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Copyright 2000 Times Mirror Company

Los Angeles Times

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January 9, 2000, Sunday, Home Edition

SECTION: Part A; Page 8; National Desk

LENGTH: 412 words

HEADLINE: SOLDIER GETS 12 1/2 YEARS IN PRISON FOR HIS ROLE IN BEATING DEATH

BYLINE: From Times Staff and Wire Services

 

DATELINE: FT. CAMPBELL, Ky.

BODY:

A soldier pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Saturday in the beating death of a barracks mate who had been rumored to be gay.

Army Spc. Justin R. Fisher, 26, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison.

Fisher admitted he lied to military investigators and obstructed the investigation when he wiped blood from a baseball bat that Pvt. Calvin Glover used to kill Pfc.

Barry Winchell, who had been sleeping.

During sentencing, Fisher wept as he apologized to his family and to the relatives of the victim.

"Barry, I hope you can hear me," Fisher started. "I'm sorry for the part I played in this. I know you are now in a better place. I hope you know that if I could go

back to the morning it happened, I would have changed it all."

Under a plea agreement, the Army dropped other charges, including participating as a principal to premeditated murder and acting as an accessory after the fact.

Fisher's court-martial trial had been scheduled to start Saturday.

Winchell, 21, was killed while he slept on his cot at Ft. Campbell. Rumors had circulated on the post that the soldier from Kansas City, Mo., was gay, and

prosecutors said Glover was driven by hatred of homosexuals.

Glover, 19, of Sulphur, Okla., was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison. He never addressed the allegation that he despised

homosexuals. His attorneys argued that Fisher goaded Glover into the attack.

The mother and stepfather of the victim denounced Saturday's verdict.

Pat and Wally Kutteles said that they could not understand how the Army could at first charge Fisher to stand trial for goading Glover to murder their son, then

drop the most serious charges.

"Suddenly, the Army let him plead to nothing related to the actual murder . . . justice was not served today," they said in a statement.

A group that represents gay and lesbian service members said the sentence is too lenient, considering that Fisher had admitted goading Glover into attacking

Winchell.

The sentence is "a travesty," said C. Dixon Osburn, co-executive director of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, which is based in Washington, D.C.

"We're left with huge questions about why Ft. Campbell cut this deal."

Fisher will be eligible for parole in about four years, Osburn noted.

The Winchell case has galvanized a national reappraisal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy six years after it was adopted amid a storm of controversy.

LANGUAGE: English

LOAD-DATE: January 9, 2000

 

 

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December 9, 1999, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Correction Appended

SECTION: Section A;Page 18;Column 4;National Desk

LENGTH: 1314 words

HEADLINE: Killer's Trial Shows Gay Soldier's Anguish

BYLINE: By FRANCIS X. CLINES

DATELINE: FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., Dec. 8

BODY:

The graphic story of the harassment and bludgeon slaying of an Army private who feared expulsion from the service for being homosexual emerged here today at a

court-martial that gay rights proponents say lays bare the grave flaws in the military's "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy.

The 21-year-old victim, Pfc. Barry Winchell of Kansas City, Mo., was beaten to death with a baseball bat as he slept in his barracks bed early last July 5 after what

fellow soldiers testified was months of vile name calling, rumor mongering and an inquiry into his private life that was supposed to be forbidden under military

policy.

The court heard one of the accused, Pvt. Calvin Glover, 18, of Sulphur, Okla., enter a plea of guilty to a lesser charge of unpremeditated murder. But his trial went

forward on the separate charge of premeditated murder with details unfolding on the final months of Private Winchell's life as a soldier subjected to derision.

The court of five officers and enlisted men tonight pronounced him guilty of premeditated murder, solely measuring how calculating Private Glover had been in the

assault. He will be sentenced on Thursday and could face life in prison.

Witnesses testified that the victim, fearful that protesting the harassment to superiors meant risking expulsion from the service as a homosexual, had been taunted by

Private Glover into a fist fight. Private Winchell won the fight handily at the end of a night of barracks drinking. But the humiliated loser, Private Glover, retaliated

with a baseball bat two days later as Private Winchell slept.

