"He doesn't remember everything about the evening in question," attorney John Henry Browne told reporters outside his hotel in Lansing, Kansas, last night, after meeting with US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. "That doesn't mean he has amnesia. There are a lot of other options."

Mr Browne met Sgt Bales at the centre at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he has been in solitary confinement since arriving there on Friday.

Sgt Bales (38), a four-tour combat veteran, is suspected of walking off his base in southern Afghanistan on March 11th and gunning down 16 civilians, including nine children and three women, in a massacre that damaged US-Afghan relations.

Sgt Bales has not yet been charged, but an official from his home base near Tacoma, Washington, said that charges would likely be filed by the end of this week.

Seattle-based Mr Browne, who has experience defending multiple homicide suspects such as serial killer Ted Bundy, said Sgt Bales' state of mind was "confused" and he indicated their meeting was emotional. "He was very good about putting me in his shoes, put it that way," Mr Browne said. "We all know what is going on over there (Afghanistan), but you don't really know until you look at somebody like that," he said.

Earlier in the day Mr Browne told CBS News that his client had gaps in his memory of the evening. "He has no memory of ... he has an early memory of that evening. And he has a later memory of that evening but he does not have memory in between."

He added that Sgt Bales had drunk alcohol on the night in question, but played it down as a factor. "He said he had a couple of sips of something. But he didn't even have a full drink."

More details of Sgt Bales' financial problems emerged yesterday, with evidence that his four and a half-year career as a securities broker was marred by an order to pay almost $1.3 million to a customer he defrauded.

According to a public report from financial industry regulator FINRA, Sgt Bales engaged in churning - making questionable trades to garner commissions - as well as breaching fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading and putting a customer's money into unsuitable investments.

In a 2003 arbitration ruling, Sgt Bales was ordered to pay the customer $637,000 in compensation plus interest, and the same amount again as punitive damages. There is no evidence he paid any of that.

The complaint was made against Sgt Bales in May 2000, when he worked at Capital Securities of America Inc, based in Hartville in Bales' native Ohio, according to the FINRA report. He joined the Army in late 2001.

The fine is the latest evidence of his financial problems. He and his wife are looking to sell their main house, in an affluent neighbourhood near a Seattle-area lake, for less than they paid for it and a second home, with a mortgage larger than its market value, has been abandoned for two years.

Separately, Sgt Bales' wife Karilyn issued a statement expressing sorrow for the victims in Afghanistan and asking for public understanding.

"Our family has little information beyond what we read and see in the media. What has been reported is completely out of character of the man I know and admire. Please respect me when I say I cannot shed any light on what happened that night, so please do not ask," she said. "I too want to know what happened. I want to know how this could be."

Sgt Bales had been injured twice in his previous three deployments to Iraq, including losing part of a foot and suffering a concussion from a vehicle accident.

Attorney Mr Browne has disputed reports that marital problems may have influenced Sgt Bales' state of mind.