Witness: Soldier remorseful after Afghan killings

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Lois Silver/ReutersA courtroom sketch shows U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, center, and his defense attorneys Emma Scanlan, second from left, and Maj. Gregory Malson, left, listen to witness Sgt. Jason McLaughlin (R) testify at a U.S. Courts Martial pre-trial proceeding, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington on Monday. Col. Lee Demecky, top center, is seen presiding over the hearing.By NBC News staff and wire servicesDefense attorneys for U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Bales called witnesses Wednesday in hearings that mark the start of the military justice process for the soldier who is accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers, mostly women and children, in a pre-dawn rampage in March.

Follow @NBCNewsUSA friend of Bales, 1st Sgt. Vernon Bigham, told the court that Bales seemed remorseful after he was taken into custody after the massacre and seemed to want to confess, but invoked his right to remain silent.

The Article 32 hearings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., where Bales is based, are to determine whether there is enough evidence to put Bales through a full court martial.

Proceedings started Monday with prosecutors laying out their version of the events. They said the sergeant acted alone and with "chilling premeditation," leaving his base in Kandahar province twice in one night and killing 16 people, mostly women and children in nearby villages as they slept.




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