SOLDIER TO BE TRIED IN SLAYING
Fort Campbell infantryman beaten with bat

By Chris Poynter, The Courier-Journal

A Fort Campbell soldier accused of killing a fellow infantryman, in part because he was gay, will be court-martialed on a charge of premeditated murder, the Army announced yesterday.

Pvt. Calvin Glover would face a maximum of life in prison if convicted of killing Pfc. Barry Winchell, who was beaten with a baseball bat in his barracks July 5. He died the next day.

Fort Campbell's commanding general referred the case to court-martial after receiving recommendations from the investigating officer, a brigade commander and the staff judge advocate. The investigating officer acted as judge at a hearing last month in which Army prosecutors laid out their case against Glover.

No date has been set for his court-martial, the military equivalent of a criminal trial.

The killing at the post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border attracted national attention and led the Pentagon to accelerate changes in its "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward homosexuals in the military. Winchell, 21, of Kansas City, Mo., began coming out of the closet in the months before his death.

According to testimony at Glover's preliminary hearing, soldiers harassed Winchell about his sexual orientation, but no one, including his commanders, did anything to stop it. One sergeant testified that he even approached Winchell and asked if he was gay -- an apparent violation of "don't ask, don't tell."

Pvt. Justin Fisher, Winchell's roommate, has been charged as an accomplice and is accused of encouraging Glover to strike Winchell. He is also charged with lying to Army investigators and obstructing the investigation, among other things. A decision on whether Fisher will face a court-martial has not been made.

According to Army prosecutors, Winchell and Glover fought two days before the killing. Winchell had beaten Glover, and Glover vowed revenge, telling fellow soldiers that he would not be beaten by a "faggot," prosecutors said.

According to testimony at last month's hearing, Glover confessed to the crime while in a detention cell at Fort Campbell after his arrest. He told another soldier that he killed Winchell because Winchell had made a pass at him, according to the testimony. However, there has been no evidence to substantiate that claim.

Glover's court-martial will be open to the public.