In pleading guilty to the lesser charge and hoping for leniency, Private Glover accused a second defendant, Specialist Justin Fisher, 25, of Lincoln, Neb., of

supplying the baseball bat and goading him into the assault.

"I was just so drunk," Private Glover tearfully told the court on Monday. "I had no intent for him to die."

The court-martial, replete with testimony about widespread drunkenness and barracks harassment and routine denunciations of Private Winchell by fellow soldiers

as "a faggot," "a queer," and "a homo," was treated by the prosecution as purely a murder trial.

The Army has made no comment on the case's possible implications for its controversial policy toward gays.

But gay rights organizations contend that the slaying is a classic example of a hate crime rooted in homophobia, and that the Clinton administration's "don't ask"

policy, far from making life easier for gays and lesbians in the armed services, has left many to suffer in silence or leave the service.

Since its inception, the policy has seen a doubling of discharges of gay service members, to 312 last year, and a comparable increase in complaints of homosexual

harassment, gay rights organizations say.

"This murder has shut down any illusions soldiers had," said Michelle M. Benecke, co-executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay

rights organization that monitors military justice.

"Every day, service members in every service must endure anti-gay epithets and threats," Ms. Benecke said in underscoring the Pentagon's failure to circulate

guidelines on its gay policy until after the slaying of Private Winchell.

In testimony at the trial and in a preliminary inquiry here last summer, witnesses said that Private Glover, after being struck in the face and thrown to the ground in

his challenge to Private Winchell, seethed with embarrassment, shouted homophobic curses and threatened a killing, declaring, "It ain't over."

Witnesses said that Private Winchell, a machine gunner in the 101st Airborne Division, had been initially labeled a homosexual by his roommate, Specialist Fisher,

who is facing a separate court-martial on Monday on charges that he was an accomplice in the slaying and had lied to investigators.

Private Glover's defense team sought to bring out from witnesses that Specialist Fisher was a dominant, manipulative individual while the accused private was

subservient and a braggart.

The presiding judge, Col. Gary Holland, told the court that the critical question was whether Private Glover, amid a long weekend of barracks drinking, partying

and bickering, had opportunity to "cool off" from a point of initial rage and premeditate the assault.

Of Specialist Fisher, the judge stressed it had been stipulated as fact that "he's the one who handed the accused the bat" and "told him to go out and mess up" Private

Winchell.

On the morning of the slaying, a military policeman testified, Specialist Fisher, his clothes covered in blood, stood by the ambulance shouting, "Let him die! Let him

die!" as Private Winchell was taken to the hospital. In the earlier hearing, Specialist Fisher swore that Private Glover spewed homophobic epithets before the assault

and confessed to the slaying as he hurriedly washed blood from the bat. When the two checked on the stricken Private Winchell, Specialist Fisher said, Private

Glover lifted his bloodied head and said, "Yes, he is dead."

Witnesses testified that the assault was so severe that Private Winchell's face was unrecognizable, with his eyes swollen shut and his head cracked open. Private

Glover fled the scene, according to testimony, and threw bloody evidence in a trash bin. He was later arrested in his room by investigators, who said they had found

blood stains on the door and on his clothing.

Last March, Specialist Fisher accompanied Private Winchell to the Connection in Nashville, a nightclub favored by gays, witnesses said, and gossip soon went

around the post that the Private Winchell was homosexual. Testimony established that Private Winchell had dated a female impersonator at the club, Cal Addams, a

former Navy medic known as Calpernia, who eulogized Private Winchell last July as "a kind, calm gentleman."

"Pretty much everybody in the company called him derogatory names," Private Winchell's platoon sergeant, Michael Kleifgen, testified at the pretrial hearing. "They

called him a 'faggot' and stuff like that, I would say on a daily basis. A lot of times, he was walking around down in the dumps."

