FRANKFURT —An Islamic extremist who killed two U.S. airmen in an attack at Frankfurt airport last year was convicted of murder Friday and sentenced to life in prison.
Arid Uka, 22, also was convicted of attempted murder and serious bodily harm for wounding two other servicemen and for taking aim at a third before his pistol jammed.
Uka killed Senior Airman Nicholas Alden, 25, and Airman 1st Class Zachary Cuddeback, 21, in the March 2 attack on an Air Force security team headed for Afghanistan as its members boarded a bus at the airport.
Staff Sgt. Kristoffer Schneider survived devastating injuries from a head wound. Another airman, Edgar Veguilla, was hit in the jaw and arm.
Judge Thomas Sagebiel ruled at the state court in Frankfurt that the circumstances of the killing mean Uka bears “particularly severe guilt.”
That means he won’t immediately be eligible for parole after 15 years, as is usual in Germany, but must wait several more years for his behavior and possibility for rehabilitation to be reviewed.
