Robert Bales’ wife: ‘Profoundly sad’ over killed Afghans, ‘I too want to know what happened’
Karilyn Bales, the wife of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the American soldier suspected of carrying out the March 11 shooting rampage that killed 16 Afghan civilians, issued a statement Monday night expressing profound sadness over the tragedy, but said she still doesn't know what happened that night.
"What happened on the night of March 11 in Kandahar Province was a terrible and heartbreaking tragedy," Karilyn Bales said in a written statement Monday released through a spokesman, the Seattle Times reported."My family including my and Bob's extended families are all profoundly sad," her statement said, extending condolences "to all the people of the Panjawai District" whose loved ones perished.
"Our family has little information beyond what we read and see in the media," Karilyn Bales' statement continued. "What has been reported is completely out of character of the man I know and admire."
"I too want to know what happened," she said. "I want to know how this could be."
Karilyn Bales--who reportedly asked a realtor to put the family's Lake Tapps, Wash. house on the market March 8th, three days before the alleged rampage, citing missed payments--also expressed the desire for the war in Afghanistan to end. "We must find peace," her statement said.
Staff Sgt. Bales and his family were not happy about his deployment to Afghanistan last December, which came as a surprise, Bales' Seattle defense attorney John Henry Browne previously told reporters last week. Bales suffered a brain concussion on his third and last tour to Iraq after his vehicle hit an IED, but was deemed fit for duty by army doctors at Joint Base Lewis McChord.
That issue is emerging as central to Browne's defense strategy for Bales. "Some people do six or seven tours, but the question is whether the last tour was too much for someone with a concussive brain injury," Browne told Bloomberg News Monday, ahead of meeting with Bales for the first time in the Fort Leavenworth, KS military prison where the 38 year old soldier has been held since Friday. Browne said he expects charges to be filed in the case on Thursday.
