Soldier says he shot comrades in self-defense

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — An Army sergeant facing a possible death sentence in the slaying of a superior and another U.S. soldier says he killed both men in self-defense, firing blindly after they threatened him at a patrol base in Iraq.

Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich wept as he testified today at his court-martial at Fort Stewart. He said Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson and Sgt. Wesley Durbin pointed guns at his head after Bozicevich refused to sign written critiques that could have cost him his rank.

Defense attorney Charles Gittins told the military jury that a psychiatrist will testify Bozicevich suffers from delusions. But he says Bozicevich truly believed his life was in peril.

Prosecutors say the 41-year-old Bozicevich killed both soldiers in anger in September 2008 after they critiqued him for poor performance.