Islamic State ‘Beatle’ faces sentence in U.S. court for murdering hostages
By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A member of an Islamic State militant group nicknamed “The Beatles” that beheaded American hostages is because of face a U.S. choose on Friday who will decide whether or not to topic him to a lifetime of near-solitary confinement.
U.S. District Choose T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia, will maintain a sentencing listening to for London-born Alexanda Kotey, who pleaded responsible to murdering U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and assist staff Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
Hostages held by Kotey and his fellow militants nicknamed them “The Beatles” for his or her British accents. The listening to is anticipated to incorporate hours of emotional testimony from victims’ members of the family.
The costs carry a compulsory life sentence, however Ellis will make a suggestion about Kotey’s jail facility and whether or not he must be separated from different inmates in near-solitary confinement.
In a court docket submitting, Kotey’s legal professionals urged Ellis to consider Kotey’s acceptance of guilt and his settlement to offer info to U.S. investigators.
U.S. authorities have suggested British officers that prosecutors is not going to search the dying penalty towards Kotey.
Kotey was a citizen of the UK, however the British authorities withdrew his citizenship. His Islamic State cell took journalists and assist staff hostage, tortured them and circulated videotapes of grotesque beheadings on the web.
Kotey admitted to inflicting torture on hostages, together with waterboarding and electrical shocks with a stun gun.
One other “Beatles” member, El Shafee Elsheikh, confronted trial final month. After 4 hours of deliberations, a federal jury in Virginia discovered Elsheikh responsible on costs together with deadly hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit homicide.
Ellis is scheduled to condemn Elsheikh in September.
A 3rd member of the “Beatles” group, Mohammed Emwazi, died in a U.S.-British missile strike in Syria in 2015.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Modifying by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
