U.S. Army Staff Sgt Robert Bales appeared in court on Wednesday and pled guilty to 16 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and seven counts of assault for the crimes he committed in March of 2012.

In a plea agreement with the prosecutors, Bale agreed to plead guilty to those charges in order to avoid the death penalty.

In March of 2012, Bales was stationed at Camp Belambay as base security for Special Forces and Navy Seals tasked with village stabilty operations.It was then that Bales went house to house on a killing spree in two villages killing 16 people in the early morning hours of March 11th after snorting valium and drinking alcohol. He also admitted in court that he was taking steroids three times a week in an effort to build himself up for missions. He was armed with a 9mm pistol and an M-4 rifle fitted with a grenade launcher.

After attacking the villagers in the village of Alkozai, Bales returned to the base and woke up a fellow soldier and told him what he had done. That soldier did not believe Bales’ story and went back to sleep. Bales then left the base again and went to the second village of Najiban where he continued his carnage.

Bales appeared at his military tribunal dressed in miltary uniform at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside of Seattle. In court, after announcing his guilty pleas, he described the killings to the judge. When the judge, Col. Jeffery Nance asked him why he did it, Bales replied, “There’s not a good reason in this world for why I did the horrible things I did.”

When asked by Judge Nance if he had set the villagers on fire after killing them, Bales stated that he didn’t remember doing it but said he did see a lantern there and had matches in his pocket. He said, “It’s the only thing that makes sense, Sir.”

According to his lawyers, Bales suffered from traumatic brain injury as well as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Bales was on his fourth tour of duty in his decade-long career in the military. He had previously completed three tours in Iraq. John Henry Browne, attorney for Bales said that Bales should have not been given another combat tour after Bales suffered head injuries during his last tour in Iraq. Bale has been the recipient of twelve awards and decorations during his time in the military.

Bales has stated that he had been upset about an explosion the day before he went on his rampage, during that explosion a friend of his, a fellow soldier had his leg blown off. Also, three days before his rageful incursion into the villages, his house was put up for sale because of financial difficulties and he had previously been passed over for promotion.

His attacks on the villages created such an uproar in Afghanistan that combat operations in that country were temporarily halted.

A sentencing hearing in Bale’s case will be held in August. At that time, his sentence will be handed down and it will be determined if Bales will be eligible for parole in 10 years.