A U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan women and children is described by friends as a "regular" family guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 38, lives in the wooded, rural neighbourhood of Lake Tapps about 56 kilometres south of Seattle, Wash. with his wife and two young children.
"I just can't believe Bob's the guy who did this," said Paul Wohlberg, who lives next door and is friendly with the Bales family.
"A good guy got put in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . I never thought something like this would happen to him," he said.
Kassie Holland, who also lives next door, said she would often see Bales playing with his two kids and the family together at the modern split-level home.
"My reaction is that I'm shocked," she said. "I can't believe it was him. There were no signs. It's really sad. I don't want to believe that he did it."
Holland said Bales always had a good attitude about his military service, showing no signs of bitterness, anger or expressing any emotion toward it.
"He's one of the best guys I ever worked with," Bales' former platoon leader, Army Capt. Chris Alexander, said Saturday.
"He is not some psychopath. He's an outstanding soldier who has given a lot for this country."
But on March 11, military officials said Bales left his army base in Panjwai district near Kandahar, walked to two nearby villages and allegedly shot 16 Afghans to death, including nine children and three women, setting some of the bodies on fire.
Shortly after the shootings, a man identified by the military as Bales returned to the base with a traditional Afghan shawl covering his gun, put the weapon on the ground at the gate and raised his hands in surrender.
A surveillance camera in an overhead security blimp captured the surreal images. The military identified Bales as a suspect Friday, although formal charges haven't been filed. His identity had been kept secret since the March 11 shootings.
Bales was flown Friday from a base in Kuwait to the military's only maximum-security prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Afghan officials were furious that he was removed from the country and had been seeking a trial in Afghanistan.
Records show Bales enlisted in the Army about two months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and served with the 3rd Stryker Brigade based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord since 2002.
He became a staff sergeant in April 2008, following a second deployment to Iraq. He served one more tour in Iraq before his fourth deployment to Afghanistan in December. Bales was assigned to the district where the shooting occurred in February.
Beau Britt, who lives across the street from the Bales, said he sympathized with his neighbour for having to serve four tours in combat zones.
"I can understand he's probably quite wracked mentally, so I just hope that things are justified in court. I hope it goes OK," he said.
The Bales bought the Lake Tapps home in 2005, records show. It was put up for sale on Monday, the day after the attack, and was listed at $229,000. Boxes were piled at the front porch and a U.S. flag leaned against the building's side.
Robert Bales didn't have a spotless record outside of the military.
He completed 20 hours of anger-management counselling following a 2002 arrest at a Tacoma, Wash. hotel for assault, his attorney John Henry Browne said. The case involved a woman other than Bales' wife, whom he married in 2005.
A court docket shows Bales pleaded not guilty, accepted the counselling and the case was dismissed.
Records also associated with Bales show that in 2009 he had a hit-and-run charge dismissed in municipal court in Sumner.
The Bales' family said they saw no signs of aggression or anger, Browne said.
"They were totally shocked," by accounts of the massacre, Browne said. "He's never said anything antagonistic about Muslims. He's in general very mild-mannered."
He denied reports that Bales had marital problems, saying he and his wife have a solid relationship.
But one military official has said Bales was drinking the night of the massacre, something against combat zones regulations.
And, on March 10, the day before the shooting spree, Browne said Bales saw his friend's leg blown off. Browne said his client's family provided him with that information, which has not been independently verified.
Browne didn't know if his client had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, but said it could be an issue at trial if experts believe it's relevant.
Experts on PTSD said witnessing the injury of a fellow soldier and the soldier's own previous injuries put him at risk.
Bales wasn't one to talk to his neighbours about his military exploits, but in a 2009 article published in the Fort Lewis Northwest Guardian, he talked about finding many dead and wounded when his unit was sent to recover a downed Apache helicopter in Iraq.
"I've never been more proud to be a part of this unit than that day, for the simple fact that we discriminated between the bad guys and the noncombatants and then afterward we ended up helping the people that three or four hours before were trying to kill us," Bales was quoted as saying.
In three tours of duty, Browne said his client was injured twice - one of those injuries required the surgical removal of part of one foot. In a vehicle accident, Bales suffered a concussion, he said.
Bales received more than 20 awards and commendations, including three Army Good Conduct medals, but military files show a largely unremarkable service record, with no Purple Heart for combat injuries.
Last year, he was passed over for a promotion, according to a posting by his wife on her blog, The Bales Family Adventures.
"It is very disappointing after all of the work Bob has done and all the sacrifices he has made for his love of his country, family and friends," Karilyn Bales wrote on the blog, which could not be independently verified.
"I am sad and disappointed too, but I am also relieved, we can finally move on to the next phase of our lives."
