testimony, an afghan father asked sergeant bales why did he shoot him in the jaw. bales killed the man s son and he ended his testimony crying when asked to talk about his family. a jury is deciding whether bales should ever be offered parole. a phoenix family is counting its bless blessing after a massive fire that nearly took his life. despite protests from this family and neighbors he went back inside the home in order to rescue the cat. he got one and set about trying to find another one. neighbors, family and fire crews had feared the worst, the roof collapsed and was missing for 40 minutes but he had slipped out the back and emerged mostly unscathed. whew! yeah. i thought he was in there trying to put it out. i thought i lost my dad. so he is very, very, very lucky as is the cat which was injured but is alive.
years old. emotional survivors of a massacre in afghanistan are confronting the soldier who murdered their loved ones. one of them so shaken he started crying and got up to leave court. this is the killer. staff sergeant robert bales. he pleaded guilty to slaughtering 16 villagers in afghanistan last year. most of the victims helpless women and children. families who lived in homes made of mud. it happened while sergeant bales was on his fourth tour in afghanistan. slipped from the base. drinking taking steroids and snorting valium. he shot victims with pistol and assault rifle. he went back to his base only to go out later and attack a second village. the military flew over several survivors for that sentencing phase that started today. some of them have faced the killer in court. a 12-year-old boy talked about crying after bales shot him in the ear. another man testified that bales shot him in the jaw and also shot his children.
is inside, is in a void. we can have a person that, a live rescue. reporter: in philadelphia, toni yates, for abc news. an army sergeant has pleaded guilty to killing 16 afghan men, womeen bales telling a military judge there was not a good reason in the world for his actions. bales agreed to the guilty plea to avoid the death penalty. his attorney suggested he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome after four combat tours. sergeant bales has been waiting for the day to accept responsibility for what he has done, a day he can give some sense of peace to the people who are the victims of the tragedy. a jury will decide in august if sergeant bales will serve life term with or without parole. millions of phone record are turned over every day to a top spy agency. the guardian newspaper reports the obama administration recently requested and received a secret court order to obtain
take these steroids in any way, if not physically forced, then emotionally forced and forced to take the steroids? well, you know better than anybody being since i read your book which is wonderful, by the way, and you know how special forces have an influence on the infantry. and so i think it s a cultural problem. the army also admitted there was a real failure of leadership at this camp, of the special forces leadership. i think there was like almost peer pressure, i would call it, to do what the special forces people were doing. so if i understand you correctly, i just want to make sure i do, you plan to argue that steroid use combined with the ptsd and the tbi contributed to sergeant bales committing murder? so why not take that argument to trial? well, i mean the risks we have the best psychiatrists in the united states literally on ptsd and con cussive head injuries working on this case. we don t believe the defense
forces personnel. of course, nobody forces him to take it. but that s how he got it. the army admits that. okay. i appreciate the correction. is it your contention that sergeant bales was forced to take these steroids in any way, if not physically forced, then emotionally forced and forced to take the steroids? well, you know better than anybody being since i read your book which is wonderful, by the way, and you know how special forces have an influence on the infantry. and so i think it s a cultural problem. the army also admitted there was a real failure of leadership at this camp, of the special forces leadership. i think there was like almost peer pressure, i would call it, to do what the special forces people were doing. so if i understand you correctly, i just want to make sure i do, you plan to argue that steroid use combined with