U.S. peacekeeper to face trial in rape, killing of Kosovo girl

June 7, 2000
Web posted at: 12:44 AM EDT (0444 GMT)

WURZBURG, Germany (CNN) -- A U.S. peacekeeper charged with murder, rape and sodomy of an 11-year-old Albanian girl in Kosovo will face trial, but will not be eligible for the death penalty, according to the U.S. military.

Staff Sergeant Frank Ronghi, 35, a 12-year Army veteran from Ohio, is to face court-martial at the First Infantry Division courtroom on Leighton Barracks in Wurzburg, Germany, the military said on Tuesday.

An arraignment date has not been set, the military said.

The decision not to seek the death penalty was made by the commander of Ronghi's division following an Article 32 investigation, the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing, into the charges against the soldier.

If prosecutors had sought the death penalty, Ronghi would had to have been tried outside Germany because the country does not have capital punishment.

The military did not elaborate on why Ronghi's commander opted not to seek the death penalty in the case.

Ronghi is accused of killing Merita Shabiu, an 11-year-old girl whose body was found in the snow-covered countryside near the southwestern Kosovo town of Vitina on January 11.

Ronghi is currently being held in Mannheim, Germany, and is charged with premeditated murder, indecent acts with a child, rape, forcible sodomy and felony murder.

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