U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, right, is shown Monday with his civilian attorney, Emma Scanla, left, during a preliminary hearing in a military courtroom at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. Bales is accused of 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder for a pre-dawn attack on two villages in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan in March 2012.JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – The medic saw Staff Sgt. Robert Bales covered in blood and knew from the pattern of the staining it wasn’t his own. He asked where it came from and where he’d been.
Bales shrugged, the medic, Sgt. 1st Class James Stillwell, testified Tuesday.
“If I tell you, you guys will have to testify against me,” Stillwell quoted him as saying.
The statement was one of many attributed to Bales that suggest he knew what he was doing the night he surrendered after a two-village killing spree in southern Afghanistan, prosecutors say.
The remarks, offered by fellow soldiers testifying for the government Monday and Tuesday, could pose a high hurdle for defense lawyers who have indicated that Bales’ mental health will be a big part of their case. The testimony is part of a preliminary hearing being held to help determine whether the case goes to a court martial.