5 Life Sentences for Ex-G.I. Convicted of Rape and Murder of Iraqi Family

A federal judge in Kentucky sentenced Steven D. Green, an ex-U.S. soldier, to five (5) life terms in prison today for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl, and murdering her 6-year-old sister, father, and mother when he was stationed in Iraq near the village of al-Mahmudiyah (see map).

Steven D. Green, a former PFC with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, was convicted of these charges on May 7, 2009 after a jury trial.

You can read the judgment sentencing Green to five (5) life terms in prison here:

Here is Green's guilty verdict rendered by the jury after trial:

When a jury could not agree upon a death sentence in May after Green was convicted, relatives of the al-Janabi family who were murdered expressed outrage.

According to Reuters, "[e]xecution is commonplace in Iraq and across the Middle East for lesser crimes than Green's."

Related Resources:

• Criminal Complaint, U.S. v. Steven Dale Green (Jun. 30, 2006)
• Ex-U.S. Soldier Gets Life in Prison for Iraqi Assault, Reuters (Sept. 4, 2009)
• Ex-Soldier Gets Life Sentence for Rape, Murders in Iraq, Lexington Courier-Journal (Sept. 4, 2009)
• Iraqi Relatives Decry Life For U.S. Rape Soldier, Reuters (May 22, 2009)
• Iraqis Outraged by Ex-Soldier's Sentence, CBS News (May 22, 2009)
• Soldier Who Testified on Killings Says He Feared for His Life, The New York Times (Aug. 8, 2006)