Fort Hood Shooter Could Join 5 Others on Death Row

Nidal Malik Hasan Is Believed to Be Paralyzed From Waist Down

The accused Fort Hood gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan will be tried by a court martial, and prosecutors will have the option of seeking the death penalty.

Photo: US Military's Death Row
The U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, Kans., a prison better known as the Castle.
(U.S Army)

If he is convicted of a capital crime, Hasan could join five other men ranging from a fellow Muslim soldier who "fragged" other U.S. soldiers with a grenade at the start of the Iraq war to a serial rapist and murderer.

The number of Hasan's alleged victims - 13 dead - far exceed the number of any of the other convicted killers on the military death row. The Wall Street Journal reported today that prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Hasan.

It's not clear whether Hasan's medical condition could affect whether he would be confined to the military's death row, which is located a secluded corridor of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Hasan's lawyer said today that his client is likely paralyzed below the waist.

"The U.S. Disciplinary Barracks is built to American Disability Act compliance, and to remain ADA compliant, has handicap accessible cells," said Rebecca Steed, spokeswoman for the army garrison at Ft. Leavenworth.

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If Hasan does eventually get sentenced to die, he will likely spend a long time on death row. The military has sentenced 15 servicemen to death since 1984, the year President Reagan reinstated the death penalty. But due to appeals, commutations and stays, just five men remain in the unit for the condemned.

John Bennet was the last soldier to be executed by the military. He was hanged in 1961, convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Australian girl.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the president must sign the order for an inmate to be executed.

If Hasan is convicted and condemned to die, this is who his final cellmates would be:

Hasan K. Akbar

Hasan Akbar was sentenced to death in 2005 for a 2003 grenade attack a tent full of fellow soldiers in Iraq .

Hasan K. Akbar, 38, is the most recent addition to the military's death row. Accused of throwing a grenade into a tent of sleeping soldiers from his own brigade, the former Army sergeant was convicted of murdering two people and attempted murder of 16 other soldiers by a court martial in 2005.

Prosecutors said Akbar, a Muslim convert, carried out the attack on the 101st Airborne Division's Kuwaiti camp to achieve "maximum carnage" on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Prosecutors said Akbar told them he carried out the attacks to prevent the soldiers from killing Muslims in Iraq.

He was the first American soldier accused of killing fellow soldiers since the Vietnam War.

His case is currently under review as part of the military's automatic appeals process.

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