One of the Fort Carson servicemen charged in the deaths of two fellow soldiers also told investigators he and another suspect would shoot at random civilians while stationed in Iraq.
Pfc. Bruce Bastien said he and Kenneth Eastridge injured at least one Iraqi civilian during streets patrols of Baghdad, according to documents filed Tuesday in El Paso County district court documents by Deputy District Attorney Robin Chittum.
Bastien made the admission while detailing their alleged involvement and that of Louis Bressler in the shootings of Spc. Kevin Shields and Pfc. Robert James , in which the men face charges of first-degree murder.
James was shot Aug. 4 multiple times in the parking lot of the Bank of Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and Shields shot while celebrating his 24th birthday Dec. 1, the documents said.
According to the court documents, Bastien said that Bressler shot both the victims with a .38 caliber handgun, which Eastridge helped to dispose of following Shields’ death, and robbed them while they used his car.
Eastridge, Bastien told investigators, was only involved in James’ death, but Bastien implicated all three men in a number of other shootings, a stabbing and aggravated robbery known to Colorado Springs police.
The documents filed by Chittum request that the two homocides be joined under one judge to ensure consistency.
Bastien’s statements about potential crimes in Iraq were made to an Army CID special agent on Dec. 10, 2007, the motion said. Bastien said that while he drove on patrol in Baghdad, Eastridge would shoot at random Iraqi civilians.
Bastien said that at least one civilian was hit, the documents said.
Bastien said that they used stolen AK-47s to fire at civilians. The sound is distinctive and if the shooting was heard the soldiers could claim they were taking hostile fire, Bastien told the army investigator.
Shields, Bressler, Eastridge and Bastien served together in Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The soldiers were in the same platoon of C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment. All four came home this spring and summer, months earlier than other soldiers in the unit.
James served with Fort Carson’s 43rd Area Support Group and served in Iraq. It was unclear how he knew the suspects, though investigators believe he was killed as part of a robbery.
Tira Bressler told The Gazette of Colorado Springs that her husband was being “setup” and that he was “wrongfully accused.”
“I talked to my husband…. He said ‘Why would I harm a good friend from Iraq?,”‘ Tira Bressler told The Gazette.
Both Bressler and Eastridge were trained as infantry riflemen. Eastridge was wounded in combat and had received the Purple Heart and Army Achievement medals, Army records show.
Bastien served as a medic, earning the combat medical badge for rendering aid under enemy fire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cassie Hewlings: 303-954-1638 or chewlings@denverpost.com.
