The wife of Afghan massacre suspect Sgt. Robert Bales issued a statement Monday, extending her condolences to the families of the victims and saying she “cannot shed any light on what happened that night, so please do not ask.”
In the statement, Karilyn Bales said what happened in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, “was a terrible and heartbreaking tragedy.”
“Our family has little information beyond what we read and see in the media,” Karilyn Bales said. “What has been reported is completely out of character of the man I know and admire.
She asked the news media “to respect the trauma that I and my extended family are experiencing. Please allow us some peace and time as we try to makes sense of something that makes no sense at all."
“All I can do now is emphasize my sadness and my condolences to the families in Panjawal for their terrible loss. The victims and their families are all in my prayers, as is my husband who I love very much.”
Karilyn Bales' statement adds to a complex portrait that has emerged of Bales who has been described as a friendly former high school athlete but also a man who had several run-ins with the law while on base.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Bales joined the military months after he was accused of financial fraud involving the retirement account of a client in Ohio. A ruling by a disciplinary board for brokers and brokerage houses found that Bales and the owner of the firm took part in unauthorized trading, the Post reported.
An arbiter ordered Bales and the owner of the firm owner to pay the elderly man $1.4 million. The man told the Post he “never got a penny,” and Bales never attended an arbitration hearing in the case.
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