Despite the military's "don't ask" stricture, Sergeant Kleifgen testified last summer that he decided to informally investigate after Specialist Fisher described the

nightclub visit without identifying Private Winchell. The sergeant said he suspected that Private Winchell was gay but Private Winchell denied this. The sergeant

dropped the matter, he testified, finally acknowledging to the amazement of some in his audience, that "the military has a policy of 'don't ask, don't tell."

At the same time, the sergeant said he did nothing to enforce Army regulations against the sort of harassment that Private Winchell was suffering. "Everybody was

having fun," the sergeant said in explaining his reasoning.

In the welter of harassment and epithets, several witnesses testified, a few soldiers complained of homophobic denunciations of Private Winchell by ranking

superiors. But nothing came of their complaints that Army policy had been violated, the witnesses said. "We did a formal I.G. complaint and nothing was done,

sir," Sergeant Kleifgen testified today, referring to the inspector general's office here. The Fort Campbell public affairs office said it would inquire into the reported

complaint to see what might have happened.

Under the policy introduced by the Clinton administration, the military cannot inquire into a soldier's sex life unless there is clear evidence of homosexual conduct.

But gays who volunteer this information can be discharged for being homosexual. After the Winchell slaying and reports of white supremacists in the Army,

President Clinton signed an executive order in October that amends the court-martial manual to allow judges to weigh hate-crime factors in meting out sentences.

http://www.nytimes.com

CORRECTION-DATE: December 10, 1999, Friday

CORRECTION:

Articles yesterday about the conviction of an Army private, Calvin Glover, in the murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell and about Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism of

the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the military misstated the number of gay service members discharged last year because of the policy. The number was 1,149;

discharges from the Army account for 312.

 

 

 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

 

 

 

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Copyright 1999 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.

The Plain Dealer

December 9, 1999 Thursday, FINAL / ALL

SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 24A

LENGTH: 621 words

HEADLINE: SOLDIER CONVICTED OF GAY COLLEAGUE'S MURDER

BYLINE: By FRANCIS X. CLINES; NEW YORK TIMES

DATELINE: FORT CAMPBELL, KY.

BODY:

An 18-year-old Army private was convicted yesterday of fatally bludgeoning a fellow soldier whom he had harassed for being gay but who feared expulsion

from the service if he complained.

Gay-rights proponents have said the court-martial laid bare the grave flaws in the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The 21-year-old victim, Pfc. Barry Winchell of Kansas City, Mo., was beaten to death with a baseball bat as he slept in his barracks bed early last July 5 after

what fellow soldiers testified was months of vile name-calling, rumor-mongering and an inquiry into his private life that was supposed to be forbidden under

military policy. Winchell's killer, Pvt. Calvin Glover, 18, of Sulphur, Okla., had pleaded guilty to a charge of unpremeditated murder. But he was convicted of

premeditated murder yesterday, after details of the final months of Winchell's life as a soldier subjected to derision and fear were heard.

The court of five officers and enlisted men deliberated into the night, measuring how calculating Glover had been in the assault.

Witnesses testified that the victim, fearful that protesting the harassment to superiors meant risking expulsion from the service as a homosexual, had been taunted

by Glover into a fistfight. Winchell won the fight. But the humiliated loser, Glover, retaliated with a baseball bat two days later as Winchell slept, bludgeoning

him in premeditated revenge, the Army charged.

In pleading guilty to the lesser charge and hoping for leniency, Glover accused a second defendant, 25-year-old Specialist Justin Fisher of Lincoln, Neb., of

supplying the baseball bat and goading him into the assault.

"I was just so drunk," Glover tearfully told the court Monday. "I had no intent for him to die."

The court-martial, replete with testimony about widespread drunkenness and barracks harassment and routine denunciations of Winchell, was treated by the

prosecution as a murder trial. The Army has made no comment on the possible implications of the case on its controversial policy toward gays.

But gay-rights organizations contend that the slaying is a classic example of a hate crime rooted in homophobia and that the Clinton administration's "don't ask"

policy, far from making life easier for gays and lesbians, has left many to suffer in silence or leave the service.

