COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Jurors are deliberating the case of a former Fort Carson soldier accused in the alcohol-fueled slaying of a fellow Iraq war veteran.

Louis Bressler, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 1, 2007, death of Spc. Kevin Shields, 24. Bressler and two co-defendants are three of at least five soldiers who were deployed to Iraq with the 4th Brigade Combat Team accused in slayings in the past 15 months. A sixth faces attempted murder charges.

Jurors Friday began deliberating the case after prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered their closing arguments, during which prosecutor Jack Roth held up the murder weapon, a .38-caliber revolver, and walked over to Bressler, who was reclining in his seat at the defendants' table.

"It has everything to do with this young man right here and what this young man did with this gun," Roth said in a booming voice, countering defense attorney Ed Farry's attempt to shift the blame.

Prosecutors say Bressler killed Shields because Shields knew too much about robberies that Bressler and two other Iraq war veterans planned to commit, and also because Bressler lost a fight to Shields earlier that night. All four had been drinking heavily.

Defense attorneys say no physical evidence links Bressler to the slaying, pointing to blood found on the victim's pants that they say belongs to another defendant.

The defense theory is that co-defendant Bruce Bastien Jr. bled on Shields' pants while he was standing over Shields shooting him. Prosecutors say the blood got on Shields' pants earlier that night.

During closing statements, Farry told jurors that investigators and prosecutors were too quick to reach a conclusion about Bressler and relied too heavily on Eastridge and Mark Fox, a man who testified that Bressler confessed to him while they were cell mates.

"There's no evidence that says Mr. Bressler did any of this," Farry said. "The evidence shows it was a cover-up between Eastridge and Bastien."

Eastridge pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in Shields' death and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Shields' mother and grandparents from the Rockford, Ill., area and Shields' wife from Colorado Springs were in the front row of the courtroom each day of Bressler's 10-day trial.

"I'm anxious, but I'm OK," said Shields' mother, Debra Shields. She declined further comment.

Bressler is also accused of being the triggerman in the August 2007 shooting death of Robert James. His first-degree murder case is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.

Bastien is serving 60 years in prison as part of a plea agreement that required him to testify against Bressler in both slayings. Bastien pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in Shields' death and conspiracy to commit murder in James' death.

Prosecutors have not decided whether to refile first-degree murder charges against Bastien after he backed out of his plea agreement Wednesday and refused to testify in Shields' death.

Army commanders said they have formed a task force to identify any common factors in the slayings allegedly committed by the soldiers.