Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich murder sentencing held up by parachute accident

Bozicevich faces life in prison. The question is whether or not he may be eligible for parole.

The sentencing date for Minnesota Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich, recently convicted of murdering two fellow Army men in 2008, has been put off indefinitely because his attorney was involved in a skydiving accident over the Memorial Day weekend.

Bozicevich admitted at trial to killing Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson and Sgt. Wesley Durbin while all three were stationed in Iraq, but lawyer Charles Gittins argued that his client acted in self defense, and there were problems with the military's crime lab evidence.

In the end, the jury's guilty verdict was not unanimous. That means that at sentencing, Bozicevich will either face life in prison with, or without, parole. But he won't face the death penalty. Either way, the sentencing date will now have to wait for Gittins' return.

Bozicevich, an Eagan native and Cretin-Derham Hall graduate, studied at the University of Minnesota before joining the Army and serving two tours of duty in Iraq. His step-mother told the AP that, "something snapped in that man," while he was stationed overseas.

Previously:

• Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich, Minnesota soldier, could face death penalty
• Joseph Bozicevich, Minnesota soldier, guilty of murder