Since its inception, the policy has seen a doubling of discharges of gay service members, to 312 last year, and a comparable increase in complaints of

homosexual harassment, according to pro-gay organizations.

"This murder has shut down any illusions soldiers had," said Michelle Benecke, co-executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a

gay-rights organization that monitors military justice, in underscoring the Pentagon's failure to circulate guidelines on its gay policy until after the slaying of

Winchell. "Every day, service members in every service must endure anti-gay epithets and threats."

In testimony at the trial, witnesses said Glover, after being struck in the face and thrown to the ground in his challenge to Winchell, seethed with embarrassment,

shouted homophobic curses and threatened to kill him, declaring, "It ain't over."

On the morning of the slaying, Fisher, his clothes covered in blood, stood by the ambulance shouting, "Let him die! Let him die!" a military policeman testified.

Witnesses testified that the assault was so severe that Winchell's face was unrecognizable, with his eyes swollen shut and his head cracked open. Glover fled the

scene, according to testimony, and threw bloody evidence in a dumpster. He was later arrested in his room by investigators who said they found blood stains on

the door and on his clothing.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: December 10, 1999

 

 

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Copyright 1999 The Omaha World-Herald Company

Omaha World-Herald

December 6, 1999, Monday SUNRISE EDITION

SECTION: ;NEWS; Pg. 13

LENGTH: 612 words

HEADLINE: Soldier's Kin Seek Answers Man From Lincoln Charged in Slaying

SOURCE: THE KANSAS CITY STAR

DATELINE: Kansas City, Mo.

BODY:

The people who loved and respected Pfc. Barry L. Winchell formed a human circle around his hospital bed before he died.

The sergeants linked hands with the colonels, who reached out to the private's mother and father. Then, all but his mother, Pat Kutteles of Kansas City, left the

hospital room. She stayed long enough to say goodbye.

Then the switches were turned off, and the machines that were keeping Winchell alive stopped.

Private First Class Barry L. Winchell, 21, became a homicide victim. The Army is charging two soldiers in the crime - one of them was his roommate, a man from

Lincoln, Neb.

Winchell has become a martyr for the gay and lesbian movement. He also has become a catalyst for changes in the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy in

dealing with gays.

An autopsy determined that Winchell was hit three times on the head with a baseball bat. Kutteles said she and her husband, Wally, were told that Winchell was

asleep when he was attacked July 5 in his Army barracks at Fort Campbell, Ky.

"It was a very cowardly crime," she said. "They didn't even go for his arms and legs; they went straight for his skull."

In part because of pressure from a gay and lesbian legal group, the Army is investigating whether Winchell was killed because other soldiers thought he was gay.

 

As far the Kutteleses knew, their son was a straight man who had dated the same woman for years. He never told them of any harassment, yet testimony at hearings

in the case revealed that he was harassed almost daily.

Two soldiers have been charged in connection with the slaying.

Pvt. Calvin N. Glover, 18, of Sulphur, Okla., is charged with premeditated murder. Spc. Justin R. Fisher, 25, of Lincoln was Winchell's roommate. Fisher is

charged with encouraging Glover to hit Winchell, acting as an accessory, lying under oath to Army investigators and obstructing the investigation.

Glover's court-martial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

"The thought of walking into the court is so overwhelming to me it is unreal," Pat Kutteles said. "But I know I have to not think about it and just do it. That is how I

do everything now."

The Kutteleses answer some of the hundreds of letters and e-mails, many from former soldiers who acknowledge being gay.

A bigger issue to her is whether the Army did nothing about the harassment.

Under the "don't ask, don't tell," policy, soldiers are not to be harassed or asked about their sexuality, said Michelle Benecke, of the Washington-based Service

members Legal Defense Network.

The group interceded in the case when it received calls from officers at Fort Campbell and others who alleged that the Army was reluctant to investigate whether

Winchell's death was a hate crime.

Army representatives would not comment on specifics of the case.

