Soldier asks for ‘second chance,’ gives reason for stabbing mentor’s pregnant wife

The soldier who stabbed the wife of his mentor took the stand Tuesday afternoon.

Corey Bernard Moss, who could be sentenced anywhere from 5 years to life in prison, said he couldn’t believe what he did to the people he considered his family.

“Mr. Poole was like a father to me,” he said from the stand. “For me to turn around and just do these things to them, makes me feel like the lowest thing on earth. To this day, it’s unbelievable. Honestly, I still can’t believe I did that to someone who took me into their home, treated me like family.”

Jurors also heard a videotaped statement from Corey Bernard Moss Tuesday morning, in which he told why he stabbed the pregnant wife of a fellow soldier.

“She opens the door. I was just standing there. Next thing I know I just started stabbing her,” said Moss, on the video.

Financial troubles appear to be at the core of the attack. Moss owed money to SPC Justin Poole and his wife, Rachel.

“Money was really tight,” Moss said. “I started to make excuses, ‘I can’t pay you right now.’ This was the day I ran out of excuses.”

Moss pled guilty to aggravated assault Monday. He appeared nearly emotionless in the videotaped statement.

Later, as he testified, Moss asked jurors for a second chance.

“The guy you saw in that interview, that guy is gone. I became a different person,” he said.

Back in October of last year, 20-year-old Moss broke into the home of 31-year-old Rachel Poole and stabbed her while she was video chatting with her soldier husband overseas.

Rachel survived the attack and her baby was delivered two days later.

Moss, an Army soldier, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Army Spc. Justin Poole pushed his wife, Rachel Poole, in her wheelchair into the courtroom Monday morning.

State prosecutors called Rachel to the stand first.

Rachel says she was on the phone with her husband when she heard a noise in her home, turned around and saw Moss who immediately began to stab her.

“I remember getting stabbed in the eye, nose, neck, breast. I realized I had to get away so he wouldn’t hurt my baby,” Rachel said.

Rachel cried as she told the courtroom that she pleaded with the defendant, “Please Moss, don’t kill my baby.”

As a result of Rachel’s injuries, she is now completely blind in her left eye, suffered spinal cord damage, has difficulty breathing, has no sensation in her left leg, and needs the assistance of a cane or wheelchair to get around.

Rachel said she cannot take care of her baby on her own.

Rachel said Moss owed her and her husband $3,000 after wrecking her husband’s truck while he was deployed.

Both Rachel and Moss were in tears during her emotional testimony.

Justin then took the stand and testified about what he saw while he was video chatting with his wife.

“My wife quickly turned around. I saw a figure, but could not tell who it was,” Justin testified. “There was somebody else in my home. I heard her scream and then I saw the phone hit the floor. That was it.”

The Pooles’ then-unborn baby was unharmed and delivered by c-section.

The sentencing phase is set to resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Moss’ attorney Greg Anderson told ABC-7 he could not say whether his client would testify in his own defense.

Moss faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The evidence and testimony presented in the trial will now be used in the sentencing phase.