Airman charged with killing couple faces death penalty

<p>An airman charged with killing a couple and attempted murder in an attack on another man faces a possible death sentence when his court martial convenes, the Air Force said.</p><p>Senior Airman Andrew Paul Witt, 22, an avionics technician in the 116th Air Control Wing at Robins Air Force Base, is charged with the July 5 stabbing deaths of Senior Airman Andrew Schliepsiek of Peoria, Ill., and his wife, Jamie Schliepsiek, at their home, and with the attempted murder of Senior Airman Jason King.</p><p>Witt continues to be held in pretrial confinement at the Houston County jail. The court-martial probably will be held next spring in Macon, but no date has been set.</p><p>The attacks occurred in the family housing area on base. Schliepsiek and King were members of the 5th Combat Communications Group at Robins.</p><p>Maj. Gen. Michael Collings decided Tuesday to refer the matter to general court-martial as a capital case. Collings, commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins, is the convening authority under provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.</p><p>At a hearing last month, the fathers of both victims demanded the death penalty.</p><p>Col. Mary Boone, a military judge who presided over the hearing, made recommendations to Col. Greg Patterson, 78th Air Base Wing commander at Robins, who forwarded the case to Collings. Base officials did not discuss Boone's recommendations, and Collings declined to comment on his decision.</p><p>The hearing offered a parade of government witnesses including testimony by Office of Special Investigations agent Lamar Cromwell, based on a handwritten statement Witt gave to Robins investigators following his arrest.</p><p>Cromwell testified that a confrontation erupted at the Schliepsiek home when Witt arrived at about 4 a.m. July 5. The Schliepsieks and King had been celebrating July 4 at the King home and had gone to the nearby Schliepsiek residence for cigarettes when the fatal struggle took place.</p><p>Witt was arrested later that day. He has hired Colorado Springs, Colo., attorney Frank Spinner to defend him.</p>

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