SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. Army is seeking the death penalty against a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a predawn rampage in March, a punishment some experts say could be hard for prosecutors to obtain given that he was serving his fourth deployment at the time.

The announcement Wednesday followed a pretrial hearing last month for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, who faces premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan.