Soldier Gets Life Term for Murder

An Army private was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for bludgeoning to death a fellow soldier who had been rumored to be gay.

Pvt. Calvin N. Glover, 18, was sentenced by the same court-martial panel that a day earlier convicted him of premeditated murder. The offense carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison; the only question before the military jury Thursday was whether he should be eligible for parole.

The panel did not set a time frame for Glover’s parole eligibility. It ordered Glover, of Sulphur, Okla., to be reduced in rank and dishonorably discharged.

Glover used a baseball bat to crush the skull of Pfc. Barry L. Winchell, 21, as he slept in his cot at Ft. Campbell. There had been rumors on the base that Winchell was gay, and prosecutors said Glover was driven by hatred of homosexuals.