Firearms expert says GI was shot at close range

Whoever shot a Fort Carson soldier in the face was within inches when he pulled the trigger, a firearms expert testified Monday in the homicide trial of an Iraq war veteran.

Cordell Brown, a firearms consultant to the Colorado Springs Police Department, examined the burns on Spc. Kevin Shields' face caused by gunpowder. In his opinion, the .38-caliber revolver was no farther than 15 inches away when it was used to fire a bullet into Shields' face and less than 10 inches away when a bullet was fired behind his ear.

Prosecutors allege Louis Bressler fired the fatal shots Dec. 1, 2007, and left Shields dead on an Old Colorado City street.

Monday marked the start of the second week of Bressler's trial.

Brown used the revolver, discovered by police in a gully near Interstate 25 and Woodmen Road, to fire rounds into a mannequin's head. Shields was also shot once in the groin from more than 4 feet away, Brown said.

Brown used marks on hollow-point bullet fragments found in Shields to confirm Bressler's wife's gun fired the fatal shots.

Bressler's defense attorneys have stated two men with him that night are the actual killers.

Bruce Bastien and Kenneth Eastridge have already pleaded guilty, been sentenced, and are set to testify against Bressler this week.

Also Monday, a Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA analyst testified that Bastien's blood was found on the front of Shields' pants.

The men served in the same platoon with Shields when their Fort Carson unit fought in Iraq.

Bressler has also been charged with first-degree murder in the August 2007 shooting death of Fort Carson Pfc. Robert James.

The trial continues Wednesday, as the Terry R. Harris Judicial Complex is closed today for Veterans Day.