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An El Paso County district court judge has declined to move the murder trial of an Iraq veteran charged with murdering another war veteran.
Judge Theresa Cisneros on Friday denied a request by Bruce Alan Bastien Jr. for a change of venue.
The 22-year-old Bastien is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 24-year-old Spc. Kevin Shields on Dec. 1.
Trial is scheduled for July 28.
Bastien also is accused of robbing and killing 24-year-old Pfc. Robert James on Aug. 4. His trial in that case is set for Oct. 6.
Bastien, Shields and James were all Iraq war veterans and at one time had served in the same unit.
One other soldier is charged in both deaths and a third is charged in Shields’ death.
The Associated Press