Weeks after Winchell's death, the Pentagon ordered commanders to seek approval from senior civilian officials before initiating certain kinds of investigations of

soldiers who acknowledged being gay.

Commanders also were ordered to institute anti-harassment training. Military lawyers were told to consult superiors before investigating soldiers suspected of being

gay.

The Kutteleses do not always agree on who is to blame for their son's death, but one reaches for the other whenever the tears begin to fall.

A stone bench has been ordered for Pat Kutteles to sit upon near her son's grave at Mount Moriah Cemetery.

"I think I am still stuck, yes, stuck, that is the word," she said. "It has been hitting me and hitting me that my child is not coming home. That is where I am."

 

 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: December 6, 1999

 

 

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Copyright 1999 The Washington Post

The Washington Post

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August 11, 1999, Wednesday, Final Edition

NAME: BARRY WINCHELL

SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A01

LENGTH: 1563 words

HEADLINE: Hate May Have Triggered Fatal Barracks Beating; Slain Soldier Had Been Taunted on Base as Secret Emerged About His Sexuality

BYLINE: Sue Anne Pressley, Washington Post Staff Writer

DATELINE: FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., Aug. 10

BODY:

 

Pfc. Barry Winchell enjoyed being a soldier. He studied military manuals, relished the physical training. He was so accurate at firing a .50-caliber machine gun that

he was named best in his company, and someday, he vowed, he would be one of the best helicopter pilots in the Army.

But Winchell, 21, also had a secret that was becoming known among the other soldiers in his unit: He was gay.

That realization may have cost the young soldier his life, gay rights groups believe.

During the early-morning hours of July 5, Winchell was brutally beaten with a baseball bat in his barracks here at one of the nation's largest Army bases, allegedly

by another soldier in his unit while his own roommate encouraged the attack. The next day, Winchell, his face swollen beyond recognition, died at a civilian

hospital.

Although Army officials have not disclosed a motive for the attack -- Winchell had gotten the best of the soldier in a fight a few days before the killing -- local and

national gay rights groups contend there is mounting evidence that Winchell was the victim of a hate crime. If true, they said, this would be the first known case of a

soldier being killed at a U.S. military base because of his sexual orientation in the five years since a new federal policy was adopted toward gays in the military.

In the era of "Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" -- the law passed by Congress that took effect in 1994 and allows gay service members to serve as long as their

sexual orientation is not discovered -- the Winchell case illustrates the deep-seated prejudices that continue to plague gays in the military. It also has placed the Army

and Fort Campbell, home of the celebrated 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, in an uncomfortable spotlight.

Officials at Fort Campbell, which sprawls across the Kentucky-Tennessee border and has nearly 24,000 military personnel, have had little comment about the

slaying. Maj. Pamela Hart, a spokeswoman for the base, said the probe is ongoing, with investigators "looking into all rumors and reports."

But during the last six months of his life, Winchell apparently was taunted frequently by fellow soldiers and superiors who had learned of his homosexuality,

according to service members who testified this week at a court hearing and his friends. Lawyers and potential witnesses in the case are under a gag order forbidding

them to speak to reporters, but a picture began to emerge nonetheless of an environment where a macho image is still highly valued and where a slur for a male

homosexual was used freely as an insult. Alcohol in excessive amounts also apparently played a large role in the tragedy.

"Pretty much everybody in the company called him derogatory names," said Sgt. Michael Kleifgen, Winchell's section leader, in sworn testimony today. "Basically,

they called him a 'faggot' and stuff like that. I would say on a daily basis. . . . A lot of times, he was walking around, down in the dumps."

Pvt. Calvin N. Glover, of Sulphur, Okla., has been charged with premeditated murder in Winchell's slaying. This week's Article 32 hearing, comparable to a grand

jury hearing in civilian court but open to the public, was held to determine whether enough evidence exists to court-martial Glover.

A second soldier, Spec. Justin R. Fisher, 25, of Lincoln, Neb., was later charged with being a principal to premeditated murder and acting as an accessory after the

fact, among other charges. Fisher was Winchell's roommate in Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry regiment.

