Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- As the U.S. military pursues charges against the Army sergeant accused of killing Afghan civilians in what commanders say was a freelance rampage , a new question has arisen : Who was victim No . 17 ? Staff Sgt . Robert Bales has been charged with 17 counts of murder `` with premeditation '' in the March 11 slayings in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan 's Kandahar Province . But Afghan authorities have said there were 16 people killed in the Panjwai killings . Sunday , two Afghan provincial council members said the United States has paid the victims ' families a total of $ 860,000 -- $ 10,000 for each of the six wounded survivors , and $ 50,000 apiece for the 16 dead . Afghan government officials in Kabul have said they have no record of another death . A U.S. official confirmed that a payment had been made on Saturday -- but the official , who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation , said he could not comment on the figure involved . The discrepancy has persisted since Friday , when the charge sheet on Bales listed four women among 17 victims , while initial U.S. and Afghan reports listed three women among 16 dead . A NATO spokesman , Col. Gary Kolb , said Friday only that investigators assigned to the case felt they had evidence to charge Bales with 17 counts of murder . Authorities say Bales left his remote outpost before dawn on March 11 and went house-to-house , gunning down villagers in two villages near the U.S. base . They have said that he acted alone , leaving the outpost in the dead of night and turning himself in to his comrades when he returned . The American official who handed over the money to the families said the payments were not compensation , but the U.S. government offering to help the victims and their families , Kandahar provincial council member Haji Nyamat Khan said . But Kolb said the money was compensation for the families . It was not immediately clear if the word used to describe the payment had legal significance in Afghanistan , where `` blood money '' can replace a trial or punishment of a killer . Afghans are insisting that Bales be returned to Afghanistan to face trial , with villagers and lawmakers questioning the U.S. military 's account of what happened . But a military official in Afghanistan has said that Bales will be tried in the United States . Khan , the local official , said the money was paid in Afghan currency and handed over in Kandahar city . He did not name the American official involved in the meeting . While the identity of the 17th victim remained unknown Sunday , a U.S. official did disclose a new detail of the case Sunday . The official , who would not speak on the record because the investigation is ongoing , told CNN that investigators now believe Bales committed the shootings during two separate trips out of the American compound . `` We believe the shooter went to one village , came back and went to a second village , '' the official said , based on factors including interviews and the overall investigation . Bales could face the death penalty if convicted of any of the murder counts against him . He is being held at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , after being flown out of Afghanistan a few days after the killings . It is not clear whether he will now face a military procedure known as an Article 32 hearing , at which military authorities would determine whether to proceed with charges against him , or whether he will go before a group of experts to determine whether his mental health may be a factor in his defense . If and when the case comes to trial , Bales ' lawyer , John Henry Browne , said , it is going to be `` extremely difficult '' for the prosecution . `` They have no murder scene , no forensics , '' the lawyer said Thursday night outside his Seattle office . `` I 'm going to make them prove every claim . '' Military law experts acknowledge that proving the case may be difficult , especially given that there are no autopsies to help prove the cause of death -- in part because those killed were buried quickly , in accordance with Islamic tradition -- and difficulty in getting witnesses to testify . But Gary Solis , a former U.S. Marine Corps lawyer and current Georgetown professor , told CNN that any bullet rounds recovered from the scene could be matched with Bales ' weapon -- assuming it was `` immediately seized '' -- which would serve as `` powerful evidence for the government . '' The dead have been identified as Mohammad Dawood Abdullah , Khudaidad Mohmmad Jama , Nazar Mohammad Taj Mohammad , Payendo , Robina , Sahtarina Sultan Mohammad , Zuhra Abdul Hameed , Nazia Doost Mohammad , Mosooma Mohammad Wazir , Farida Mohammad Wazir , Palwasha Mohammad Wazir , Nabia Mohammad Wazir , Asmatullah Mohammad Wazir , Faizullah Mohammad Wazir , Esa Mohammad Mohammad Husain , and Akhtar Mohammad Murad Ali . CNN 's Sara Sidner , Ruhullah Khapalwak , Mitra Mobasherat , Jamie Crawford , Barbara Starr and Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report .
Afghans say U.S. officials paid $ 860,000 to the families of the dead and wounded . Investigators believe the gunman made two trips off his base during the massacre . A NATO spokesman says the money is compensation for the victims . U.S. Army Staff Sgt . Robert Bales could face the death penalty if convicted .