Hasan offers no motive for shooting rampage at sentencing hearing

FORT HOOD, Texas, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Maj. Nidal Hasan, convicted in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, bypassed his last chance to explain his actions at his sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Hasan said simply, "The defense rests," when it was his turn to present testimony in the sentencing phase of his trial, the Killeen, Texas, Daily Herald reported.

Hasan was convicted Friday of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in a shooting rampage at the base that killed 13 and injured 32, making him eligible for the death penalty. The prosecution presented nearly 20 witnesses, relatives and friends of those killed, during the two-day sentencing hearing that ended with Hasan's terse statement.

The testimony tended to be heartbreaking explanations of loss and anger, CNN noted.

"When a parent loses a child, it creates an irreplaceable void. I live with that every day," said witness Jerri Krueger, whose daughter, Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, was killed.

A jury of 13 Army officers, all of whom outrank Hasan, will decide his punishment later this week, CNN said.