Army Private Admitted Role in Fatal Beating, Guard Testifies

An Army private accused of bludgeoning a soldier to death admitted beating the victim’s head with a baseball bat, a fellow soldier testified Monday.

Several soldiers have said they believed the killing was an anti-gay hate crime. Pfc. Barry L. Winchell, 21, was perceived as a homosexual by some soldiers in his unit, according to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the watchdog group for gays in the military.

Neither the Army nor Winchell’s family would comment on his sexuality.

Monday’s military hearing was to determine whether there was enough evidence to send the case against Pfc. Calvin N. Glover to a general court-martial. The hearing was to continue today.

Glover, 18, of Sulphur, Okla., was charged with premeditated murder in Winchell’s killing in the soldiers’ barracks hallway at Ft. Campbell last month.

Winchell and Glover served in the 502nd Infantry Regiment’s 2nd Battalion at the post.

Chief Warrant Officer Alfred Brown testified that Winchell suffered severe head injuries when he was beaten with a blunt object after a party outside the barracks on July 5.

Pfc. Ryan Futch, who served in the unit with the three soldiers, guarded Glover after he was taken into custody. Futch testified that during that time, Glover told him he had hit Winchell several times with the bat.

Futch also said he overheard Glover make disparaging remarks about blacks and homosexuals to another prisoner.

Pfc. Arthur Hoffman, a member of Winchell’s company and a good friend of the victim, described Glover as someone with an apparent drinking problem who often tried to pick fights.

Hoffman testified that on July 3 Winchell had gotten the better of Glover during a fight.

Glover was represented by Capt. Thomas Aug and Capt. Thomas Moshang.

Citing a lack of preparation time, Aug and Moshang asked for a delay in the hearing but were refused.