Military Prosecutors: Protecting Drug Trade Was Sergeant's Motive in Killin

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBQRPCDO9E.html

Military Prosecutors: Protecting Drug Trade Was Sergeant's Motive in Killings

FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) - Military prosecutors argued that an Army sergeant shot two of his fellow soldiers because he had grown paranoid and angry over the possibility they might reveal his drug trafficking.

Sgt. Aaron Stanley has acknowledged the shootings at his home in Clay Center, about 30 miles from Fort Riley, but his attorneys said he acted to defend himself and a fourth soldier.

Stanley's court-martial on two counts of premeditated murder went forward Monday after he pleaded guilty to drug use, drug possession, being absent without leave and adultery. The trial was to resume Tuesday.

Prosecutors told an eight-member military panel Monday that Stanley's drug use made him paranoid and that he and a co-conspirator manufactured methamphetamine and grew marijuana. The two lay in wait for their victims, believing they were informants, prosecutors said.