"As far as why, I've asked that question a million times since then. There is no good reason in this world for why I did the horrible things I did." American soldier Robert Bales told the judge who probed him during his trial.

The U.S. soldier pleaded guilty of killing 6 Afghan civilians on March 11, 2012, Reuters reported. He told court that he left his Army post in the Afghan province of Kandahar and committed a slew of killing of unarmed civilians in family compounds. Most of his victims were children and women.

Mr. Bales admitted using illegal steroids to muscle up his body and hasten his recovery time during missions. However, he also admitted that these illegal drugs "increased my irritability and anger."

In a 2012 pre-trial which lasted for nine days, witnesses swore that Mr. Bales was greatly affected when a fellow soldier lost a leg due to a bomb blast which happened in his Army post.

One witness also told court that, in hours before Mr. Bales did the killings, he was in a drinking spree with a fellow soldier while watching Denzel Washington's film titled Man on Fire. The movie portrayed the lead star as an ex-assassin who was bent to revenge a child's death. The movie had scenes showing the actor in slew of killing using his gun.

After the drinking spree, Mr. Bales was seen leaving the camp.

A video footage taken by security cameras showed him coming back to the camp wearing a cape made from what seemed like a bed sheet and a rug. Three soldiers stopped him, ordered him to drop his weapons and arrested him.

Corporal David Godwin told the court that Mr. Bales seemed like out of his proper mind and that he kept saying the words, "I thought I was doing the right thing. It's bad. It's bad. It's really bad."

In the trial that happened on Wednesday, the judge asked Mr. Bales if he was acting out of self defense or following an order or if he had any legal justification to his deed. Mr. Bales said crisply, "No, sir."

The judge asked, "Could you have avoided killing them if you wanted to?"

Mr. Bales responded, "Yes sir, I formed the intent to kill as I raised my weapon."

Mr. Bales admitted that his memories of the killings were blurred, but he remembered seeing a lantern and matches were later found in his possession. He said that it was only through witnesses' testimony that he had known about him using kerosene in burning the victims.

His Deed

"Their brains were still on the pillows, "according to Mullah Khamal Adin, 39, in his video recorded testimony. He was describing how he found his relatives dead in their family compound. He said that most of the bodies were piled in one room.

A farmer, Haji Naim, testified how Mr. Bales fired gunshots aimlessly at everyone. In his testimony, he kept asking the soldier, "What are you doing? What are you doing?" But the soldier continued his deed. "He shot me right here, right here and right here" Mr. Naim pointed to several bullet scar incurred during the slew of firing.

A young girl said that she hid behind her father to save herself from the gunshots. Other boys said that they hid behind curtains while shouting "We are children! We are children!"

During the trial, Mr. Bales read his charges and admitted that he killed ten people by shooting and burning them while he killed six others by gunshots only.

Mr. Bales admitted in court, "I then killed her by shooting her with a firearm and burning her. This act was without legal justification."

What Awaits Robert Bales?

Lawyers of Mr. Bales argued in court that their client was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury even before his deployment in Afghanistan. For this reason, their client was not in proper mental condition when he did the crime.

Prosecutors agreed that due to the mitigating circumstance of Mr. Bales pleading guilty, he should not be given the death penalty.

Another trial was set in August for the court to decide whether Mr. Bales deserves a parole.