Hearing Set for GI in Alleged Kosovo Rape, Killing

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia — A U.S. soldier charged with raping and murdering an 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl will face a second hearing next week in Germany, the U.S. military said Thursday.

The hearing, similar to a grand jury under U.S. criminal law, will determine whether there is enough evidence to court-martial Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi, who could face the death penalty if convicted. It will take place Wednesday at an Army base in Vilseck, Germany, according to a statement from the U.S. military based at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo.

Ronghi is accused of raping, sodomizing and murdering the girl on Jan. 13 in the eastern Kosovo town of Vitina. The case marks the first time a soldier from any country has been accused of such serious crimes since the NATO-led peacekeeping force entered Kosovo in June.

Ronghi, 35, of Niles, Ohio, is a Persian Gulf War veteran assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment from Ft. Bragg, N.C. He is detained at the U.S. Army’s Mannheim confinement facility in Germany and has not yet entered a plea.

Ronghi was brought to Kosovo for an initial hearing Feb. 18 at Camp Bondsteel. During the session, a visibly shaken fellow soldier told the court how he and several comrades found the girl’s body.