Fort Stewart Soldier Sentenced to Life Without Parole

A Fort Stewart soldier was sentenced Wednesday to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder of two fellow service members and the grave wounding of a third, the Associated Press reports.

Spc. Neftaly Platero was found guilty Tuesday of the murders of Pfc. Gebrah Noonan and Spc. John Carillo Jr. and the attempted murder of Spc. Jeffrey Shonk. Noonan, Carillo and Shonk were shot in September 2010 in the room they shared with Platero while the four were deployed to Iraq.

The military jury deliberated for only an hour Wednesday before returning with the sentence, the AP reported. Prosecutors had decided not to seek the death penalty, and the crime carried a minimum sentence of life imprisonment. However, the jury had the choice to grant Platero the opportunity for eventual parole.

Prosecutors maintained that Platero shot his three roommates after complaining to superiors that they were not keeping the room they shared clean enough to suit him. Defense attorney Guy Womack, however, insisted that there was little physical evidence linking Platero to the shootings.

Platero's case will get an automatic appeal at the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the AP reported.

Read more about the Platero case: