Karilyn Bales, who is married to the Army staff sergeant accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians, told the Today show on Monday that she can’t imagine her husband would do such a thing. The charges, Bales told Matt Lauer, are “unbelievable to me … I have no idea what happened, but he would not … he loves children, and he would not do that.” Bales has been formally charged by the Army with 17 counts of murder; one of the charges is said to be for an unborn child.

Bales also said her husband had enlisted after Sept. 11 “to protect his family, friends, and country. He wanted to do his part.” As The Associated Press reports, Bales has talked to her husband, who is now being held at Kansas’s Fort Leavenworth, but hasn’t asked about the charges. “We couldn’t discuss those details. He was ... seemed a bit confused, as to where he was and why he was there.”