Fort Riley soldier assigned hearing for Chicago death

? An extradition hearing has been scheduled for a Fort Riley soldier just back from Iraq and another man arrested in the death of a clothing store manager in Chicago.

Spc. Pierre M. Cole, 22, of Chicago, was arrested Saturday night at a trailer park in Manhattan and is being held on $1.5 million bond, the Riley County Police Department said. He is a member of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Armor, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

Lee McGee, 37, whose last known address was in Chicago, was arrested during a traffic stop Saturday morning on Kansas 177 just south of Manhattan, police said. McGee’s bond was set at $2 million.

Both men were bound over Monday for an extradition hearing scheduled for Oct. 25 in Riley County District Court. A court-appointed attorney will represent the two men.

The arrests of Cole and McGee were made at the request of Chicago police investigating the fatal shooting of James Jung, 52, during a robbery Thursday, according to Riley County police.

Fort Riley spokeswoman Sam Robinson said Cole was stationed in Iraq from September 2003 through September of this year. He was on 30-day leave following his duty in Iraq, customary for soldiers returning from war. Cole was a mechanic, joining the Army in January 2002 and arriving at Fort Riley in September 2002.

The Army has charged six Fort Riley soldiers with murder in recent months — two for killings in Kansas and four for deaths in Iraq.

Sgts. Aaron R. Stanley, 22, of Bismarck, N.D., and Eric J. Colvin, 23, of Papillion, Neb., were charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of two soldiers in September at a rural Clay County home. All four soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry. The Army hasn’t decided whether to pursue the death penalty.

Four other members of the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, have been charged in Iraq with the murders of four Iraqi civilians.

Sgt. Michael P. Williams, 25, of Memphis, Tenn., and Spc. Brent W. May, 22, of Salem, Ohio, are both charged with murder of three Iraqis.

Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Staff Sgt. Cardenas J. Alban, 29, of Inglewood, Calif., are charged with murdering one Iraqi.

Details about each incident have not been released by the 1st Cavalry Division, which is investigating the crimes.