(MCT) — SEATTLE — In seeking a death-penalty court-martial for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, Army prosecutors Tuesday portrayed the Lewis-McChord soldier as a methodical, deliberate killer who was lucid and conscious after he allegedly went on a murderous rampage in two Afghan villages.

“Terrible, terrible things happened. That is clear. The second thing that is clear, sir, is that Staff Sgt. Bales did it,” said Army prosecutor Maj. Robert Stelle in a closing argument in a preliminary hearing to investigate charges against Bales. The Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier is accused of killing 16 unarmed Afghans, mostly women and children, and wounding six others on March 11.