Iraq vet convicted in slaying of college student

[sabra]

Source: AP

OPELIKA, Ala. -- A former Army soldier who claimed to be mentally disturbed from his tour in Iraq has been convicted of capital murder in the abduction and shooting death of an Auburn University student from Georgia.

Twenty-six-year-old Courtney Lockhart was convicted Thursday in the killing of 18-year-old freshman Lauren Burk of Marietta, Ga.
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He could be sentenced to death or life without parole in the penalty phase, which was expected to begin soon after the conviction.

Burk was shot in the back as she attempted to jump from the car as Lockhart drove on the night of March 4, 2008. Lockhart's attorneys argued he was mentally troubled and that he didn't mean for the gun to go off.



Read more: http://www.macon.com/2010/11/18/1345927/iraq-vet-convicted-in-slaying.html

[greiner3]

1. Oh my gosh;

He's black. In Ga. She's white. And pretty;

http://www.ajc.com/news/lauren-burk-trial-jury-744732.html

And he actually made it to trial alive.

[CLANG]

3. Very sad...

[grahamhgreen]

2. That war really is keeping America safe.

:sarcasm:

[MadMaddie]

4. He murdered that girl and there is no excuse for it.

He deserves the harshest penalty.

May she RIP!

[Sonoman]

5. "didn't mean for the gun to go off."

Yep, that mean ol' gun just shot her. Just like that.

I feel for the guy, but he killed that poor girl.

Fuck him.

Sonoman

[emilyg]

6. His life was spared - hers was not.

[readmoreoften]

7. Well, if he has PTSD he could very well be delusional and hallucinating and there's a perfect

"excuse" for it. I know a vet (female) whose PTSD was so bad that she hallucinated constantly--she talked to people who weren't there, tried to rescue people trapped in the walls and ceilings. She dropped dead in her sleep in her 20s.

Since I have zero factual knowledge of this situation and I'm not on the jury, I'm not going to speculate.

It's a tragedy for the deceased and her family, and quite possibly a tragedy for him.

[MadMaddie]

8. I am not going to speculate but the fact is the whether he

was hallucinating or not, whether he had other issues the girl is dead and he shot her in the back.

Don't mistake that I don't care about our soldiars because I was one, I lay this at the feet of the government for not having more facilities. I blame Junior/Cheney for allowing the standards of acceptance into the military so low that criminals and mentally unstable people could join. This is a predictable outcome of bad policies.

I don't know this guys mental makeup and it really doesn't matter at this point she is dead by his hand.