Former U.S. soldier convicted in cold case murder of pregnant 19-year-old soldier on Army base in Germany
CBSN
A former United States Army soldier has been convicted of killing a pregnant colleague in Germany more than two decades ago. Jurors in federal court in Pensacola, Florida, found 43-year-old Shannon Wilkerson guilty of murder for the 2001 death of Amanda Gonzales, another former soldier, at a base in Hanau, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Wilkerson beat and strangled Gonzales to death inside her room at Fliegerhorst Kaserne, a former U.S. Army base and military barracks, on Nov. 3, 2001, the Justice Department said, citing court documents and evidence shown during the criminal trial. His conviction on a second-degree murder charge could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 8.
Gonzales was 19 at the time of her death and four months pregnant. Authorities say that Wilkerson believed she was pregnant with his child.