Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was formally charged with the premeditated murder of 17 Afghan civilians and the attempted murder of six others yesterday. Though initial reports stated that Bales may have stabbed and set fire to several of his victims (photos lend credence to these claims) the military's "charge sheet" only mentions a firearm. Bales' wife's attorney told ABC that her husband called her shortly after the alleged attacks occurred. "[Bales] told her something terrible had happened," and spoke with her for around three minutes before the call was disconnected.
The AP has learned that in addition to bilking an investor out of his life savings, a drunken run-in with casino security guards, and hit-and-run charges, Bales was accused of sexually assaulting a woman and fighting with her boyfriend in 2008. The incident report states that Bales told a woman outside a Tacoma, Washington bowling alley that he found her attractive, then "pulled her hand to his crotch." He then started "punching and kicking the woman's boyfriend," and shoved him to the ground.
Bales' attorney John Henry Browne refused to comment on the AP's report, and has said that his client remembers little of the alleged slaying of 17 Afghan civilians. Though the Army initially stated that Bales killed 16 civilians (a number that remains on Afghanistan's reports) the total is now 17.
