FORT CAMPBELL SLAYING Inmate says gay soldier hit on accused By Brian Dunn / The Leaf-Chronicle

FORT CAMPBELL -- A man accused of the beating death a fellow Fort Campbell soldier was angry about homosexual passes the victim made at him and wanted to teach him a lesson, a military jail inmate testified yesterday.

Pvt. Kenneth Buckler told of befriending Pvt. Calvin N. Glover while the two were detained at Fort Campbell's jail cell D on July 6, a day after Pfc. Barry Winchell was beaten in his barracks.

He said Glover, 18, of Sulpher, Okla., told him about a raucous July 4 party during which Winchell made sexual passes at him.

"The guy was homosexual, and he had made passes at him before," Buckler testified. He said Glover left the party to get away from Winchell.

"He ran into the guy again, and that's when he beat him down," Buckler testified. "He said he didn't want to kill him. He wanted to teach him a lesson, but he could tell he was dead after he did what he was doing, so he left.

"He said he snapped and went back up to his room, and he changed real fast."

Buckler, who had been court-martialed for forgery and drug distribution, was a defense witness in an investigative hearing for Spec. Justin Fisher, another Fort Campbell soldier who is charged as an accomplice in the slaying.

Yesterday would have been Winchell's 22nd birthday. He died in a Nashville hospital July 6, a day after the beating.

Glover's investigative hearing on a charge of premeditated murder was conducted Aug. 10-11. Investigators believe Glover hit Winchell several times with a baseball bat in the barracks, possibly while the man slept.

The hearing for Fisher, 25, of Lincoln, Neb., began Monday and continues this morning. He faces five charges, including encouraging Glover during the beating and then lying to investigators about it. The hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to a general court-martial.

Because most of the witnesses yesterday were called by Fisher's defense counsel, much testimony was targeted at Glover's, rather than Fisher's role, in the case.

Prior testimony had characterized Fisher as a homophobic soldier who had a fiery relationship with Winchell, who was his roommate.

Jail guard Spec. Carlos Rodriguez, who guarded Glover at the Fort Campbell jail cell, testified Monday that Glover said the attack was Fisher's idea and that Fisher wanted to throw Winchell in the river.

Winchell, of Kansas City, Mo., had been dating a Nashville man for the last four months of his life and was a patron at a Nashville night that caters to gays.

Spec. Lewis Ruiz testified yesterday that Glover and Winchell got into a fist fight July 3, possibly sparked by rumors allegedly started by Fisher, with Winchell handily beating Glover.

Soldiers in Glover's company, especially Fisher, teased Glover for getting beaten, according to testimony.

A night later, some of the company's soldiers gathered at the barracks for a cookout and party and most the soldiers got drunk, especially Glover and Winchell, Pfc. Andrew Hoffman testified.

The party broke up after midnight. At about 3 a.m., the barracks company dog began barking, the fire alarm started blaring and Fisher was covered with blood.

Two combat medics were tending to a beaten Winchell, blood gushing from his left ear, his head swollen and his eyes blackened.

The government will present its evidence against Fisher when the hearing continues at 9:30 a.m.