CHICAGO - A second US soldier has pleaded guilty in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the execution of her family, the soldier's lawyer said today.
Sergeant Paul Cortez, 24, will now no longer face the death penalty for his role in the March12, 2006 slayings in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, lawyer William Cassara said.
"He felt it was in his best interest, he wanted to accept responsibility and he wants to move forward in getting this behind him," Cassara said.
Cassara would not disclose the details of the plea agreement but said Cortez had agreed to co-operate in the trials of the remaining three accused soldiers.
Specialist James Barker, 23, who plead guilty in November, was sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors said the five soldiers spotted Abeer Kassem Hamza al-Janabi on the street and plotted to break into her home to rape her.
Once there, they killed her parents, Kassem Hamza Rachid al-Janabi and Fakhriya Taha Mohsine al-Janabi and six-year-old sister, Hadeel Kassem Hamza al-Janabi.
Then they raped the girl, shot her and set fire to her body.
