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He said that he knew May 2, 2010, that his squad leader, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, planned to carry out the staged killing of the unarmed Afghan man.
Winfield admitted during his court-martial Friday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord that he’d had options. He could have alerted a superior to Gibbs’ intent, tried to dissuade the squad leader from carrying out the attack or walked away.
Instead, he aimed high with his weapon.
“I was afraid and I wish I was braver, and that’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said.
A military judge sentenced Winfield, 23, to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and drug use under a plea agreement. He will be reduced to the rank of private and receive a bad-conduct discharge.
The plea agreement had recommended he serve up to eight years in prison. The maximum sentence was 17 years.
He’s the second soldier to admit to participating in a murder as the Army continues its prosecution of the so-called Afghan kill team. Prosecutors accuse soldiers assigned to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division of concocting fake combat scenarios to murder Afghan civilians on three occasions.
On this day, Winfield and Pvt. Jeremy Morlock fired their weapons after Gibbs, the alleged ringleader, threw a grenade. The blast blew the man’s legs off, prosecutors say. Morlock set a grenade by the man, and Gibbs shot him twice in the head, they say.
Morlock was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to three murders. Gibbs awaits trial and has denied participating in staged killings.
Winfield said he was afraid of Gibbs because the squad leader had threatened to kill him if he went to authorities about his knowledge of the schemes. Gibbs had told him he planned to drop a vehicle tow hitch on his head or a weight room barbell across his neck, Winfield said.
Winfield’s father, Christopher, sought help after his son alerted him via Facebook in February 2010 that soldiers in his platoon had killed a young farmer the previous month and were plotting more murders. A sergeant at Lewis-McChord didn’t act on his father’s message, an Army investigation found.
His parents told the judge the Army failed their son and failed his family.
Capt. Jeremy Scholtes, an Army prosecutor, said Winfield had other ample opportunities to alert his chain of command before the incident about the killings. He could have alerted his platoon leader or other soldiers to the staged killing immediately before or after Gibbs carried it out.
“We’re not here today because this man (Winfield) is a victim. We’re here today because this man,” Scholtes said, pointing to what he described as a “trophy” photo of Gibbs, Morlock and Winfield kneeling behind the Afghan’s mangled body, “is a victim. If this soldier had done the right thing, we wouldn’t even be here today.”
Attorney Eric Montalvo told the judge that Winfield and other soldiers were under Gibbs’ total control. He compared their base to the Wild West, with no control or leadership.
“When you hand your son over to the military, there are certain expectations,” he said. “There was never an expectation that they’d hand their son over to a monster.”
Winfield initially was charged with murder, assault and conspiracy charges.
Winfield will testify against Gibbs when his court-martial begins in October.
“What happened over there was wrong on so many levels,” he said.
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
