A former US soldier convicted of rape and murder in Iraq was spared the death penalty on Thursday and will get a life sentence after jurors couldn't agree unanimously on a punishment.
Former Pfc. Steven Dale Green raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in March 2006 and murdered her and her family in their home south of Baghdad.
Jurors had deliberated the penalty for the former 101st Airborne Division member since Wednesday afternoon and decided Thursday on a life sentence. A judge will formally sentence him September 4.
The 24-year-old from Midland, Texas, was convicted May 7. He and three other soldiers went to the family's home, where Green and two others raped the teen. Green killed her parents and sister, then the teenager.
