Another felony added to soldier's charges

Prosecutors Thursday filed another felony charge against a Fort Carson soldier who admitted raping and killing a Colorado Springs woman.

Spc. Robert Hull Marko, 21, now faces 22 counts including first-degree murder, sexual assault, assault and kidnapping.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Debbie Pearson added a count of sexual exploitation of a child. She told 4th Judicial District Judge Larry Schwartz during a motions hearing that investigators found a DVD among items taken from Marko's residence that had more than 20 pictures of child pornography.

Marko admitted to raping and killing 19-year-old Judilianna "Judi" Lawrence Oct. 13. He led El Paso County sheriff's detectives to her body, about three miles up Old Stage Road.

Her throat had been slashed.

Lawrence's mother has said she suffered from severe attention-deficit disorder, was unable to drive and was taking classes preparing her to live independently.

The two apparently met on the Internet, exchanged e-mails and arranged to meet four days before her body was found.

Marko was a mortarman in Charlie Company, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division. He served in Iraq for a year.

He also has been charged in the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl five days before Lawrence was killed. The New York Times reported that Marko picked up the girl on the road after she had fled a psychiatric hospital. The girl claimed he drove her to the mountains and raped her at a location close to where Lawrence was killed.

Fort Carson sources have said Marko received counseling for "an overactive imagination" after irregularities were found during a mental health screening upon his return from Iraq. He was deemed fit for duty.

According to his MySpace Web page, he declared himself a human-born member of the Black Raptors race.

"I'm becomeing (sic) a true Black Raptor already, I'm becomeing (sic) a cold hearted killer and can kill without mercy or reason," his profile stated.

Schwartz set a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors present their evidence in order to send Marko to trial, for April 23. He is being held without bond at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.