COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—One of two Iraq war veterans scheduled to testify against another soldier in the death of a fellow Iraq war veteran could face first-degree murder charges after backing out of his plea agreement and refusing to testify.
Bruce Bastien had pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in the Dec. 1 slaying of Spc. Kevin Shields. During the trial of alleged triggerman Louis Bressler Wednesday, and with the jury out of the courtroom, Bastien’s attorneys told a judge that Bastien will not testify.
Deputy District Attorney Jack Roth told El Paso County District Judge Theresa Cisneros that he had not decided whether to refile first-degree murder and other charges that would carry a mandatory life sentence.
Bastien is serving 60 years in prison as part of a plea agreement that required him to testify against Bressler in Shields’ death and in the August 2007 death of fellow soldier Robert James. Bastien pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in James’ death.
“He’s got 60 years and he’s got to deal with it,” Roth said as he mulled whether to refile charges.
Bressler’s defense attorneys say Bastien and Kenneth Eastridge, a third former soldier charged in Shields’ death, are trying to frame Bressler for the slaying.
Prosecutors say Bressler killed Shields because he knew too much about robberies the men planned to commit, and also because he lost a fight to Shields earlier that night.
Roth worried about the possibility of a mistrial without Bastien’s testimony and asked Cisneros to compel Bastien to testify, which Cisneros rejected. The judge also rejected Roth’s request that Bastien tell the jury himself that he was refusing to testify, saying it would be prejudice the jury.
Eastridge, who pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in Shields’ death and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, testified Wednesday as Shields’ wife, mother and grandparents listened from the front row.
Under questioning from Deputy District Attorney Laurel Cain, Eastridge said he has received threats from Bressler and Bastien at the El Paso County jail, where all three are being held during the trial. He said Bastien tried to pay people to beat him up and Bressler one time hit a closed fist into the palm of another hand indicating “he’s going to smash me.”
During testimony earlier, Eastridge said a.38-caliber handgun shown to him in a box was the murder weapon. He said he disposed of it in a creek and he also helped get rid of bloody clothing and shoes because he was helping a friend who had bailed him out of jail and whom he was living with.
He also described the slaying in detail.
“We were having a great time,” Eastridge said of the four buddies who served together in Iraq and drank about 50 “test tube” shots at two nightclubs Nov. 30 and into the early hours of Dec. 1. They also bought Shields drinks in celebration of his birthday Dec. 1.
At some point after the bar closed, Eastridge said the four piled into Bastien’s car and got lost as they struggled to maintain consciousness and make their way home. At some point, he said, Bressler leaned out the front passenger window and threw up, hitting the rear passenger window where Shields was sitting.
Bastien stopped his car and Bressler and Shields, who were both sick, got out. Then they started to fight, with Bressler throwing wild punches, Eastridge said.
“He looked kind of goofy. He couldn’t hit Shields because he was too intoxicated,” Eastridge testified.
Shields, who Eastridge said wasn’t regarded as a good fighter, shoved Bressler to the ground and Bastien broke up the fight. After they got back into the car, Bressler started throwing up what appeared to be blood.
Bressler then starting choking Shields, who was in the front seat, Eastridge testified.
Details about that night were blurry, including how many times the four stopped and whether Shields was standing near a tree or utility pole when he was shot. Eastridge initially said it was a tree, but it was a utility pole.
Eastridge testified that he slid the .38 handgun across the back seat to Bressler before he got out and started dry heaving in an empty street in Old Colorado west of Colorado Springs.
Shields got out of the car and approached Bressler, who then shot Shields, firing off all five rounds in about three seconds, Eastridge said.
“He stiffened up, his hands balled up in a fist and he falls straight back,” he testified. When asked by prosecutor Cain who pulled the trigger he responded: “Bressler did.”
The attorneys may give closing statements by Friday.
Eastridge, Bastien and Bressler are three of at least five soldiers who were deployed to Iraq with the 4th Brigade Combat Team accused in slayings in the past 15 months. A sixth faces attempted murder charges.
Army commanders said they have formed a task force to identify any common factors in the slayings allegedly committed by the soldiers.