Several soldiers testified this week that Glover and Fisher were heavy drinkers, perhaps alcoholics. Pfc. Arthur Hoffman said that Glover, in particular, who at 18

cannot drink legally, became unpleasant and "aggressive" when he had been drinking.

Winchell, a native of Kansas City, Mo., was described by friends as a quiet young man with a masculine demeanor and down-to-earth attitudes. Although he had

dated women exclusively in the past, he confided to friends that he had long questioned his sexuality and had been curious about gay life. His mother and stepfather,

Patricia and Wally Kutteles, told the Louisville Courier-Journal that they were stunned to learn only after his death that he was gay.

Rumors about Winchell began to circulate widely through his platoon some six months ago after Fisher informed Sgt. Kleifgen that he had seen a soldier, whom he

did not identify, at the Connection, a nightclub 60 miles away in Nashville that has a large gay clientele. Kleifgen told investigators today that he and a staff sergeant

immediately went through a list of their soldiers and "asked every Pfc. in the company where they were that weekend."

"We figured out it was Winchell. I asked Winchell if he was gay. He said no," Kleifgen said, as gay rights activists in the audience gasped at the apparent flouting of

the "don't ask, don't tell" law.

At first lauded as an advancement in relations between gays and the military, the law instead has received mixed reviews as many gay rights groups say that

hostilities have only increased since its adoption. In this case, gay rights groups fear, soldiers who come forward with information could be subjecting themselves to

questions about their own sexuality.

Incidents of gay harassment have increased every year since 1994, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington-based group that assists

gays in the military. Last year alone, reported incidents increased 120 percent over 1997, according to an annual report released by the group.

Although much of the compiled evidence that a hate crime occurred in the Winchell case has been "anecdotal," according to Clarence Patton of the New York City

Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, "our antenna always goes up when someone known to be gay or lesbian is the victim of a violent crime."

"In hate crimes," he said, "there are certain indicators -- an element of overkill. . . . I do not believe this was an ordinary fight. That does not ring true."

Gay rights advocates say they want the military to more vigorously investigate soldiers harassed because of sexual orientation. They say doing so can prevent it from

escalating to physical violence.

Since March, Winchell had been involved in a relationship with a performer at the Connection, a self-described preoperative transsexual named Cal "Calpernia"

Addams, who attended this week's hearings dressed as a woman.

"When I heard what had happened, I thought, 'Oh God, they've killed him because he was dating me,' " said Addams, a former Navy medic who served in the

Persian Gulf War.

Hostilities in Winchell's unit apparently began to reach a peak on the evening of July 3 when he and Glover, who had been drinking, got into a fistfight, which

Winchell won handily. Hoffman said that Glover had been bragging about his exploits when he was challenged by a disbelieving Winchell.

"He [Glover] was trying to make himself sound like a bad [guy]," Hoffman said. "The stories were pretty out there. . . . Winchell kicked Glover's [butt]. It was a

long time coming."

Later, Glover may have been teased by other soldiers about his defeat, said Kathi Westcott, a staff lawyer with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Several

soldiers reported to the group, she said, that "Glover was taunted basically for getting his [butt] kicked by a [gay man]."

Chief Warrant Officer Alfred Brown, a special agent for Fort Campbell's Criminal Investigation Division, testified that soldiers told him that Glover had vowed to

"get even, kill him."

The next day, July 4, alcohol was flowing freely in the barracks, as many of the soldiers in the company emptied a keg of beer. Winchell, Glover and Fisher were

drinking heavily, other soldiers reported. Several said they last saw Fisher and Winchell at about 2 a.m. on July 5, sitting at a picnic table outside the barracks.

By 3 a.m., the fire alarm in the barracks was clanging and men were piling out of their rooms, stunned to learn that Winchell was gravely injured. Fisher raced into

the room shared by Pfc. Jonathon Joyce and Pfc. Nikita Sanarov, yelling that "Winchell's dying."

