Victim, Sailor Drank Together, Attorney Says

An attorney for a sailor accused of killing a gay shipmate disclosed here Friday that the alleged murder occurred after the victim, the accused and at least two other people had been drinking together.

It was the first official disclosure of any details about the incident that has become a rallying cry for gay rights advocates.

Air Force Maj. Bernard Doyle made the statement in a pretrial hearing while asking for a new preliminary investigation into charges that his client, Airman Apprentice Terry M. Helvey, 21, beat to death Seaman Allen R. Schindler, 22, in a public toilet in a park in Sasebo, Japan, last Oct. 27.

Complaining that depositions, rather than live testimony, were taken from all but one of nine “essential” witnesses in a preliminary investigation that ended in January, Doyle said two witnesses, in particular, whom he named only as Peck and Wills, are vital to Helvey’s defense.

He said the two were with Helvey, Schindler and Navy Airman Charles A. Vins until 10 minutes before the incident. Helvey, Schindler and Vins served aboard the Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship based in Sasebo.

“They could testify about intoxication,” Doyle said.

Vins, who was at the scene of the crime, was convicted in a court-martial Nov. 23 of failing to report the attack and resisting arrest. He reportedly agreed to testify against Helvey in exchange for having a one-year jail sentence reduced to four months.

Navy Lt. Jacques Smith, Helvey’s other lawyer, disclosed that prosecutors had given the defense a list of 36 witnesses whom they intend to call.

Smith said neither he nor Doyle has ever handled a capital punishment case, and he likened them to “chiropractors” being called in to deal with a case “that requires brain surgery.”

The two defense attorneys asked the court-martial judge, Cmdr. David P. Holcombe, for a six-month postponement and a change of venue to any U.S. military base in the Midwest, closer to Helvey’s home in Eloise, Mich., because of “excessive pretrial publicity” linked to the homosexuality of the victim and President Clinton’s move to allow gays to serve in the armed forces.

Schindler had declared his homosexuality and asked for a discharge from the Navy a month before he was killed, and the prosecution alleges that his death was an incident of gay-bashing.

Despite eyewitness reports that as many as five people beat Schindler, Marine Capt. Stephen Marchioro, the chief prosecutor, said he intends to prove that Helvey was “the sole perpetrator” of the crime.

Helvey, who sat quietly during the two-hour hearing Friday, has entered no plea to the charge.

Holcombe set another hearing for next Friday at which, he said, he will fix a firm date for the trial that has been tentatively scheduled to start April 27.