‘Husband innocent of murders’, says wife of US sergeant

Kari Bales, pictured, the wife of a US Army staff sergeant accused of killing 16 villagers in Afghanistan in March, said yesterday she still believed her husband was innocent.

But she also said she had not asked Robert Bales, who is charged by the US military with 16 counts of murder, what happened on 11 March.

Bales is accused of walking off his base under cover of darkness and opening fire on civilians in their homes in at least two villages.

He faces the death penalty if convicted of the murders.