Attorney John Henry Browne speaks to the media about his client, a U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians.
By msnbc.com staff and NBC News
WASHINGTON ? A senior American official said Thursday that the U.S. soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers had been drinking alcohol that night and was suffering from the stress of a fourth combat tour and tension with his wife, The New York Times reported.
?When it all comes out, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues ? he just snapped,? the official said, according to the Times. The newspaper said the official had been briefed on the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because the soldier has not been formally charged.
A Seattle-based lawyer who said he had been asked to represent the the Army staff sergeant said the soldier's name would be released Friday, NBC News reported.
The Times reported that the U.S. official said the military was preparing to move him to a prison in the United States as early as Friday, most likely to Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Read The New York Times account
The sergeant had been flown to a detention site in Kuwait on Thursday, but the Times said the official told it that there was a diplomatic uproar when Kuwait learned from news reports that the soldier had arrived at an American base there. The official said that "the Kuwaitis blew a gasket and wanted him out of there.?
The Times said the official's account had been confirmed by a senior official at the Pentagon.
At a news conference Thursday evening, attorney John Henry Browne, who said he was representing the soldier, said it would be at least a few weeks until charges are filed.
Browne said he had spoken briefly with the soldier but had not discussed facts of the case. Brown rejected news reports that the soldier and his wife had marital problems, saying there was "lots of love and respect" in the family. He has two children, ages 3 and 4.
He told the Seattlepi.com that when he spoke with the man by phone on Thursday, the man ?certainly wasn?t agitated.?
?Shock would describe it,? the attorney said.
Browne said that the soldier had suffered a concussion and a serious foot injury during deployments to Iraq. He told The New York Times that the soldier had grown up in the Midwest. Browne told The Associated Press that?his client saw his friend's leg blown off the day before the rampage. Browne said that according to his client's family, he was standing next to another U.S. soldier when that solder was gravely injured.
The soldier in custody?is 38, married and has two children. Sources have told NBC News that he enlisted soon after 9/11, trained as a sniper and was based at Joint Base Lewis McChord, about an hour south of Seattle. He served three tours in Iraq.
He arrived in Afghanistan in December and was assigned to a village stability operation. He is accused of slipping off the base early Sunday, walking to a village, entering homes and opening fire. Among the dead were nine children and three women. Of the 16, 11 came from one family. Five others were injured.
Karzai: Get U.S. troops out of our villages
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has said the death penalty may be applied in this case. ?
Browne, who recently represented Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called Barefoot Bandit, said he has spoken with the soldier?s family ? who Army officials said had been moved onto the base for their safety.
Browne said he has only handled three or four military cases before, the AP reported. The soldier will also have at least one military lawyer.
NBC News' Miguel Almaguer contributed to this report by msnbc.com staff.
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