Fort Hood killer Hasan arrives at death row in Kansas

Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 31 in a November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is pictured in an undated Bell County Sheriff's Office photograph. REUTERS/Bell County Sheriff's Office/Handout

(Reuters) - Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the massacre of 13 soldiers at a Texas Army base, on Friday began his residency on death row at the military's maximum-security facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, a prison spokeswoman said. Hasan is being confined in the "death sentence inmate housing unit" that is part of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) at Leavenworth, said Kimberly Lewis, spokeswoman for the prison. The death sentence will be automatically appealed to the U.S. Army Criminal Court of Appeals, and then to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces - as is required in the military justice system, Lewis said. Hasan, 42, was sentenced to death August 28 for a bloody 2009 rampage that killed 13 unarmed soldiers and wounded 31 others. The sentence includes forfeiture of all of Hasan's pay and allowances, and dismissal from the service. There has not been a U.S. military execution since 1961, and approval from the President is required. In addition to Hasan, there are five military prisoners on death row at the USDB, including former airman Andrew Witt, whose sentence for murdering a fellow airman and his wife in 2004 has been overturned by a military appeals court. He remains on death row while the government considers whether to appeal. (Reporting By Carey Gillam; editing by Gunna Dickson)