US soldier accused of murdering sons testifies

A US Army soldier accused of murdering her two young children by drowning them in the bathtub at their home gave tearful testimony today before a court-martial in the western German city of Mannheim.

Specialist Lillie Morgan admits killing her three-year-old son Joshua and two-month-old daughter Jazmin in a case that recalls that of Andrea Yates, a mother of five sentenced to life in Texas last month for drowning her children.

Prosecutors say the 22-year-old acted out of revenge against a husband she suspected of cheating on her. Defence attorneys, meanwhile, are pleading insanity resulting from Morgan’s own fraught childhood.

Morgan, of Marksville, Tennessee, testified for about four hours under questioning first from her attorneys and then by prosecutors.

Hilde Patton, a spokeswoman for the US Army’s V Corps, based in Heidelberg, said: ‘‘She told the court in her own words how she grew up, how she experienced her relationships with her mother, her husband’’ and other relatives.

Prompted by indirect questions, she also told of the events leading up to the killings last September 18 at her military accommodation in Hanau, Germany.

‘‘There were times when she cried and got upset,’’ Patton said.

Earlier this week, prosecutors presented testimony from an Army forensic pathologist and autopsy photos of the children as they argued that Morgan had committed a ‘‘perfectly evil’’ murder out of jealousy and the desire to get back at her husband.

Defence attorney Captain Tom Fleener has countered that an ‘‘incredibly dysfunctional’’ family history of neglect, drugs, sexual abuse and mental illnesses lay behind the killing.

Coupled with alleged abuse from her husband, the father of the younger child, Morgan suffered a ‘‘psychotic meltdown’’, Fleener told the court on Tuesday, and was innocent as charged.

Morgan’s husband, a former American soldier, is not under investigation in connection with the killings.

The trial was to continue on Monday with witness testimony. Army judge Lt Colonel Stephen Henley - Morgan waived her right to a jury trial - is expected to reach a verdict next week.

Morgan could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. A specialist ranks above a private 1st class, but below a corporal.