WHEELER ARMY AIR FIELD — Army prosecutors yesterday were as blunt and straightforward as they say was the murder of Spc. Felicia LaDuke, an Iraq war veteran and mother of a young boy.

Spc. Jeffery White, the boy's father, is accused of strangling and repeatedly running over LaDuke with her car on the night of Oct. 7, 2005, at a remote spot near Ka'ena Point.

"The accused was fed up with her, so he killed her," Capt. David Clark said in opening statements.

White confessed to the killing, Clark told a seven-member military jury.

White, 22, is charged with one count of premeditated murder. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

His attorney, Maj. John Hyatt, said the case comes down to the testimony of two acquaintances of White's: Brian Cook and Spc. Alicia Williams.

A Honolulu police officer said Cook showed authorities the area where LaDuke's body was found, and that Cook said White had confessed to him and shown him the spot.

Hyatt said the jury should be "suspicious" of the two because Williams was involved in an adulterous affair with White, and Cook at one time harbored interest in LaDuke, who rebuffed him.

White's court-martial is expected to last up to two weeks.

LaDuke and White arrived at Schofield Barracks weeks apart in early 2003, officials said. After LaDuke had her son, Elijah, people started asking if White was the father, Clark said.

White, of Houston, later married another woman and was involved in a bitter child custody fight with LaDuke.

Clark said another soldier, Spc. Ricky Walker, heard White say, "I ought to kill her (LaDuke), dump her body off somewhere, so I won't have to pay child support."

According to previous testimony, LaDuke, 22, was getting ready for a night out when she got a 10 p.m. phone call from White that he needed to see her.

Near Ka'ena Point and a hangout spot soldiers called "the end of the world," White "jumped on" LaDuke and started strangling her, Clark said. White pulled LaDuke, who had turned blue, out of her car, ran her over more than once and "left her to die" in tall grass, Clark said.

Yesterday White, who is being kept in the brig at Ford Island, sat staring straight ahead in the courtroom in his Class B uniform green shirt and pants.

LaDuke's father and stepmother, Steve and Donna LaDuke, sat in the back of the courtroom with LaDuke's stepsister, Amanda Glass.

Hyatt said his defense has two phases. The first is that there is not enough evidence to prove White killed LaDuke. But if White is found responsible, Hyatt said, the circumstances of the killing do not support a premeditated act. There was no follow-through to show a course of action that had been thought out, Hyatt said.

For example, papers tossed out of LaDuke's rental car near her body bear her and White's name, including documents related to their custody battle, Hyatt said.

Also, if the government's case is to be believed, White told the first people he came into contact with that he was responsible for the killing, which Hyatt said is another indication that there was no premeditation.

White had "some troubling anger issues" that had been brought to the attention of a medical professional, Hyatt said.

White is a person with "very poor tools for coping" who faced a stressful and unbalancing set of circumstances, Hyatt said.

The evidence will show a "tragic, horrible event" between young people who were involved in a custody battle, he said.

If convicted, White could face a sentence of life with or without parole. He also could be convicted of a lesser charge such as manslaughter, an official said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.