Former Fort Carson soldier's murder case goes to mediation

UPDATE: MURDER TRIAL OF IRAQ WAR VETERAN

The case: The body of a Fort Carson soldier was found in August 2007 riddled with bullets in the parking lot of a bank on Lake Avenue. A witness told Colorado Springs police the victim was robbed of cash as he begged for his life before being shot at point-blank range, according to an arrest affidavit.

The victim: Pfc. Robert James, 24, was an Iraq War veteran.

The suspect: Louis Bressler, 25, is charged with first-degree murder in James' homicide. Bressler is also an Iraq War veteran. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder last month in the December 2007 shooting death of Fort Carson Spc. Kevin Shields and faces up to 48 years in prison. He has also been charged in the Oct. 2, 2007, stabbing of a 19-year-old Colorado Springs woman.

What's new: Bressler's trial in the James homicide, scheduled to start Monday, was delayed so the two sides could try to mediate a disposition. The key witness against Bressler, co-defendant Bruce Bastien Jr., pleaded guilty in the James and Shields homicides and was supposed to testify in both trials in exchange for a 60-year prison sentence. But Bastien refused to testify.

What's next: Bressler is due back in court Dec. 12 for a scheduling conference. He is being held without bond at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.