The two men said they saw a blood-splattered Winchell lying unresponsive in a second-floor hallway. Sanarov, who ran outside to get his car at Fisher's request,

said he first saw Glover running from Winchell's barracks toward his own barracks. A few minutes later, Sanarov said he saw Glover sprinting toward a trash bin

with what appeared to be an armful of clothing.

Investigators later found Glover in his room, along with a bloodstained shirt and blood smears on the door.

After Glover's arrest, Pfc. Ryan Futch, who guarded the soldier, said he overheard Glover and another prisoner exchanging epithets against blacks and

homosexuals. Futch said Glover told him that he had beaten Winchell with a bat.

If Glover is court-martialed and found guilty, he will face life in prison.

In death, it seems, Pfc. Barry Winchell's secret was finally and fully exposed. At a memorial service in Nashville last month, Cal Addams spoke about what "a

kind, calm gentleman" Winchell had been. Behind him, four people in civilian dress held aloft an American flag -- while four others held the rainbow banner, a

symbol of the gay rights movement.

 

 

 

 

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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Copyright 1999 The Courier-Journal

The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY.)

July 14, 1999, Wednesday KY/KENTUCKY

Correction Appended

SECTION: NEWS Pg.01b

LENGTH: 474 words

HEADLINE: Suspect, victim fought days before killing, Army says

Outside groups continue to look into the slaying

BYLINE: CHRIS POYNTER, The Courier-Journal

SOURCE: STAFF

BODY:

 

A Fort Campbell soldier and the fellow private he is charged with murdering fought two to three days before the killing, an Army spokeswoman said yesterday.

''I know there was a fight, and I know that for sure,'' Maj. Pamela Hart said in an interview. ''But as far as the details, that's still unclear.''

Pfc. Calvin N. Glover, 18, was arrested last week and charged with premeditated murder in the death of Pfc. Barry Winchell, who was buried yesterday in his

hometown of Kansas City, Mo.

Winchell, 21, died July 6 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., after being involved in what the Army called a ''physical altercation'' that

occurred in his barracks at 3 a.m. July 5.

Hart declined to release more information until the Army's Criminal Investigative Division is done with its inquiry.

Winchell's death also is being investigated by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a private group based in Washington that supports gays and

lesbians in the military, and by the Tennessee chapter of the Lesbian and Gay Coalition for Justice.

Last weekend, an attorney for the Legal Defense Network was in the Fort Campbell area and in Nashville passing out fliers and asking soldiers and others to step

forward with information regarding the case.

Penny Harrington, a Nashville attorney, said Winchell was friends with a performer at The Connection, a bar frequented by gays. Harrington is representing the

performer, who has agreed to talk with Army investigators about Winchell later this week.

It is not known if Winchell was gay or was perceived to be gay by his fellow soldiers.

Michelle Benecke, a co-founder and co-director for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said her organization hasn't determined if the slaying was likely

a hate crime.

''However, we have found enough information to be concerned,'' she said yesterday.

Hart, the Fort Campbell spokeswoman, said there is no conclusive evidence of a hate crime.

Rhonda White, co-chairwoman of the Tennessee chapter of the Lesbian and Gay Coalition for Justice, said some of the soldiers who knew about the slaying

approached the Nashville-based group with information. Several said they had perceived Winchell as a homosexual.

''We keep hearing the same things,'' she said. ''The details are a little different, though.''

Winchell had been at Fort Campbell since May 1998 and was a member of a unit that could deploy anywhere within 18 hours.

According to his obituary, Winchell enjoyed composing music and playing the piano. He was studying and preparing for Warrant Officers School to pilot

helicopters, and some of his fellow soldiers had nicknamed him ''Top Gun.'' While in the Army, he received two Army Achievement Medals and one

Meritorious Service Medal.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

CORRECTION-DATE: September 1, 1999

CORRECTION:

Because of incorrect information from the Army, stories in The Courier-Journal about Calvin Glover, who is accused of beating to death a fellow Fort

Campbell soldier, had his rank incorrect. He is a private.

LANGUAGE: English

LOAD-DATE: September 2, 1999

 

 

 

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