YOKOSUKA, Japan -- A military judge accepted Monday Navy Airman Apprentice Terry Helvey's plea of guilty in the killing of a homosexual shipmate, preventing the sailor from facing the death penalty.
Commander David P. Holcombe, the navy judge presiding over the court- martial, accepted Helvey's lesser plea of guilty with intent to inflict great bodily harm on Seaman Allen R. Schindler in a park toilet near Sasebo Naval Base in southwestern Japan.
'The court will not prosecute on' premeditation, said Holcombe, after six pre-trial hearings.
The Navy originally charged Helvey with the premeditated murder of Schindler Oct. 27, a crime carrying a maximum sentence of death.
Unpremeditated homicide carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
'I find the accused made the pleas voluntarily...and they are accepted,' said Holcombe.
Schindler, 22, of Chicago Heights, Illinois, was being administratively discharged from the navy for being a homosexual when he was battered to death.
The slaying has become a rallying point for homosexual activists who contend it was a classic case of gay-bashing at a time when President Clinton is seeking to end the ban on gays in the military. Those opposing the lifting of the ban have also seized on the celebrated case to espouse their cause.
Holcombe accepted Helvey's guilty pleas to charges of assault on two navy shore patrolmen and to giving two false official statements to the Navy Criminal Investigative Service. Helvey, 21, of Westland, Michigan, pleaded innocent to a charge of obstruction justice.
With all his pleas accepted, the attorneys selected eight jurors including two women out of a pool of 14 for the penalty phase of the trial. Helvey had requested an all-officer jury.
After the killing, the shore patrol arrested Helvey and Charles Vins, 21, of Sturgis, Mich. Vins, who pleaded guilty to lesser charges, was sentenced to several months in a military jail and given a dishonorable discharge in exchange for his testimony against Helvey.
Seaman Jonathan Witte testified he and a friend were walking past the bathroom in the park.
'I heard the sound of rushing air coming out of someone's mouth like someone was sick,' Witte said. Looking through the windows, Witte said he saw Helvey 'stomping up and down on an unconscious body three or four times' while Vins stood with his arms crossed.
Witte said he hurriedly called the shore patrol.
Chief Petty Officer Anthony Aptimes, one of the shore patrolmen, said Schindler's face 'was totally damaged. I saw bruises on his body and blood in his nose. He nevermoved.'
Aptimes said he unsuccessfully tried to revive him and remained with Schindler in the ambulance to a hospital. 'We worked on him a long time before we pronounced him dead,' Aptimes said. 'Schindler never regained consciousness.'
Among those attending the court-martial at Yokosuka Naval Base, headquarters of the U.S. 7th Fleet southwest of Tokyo, was Schindler's mother, Dorothy Hajdys, and his sister, Kathy Eickoff.
Hajdys, who has become an outspoken advocate of homosexual's rights, has said the attack left Schindler so badly disfigured she could identify her son's body only by the tatoos on his arms.
After Monday's court session, Hajdys said of Schindler, 'He's just a kid like Allen was.'
Also present were Helvey's mother, Regina Helvey, and his aunt Sheryl Sarchette.
Helvey had claimed he consumed 'a half a fifth of (a gallon of) hard liquor and a six-pack of beer' before the murder and was too intoxicated to remember all of the incident.
Helvey, Schindler and Vins were shipmates aboard the amphibious assault carrier USS Belleau Wood. Sasebo is its home port.
During a hearing last Friday, Holcombe ruled that Hajdys will be allowed to make a statement about the impact her son's death has had on her and her family but will not be allowed to make 'excessive emotional appeals.'
Holcombe also said jurors will be able to see photographs of the murder scene and Schindler's body.
