Midland soldier was withdrawn

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - A former soldier who faces a possible death sentence for the rape and murder of an Iraqi teenager and the shooting of her family looked gaunt and was withdrawn after returning from Iraq, the man's aunt said Monday.

Former Pfc. Steven Dale Green's aunt, Patricia Ruth, said Green had little to say and spent much of his time during a visit with her near Dallas pacing around her back yard.

"I knew he had a difficult time," Ruth said.

Ruth's testimony came on the fifth day of the penalty phase of Green's trial as the ex-soldier's father, John Green, and uncle, David Green, listened from the court gallery for the first time. Both men declined to comment.

Ruth said Green's mother, Roxanne Simolke Carr, declined to attend the trial because she had planned to move this week.

"There was going to be a farewell party for her," Ruth said.

A jury convicted the 24-year-old Green on May 7 of rape, murder and other charges in the death of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the shooting death of her family in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, about 20 miles south of Baghdad in March 2006.

A nine-woman, three-man panel will decide if Green should be sentenced to death or imprisoned for life. U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell said the case will go to jurors either Tuesday or Wednesday.

During the penalty phase, defense attorneys have presented multiple witnesses about Green's mother and father and lack of a stable home life.

Green changed for the better after joining the military, Ruth said. Instead of slouching and constantly talking, he began standing up straight and appeared to have confidence before deploying to Iraq in September 2005, Ruth said.

After Green received an honorable discharge for having a personality disorder in May 2006, Ruth said, her nephew had changed again, smoking heavily and not talking much.

"I don't know. We did not send a rapist and murderer to Iraq," Ruth said. "I don't know how he got there, but that's not what we sent."

Jurors also heard from Peter Houck, a Roman Catholic deacon from Louisville, who has counseled Green during his three years in jail awaiting trial. Houck, a military veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, said Green has converted to Catholicism and shown an interest in continuing to explore his faith.

"I was very interested in him because he seemed so interested in making some progress in his own life, making something of it," Houck said.