SUMMARY: Much of the evidence in the murder of a "perceived gay" soldier comes from what the alleged killer and alleged accomplice said about each other off the stand; now the brass must decide what's next.
The U.S. Army on September 2 completed its "Article 32" hearing to determine if Specialist Justin Fisher should be charged on several counts for lying to investigators and egging on Private First Class Calvin Glover to murder PFC Barry Winchell, who was believed to be gay by his co-workers at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Winchell was hit several times in the head with a baseball bat early on the morning of July 5 in his barracks and died of his wounds in a hospital the following day, in what may prove to be the first known gay-bashing murder in the U.S. military since the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was adopted. Glover's Article 32 hearing, which combines elements of civilian grand jury and preliminary hearings, was held August 10 - 11, but the disposition of his case has yet to be determination; the hearing for alleged accomplice Fisher took four days, twice as many as for alleged killer Glover, who reportedly confessed on three occasions while in detention.
The presiding officer at Fisher's hearing, Major Lee Miller, will make a written report within two weeks to 2nd Brigade commander Colonel Robert Caslen, who in conjunction with Fort Campbell commander Major General Robert Clark will determine the next step for both Fisher and Glover. Caslen and Clark can decide to dismiss the charges, recommend administrative action or convene a court martial, either on the charges as presented or as modified by the commanders. A conviction for Glover on the charge of pre-meditated murder could mean a life sentence or even the death penalty.
On September 1, Specialist Edgar Rosa testified as to his experience as an investigator interviewing Fisher. Rosa said, "He gave me different stories" -- and counted six different versions. "I could tell that he was lying; you don't change your story that many times." On September 2, Special Agent Howard Sander of Fort Campbell's Criminal Investigation Division, testified to administering a polygraph to Fisher on July 8, including the specific question of whether Fisher was involved in a plan to attack Winchell; Sander said Fisher flunked the test.
Fisher has emerged as a complex character in the testimony at the two hearings. He was Winchell's roommate but they were often at odds; according to testimony in this hearing, Fisher once had a physical altercation with Winchell that sent the latter to the hospital. Fisher is both the person who told others in the unit that Winchell was gay and the person who introduced Winchell to a Nashville gay bar. According to testimony in this hearing, Fisher also was one of those who taunted Glover for having lost a fistfight to Winchell on July 3, specifically for having been bested by a gay man. As viewed by their colleagues, Fisher was a clown and Glover was a daily drinker who was quick to pick fights, while Winchell was most often described as calm or mellow. It's believed to be Fisher's baseball bat that Glover allegedly used to attack Winchell, who may actually have been asleep at the time.
Fisher's defense presented witnesses to demonstrate that he tried to help Winchell after the attack, who quoted him as telling the unconscious victim "don't die" and "breathe, breathe" as Winchell was choking on his own blood. Fisher, in a rather hysterical state, reportedly did rouse other soldiers to come aid Winchell, eventually pulling a fire alarm, at a time when Glover was apparently disposing of his bloodied clothing and sitting in his own room. A soldier on duty first saw Fisher holding Winchell in his arms, covered with his blood, apparently trying to move him down a flight of stairs.
The defense of each of the accused has relied in large part on damaging the credibility of the other; even though neither man testified in either hearing, the allegations have rested to a considerable extent on what they said about each other, since there were no eyewitnesses to the bashing. Considerable physical evidence was collected in the case, but if it was presented in either hearing, it was not reported; at the time of Glover's hearing, lab analysis had not been completed. Glover had reportedly told jail guards that Fisher had planned Winchell's murder, including a plan to dump his body in the river afterwards, but apparently things did not go as planned. Oddly it was in Fisher's hearing that a jailed soldier reported Glover telling him that Winchell had made sexual advances to him, something that was never mentioned in Glover's own hearing, where guards had reported him making denigrating remarks about gays.
Although the legal actions against the accused are on hold right now, there has been a tangible outcome of another kind, as the case is credited with spurring the Pentagon to issue restated guidelines on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Those guidelines, awaited for nearly two years, were finally issued in the wake of Glover's hearing, where two sergeants testified to having "asked" Winchell (although neither seemed to recognize it was a violation of the policy), and to Winchell's having been harassed on a near-daily basis for four to six months with no superior ever making an effort to intervene.
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