleep, before he reported to duty the next day at a notoriously violent post in South Baghdad.

Green pleaded not guilty in November in his home state of Kentucky to the rape and murder allegations, where he faces a civilian trial in federal court. Green was discharged from the military before the Mahmoudiya allegations surfaced due to a diagnosed personality disorder. Another member of Green's 101st Airborne Division [official website], Spc. James P. Barker, pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in November to his role in the incident, and testified that he and other members of the Division were involved with the rape of the girl, while Green raped then shot her, after shooting her father, mother, and sister. AP has more.

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