Army major faces death penalty for Fort Hood killing spree

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Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan will face the death penalty if he’s convicted of killing 13 soldiers – including two from Wisconsin – in the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood Texas.

The fort’s commanding officer announced the possible death penalty Wednesday, July 6. Lieutenant General Donald Campbell also decided that the 40-year-old Hasan will face a military trial.

Major Hasan, an American-born Muslim, was training with a medical unit from Madison – and the shooting massacre took place about a month before the 467th Combat Stress Control Detachment took off for Afghanistan. Three of the unit’s members were murdered, and 32 soldiers were injured, including six from the Wisconsin unit.

Military investigators said Hasan has ties to a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen. His attorney, John Galligan, was not surprised by the calling of a military trial.

Victims’ relatives were ecstatic over the news. They said if Hasan is sentenced to death, many families would have closure.

Attorney Galligan would not say if he’s considering an insanity plea. A military judge has not been named, and it was not clear when Hasan would enter a plea and be tried.

Tags: crime and courts, crime, military, government, wisconsin