Five years after he was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, a Persian Gulf veteran wants a new trial over alleged mental-health issues.

Scott Laich, 37, argues that he didn't get to tell the jury that he suffered from mental problems stemming from his military service.

Mr. Laich, formerly of Loyalhanna, was sentenced in March 2003 to two consecutive life prison terms for the first-degree murders of 23-year-old Krista Omatick and 37-year-old John Pistininzi. The pair were slain at Ms. Omatick's Derry Township home on July 29, 1996.

Mr. Laich returned to a Westmoreland County courtroom Friday and argued that his previous lawyers presented an inadequate defense during the 2003 trial.

His public defenders argued that Mr. Laich shot the couple in the heat of passion and should have been convicted of a lesser offense, such as voluntary manslaughter. Mr. Laich contends his attorneys should have presented a diminished capacity defense.

New defense attorney Tim Andrews said in court that Mr. Laich, a veteran who saw combat in Iraq in 1991, suffers from Gulf War Syndrome or post-traumatic stress disorder that "rendered him incapable to form an intent to kill."

Judge Richard McCormick Jr. took Laich's new request under advisement Friday. It was not clear when he would rule.