Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four murders, rape and conspiracy to rape. If his plea agreement is approved by the judge, Col. Stephen R. Henley, Cortez could avoid the death penalty.

At a hearing Wednesday, Cortez recounted events on the day of the attack, saying at one point that "it wasn't the first time anybody had talked about having sex with an Iraqi female." He broke down in tears during the description and the judge briefly recessed the hearing.

In the plea agreement read in court Tuesday, Cortez said he conspired with three other soldiers - Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, Spc. James P. Barker and Steven D. Green, who has been discharged - to rape 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi.

According to the plea deal, Cortez, Spielman and Barker illegally went into the home of the girl's family in Mahmoudiya, and Cortez held her while Barker raped her. While Cortez raped her, Green shot and killed the girl's parents and younger sister, the agreement said.

Cortez then acted as a lookout while Green raped the girl, and Green shot her, the document said. Cortez helped burn the girl's body and the home, then burned his clothes.

Spielman threw the AK-47 used to kill the family in a canal, the deal said. Cortez also admitted drinking whiskey before going to the home, which broke the Army's rules against drinking alcohol.

Two other soldiers await courts-martial. All the suspected participants are or were members of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.

The March 2006 killing of the family was originally reported to be the work of insurgents. Later, soldiers told their superiors of their suspicion that U.S. soldiers were involved. The deaths are considered among the worst in a series of alleged atrocities by U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

Barker, 24, pleaded guilty in November to rape and murder and was sentenced to 90 years in military prison. Spielman, 22, and Bryan L. Howard, 23, await courts-martial. Howard, who is confined to the post, was in the courtroom Tuesday observing Cortez's case.

Green is charged in federal court in Kentucky, accused of being the ringleader. He is being tried as a civilian because he was discharged from the Army before his superiors were aware of his suspected involvement.

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