United States v . Hasan K . Akbar United States v . Hasan K . Akbar was the court - martial of a United States Army soldier for a premeditated attack in the early morning hours of March 23 , 2003 at Camp Pennsylvania , Kuwait during the start of the United States invasion of Iraq . Former Sergeant Hasan Karim Akbar ( born Mark Fidel Kools on April 21 , 1971 ) threw four hand grenades into three tents in which other members of the 101st Airborne Division were sleeping , and fired his rifle at fellow soldiers in the ensuing chaos . Army Captain Christopher S . Seifert was fatally shot in the back , and Air Force Major Gregory L . Stone was killed by a grenade . Fourteen other soldiers were wounded by Akbar , mostly from grenade shrapnel . At trial , Akbar ' s military defense attorneys contended that Akbar had psychiatric problems , including paranoia , irrational behavior , insomnia , and other sleep disorders . In April 2005 , he was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of Seifert and Stone . The Army Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the sentence on July 13 , 2012 . A subsequent appeal is now pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces . Akbar was the first soldier since the Vietnam War to be convicted for " fragging " fellow soldiers overseas during wartime . He continues to be confined at the United States Disciplinary Barracks awaiting disposition of his sentence . Background . Akbar was born Mark Fidel Kools on April 21 , 1971 and grew up in Watts , Los Angeles , California . His father John Kool converted to Islam while in prison on a gang - related charge , and changed his surname to Akbar before his release in 1974 . Akbar ' s mother later converted to Islam before marrying William M . Bilal , also a Muslim convert . She took the name Quran Bilal . She changed her son ' s name to Hasan Karim Akbar , to reflect his father ' s surname and their religion . He was raised from a young age as a Muslim . In 1988 , Ackbar was admitted to the University of California , Davis . He graduated nine years later in 1997 with Bachelor ' s degrees in both Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering . The university said that Kools had stopped and restarted his studies during those years , lengthening the time it took him to complete his degrees . He participated in the Reserve Officers ' Training Corps during college , but he did not receive a commission . Deeply in debt , he joined the Army as an enlisted member . A few years later , Akbar was a Sergeant / E - 5 and a sapper assigned to Company A , 326th Engineer Battalion , 101st Airborne Division . By March 2003 , elements of the division were staging at Camp Pennsylvania , a U . S . military encampment in the Northern desert of Kuwait , in connection with the upcoming invasion of Iraq . In the early morning hours of March 23 , 2003 , Akbar turned off a power generator which was operating lights in the area where the attack occurred . Next , Akbar threw four M67 fragmentation hand grenades into three tents in which other members of the division were sleeping , causing numerous injuries . In the resulting chaos , Akbar also fired his M4 rifle at fellow soldiers . Killed were Army Captain Christopher S . Seifert , assistant S - 2 of the 1st Brigade , 101st Airborne Division ] ] and Air Force Major Gregory L . Stone , a member of the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron , Idaho Air National Guard . Seifert , age 27 , was fatally shot in the back , while Stone , age 40 , suffered 83 shrapnel wounds . Fourteen other soldiers were injured . Court - martial . In 2005 , Akbar , the sole suspect , was tried by court martial at Fort Bragg , North Carolina before a military jury of nine officers , ranking from Major to Colonel , and six senior non - commissioned officers . The jury was composed of thirteen men and two women . Although Akbar confessed to the crimes , his lawyers claimed during the 2005 trial that he had a history of mental illness which was known to the military . Background accounts of Akbar ' s life suggested previous difficulties in adjusting to university and to the military . His father John Akbar was reported by the Associated Press as saying that his son had told him of complaining to superiors about " religious and racial harassment . " The defense did not produce any witnesses at the his court martial related to this assertion . Akbar ' s superiors considered his performance in the Army substandard . While assigned to the 326th Engineer Battalion , he was demoted from a squad leader position and given lower - level tasks . Fellow soldiers said that Akbar was isolated , “ rarely in the company of others and was seen talking to himself . ” In Akbar ' s early years with the unit , superiors had noted the sergeant had " an attitude problem . " Military officials attributed Akbar ' s motive in the immediate case to resentment . Akbar was reported as having been recently reprimanded for insubordination , and was told he would not join his unit ' s push into Iraq . Excerpts from his diary have been released . In an entry dated February 4 , 2003 , Akbar referred to mistreatment by his fellow soldiers : In another entry written before the attack , Akbar wrote : " I may not have killed any Muslims , but being in the army is the same thing . I may have to make a choice very soon on who to kill . " Prosecutors alleged in the court martial that his diary entries , together with his actions of stealing hand grenades and turning off the generator that lit the camp , showed that the attack was premeditated . His conviction on these charges led to the death sentence . His military defense attorneys said that Akbar was diagnosed with psychiatric problems at the age of 14 . He had suffered worsening symptoms in the military , which included " paranoia , irrational behavior , insomnia and other sleep disorders , " making it impossible for him to do his job . During his court martial , Akbar tried to explain his actions : he said he felt his life was " in jeopardy " and he had " other problems " . At one point during his trial , Akbar smuggled a sharp object out of a conference room . He asked the Military Police officer guarding him to remove his hand cuffs so he might use the restroom . When the MP removed the restraints , Akbar stabbed the MP in the shoulder and neck before being wrestled to the ground by another MP . The presiding judge did not allow this attack to be admitted as evidence prior to sentencing . On April 21 , 2005 , Akbar was found guilty of two counts of [ [ premeditated murder ] ] and three counts of attempted premeditated murder . He was sentenced to death on April 28 after the jury deliberated for approximately seven hours . On November 20 , 2006 , Lieutenant General John Vines , commander of the 18th Airborne Corps , affirmed the death sentence against Akbar . Under an automatic appeal because of the sentence , the case was forwarded to the [ [ Army Court of Criminal Appeals ] ] , which upheld the sentence on July 13 , 2012 . Afterwards , the case was automatically appealed to the [ [ United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ] ] , with a final right of appeal to the United States Supreme Court . Once Akbar ' s appeals are exhausted and if his sentence stands , the President of the United States in his role as Commander in Chief would order the execution to take place , which is currently done by lethal injection . Akbar continues to be confined at the [ [ United States Disciplinary Barracks ] ] awaiting disposition of his sentence . References . [ [ Category : Murder in Kuwait ] ] [ [ Category : Murder in 2003 ] ]