Alcohol, drugs a factor in killing spree

Military prosecutors said Friday saying Staff Sgt. Robert Bales had been drinking and taking steroids before a killing spree in Afghanistan. In a new charge sheet, prosecutors say Bales killed 16 people, not 17, as initially reported, the Los Angeles Times said. Prosecutors say one of the victims was double-counted when the number was given as 17. Prosecutors did not say Bales acted under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The charge sheet says he violated military law by their use while he was at an outpost near the town of Belambay. Bales faces 16 counts of murder, six of attempted murder and six of assault in the March 11 incident. He faces another assault charge for allegedly beating an Afghan man in February. A defense lawyer said Friday that Bales did not have a drinking problem. "He was not an alcoholic," Emma Scanlan said. "The allegation that he may have used a limited amount of alcohol does not mean that alcohol fueled some kind of homicidal rage."