JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. soldier who told the Army about soldiers linked to killings of Afghan citizens has been moved to solitary confinement for his safety, officials said.
Military officials moved Spc. Adam Winfield, 21, among the dozen soldiers charged in the slayings, to solitary confinement in a facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., CNN reported Tuesday. Other soldiers who he says initiated the killings in Afghanistan are imprisoned in the same facility.
Authorities at Lewis-McChord, Winfield's home base, are investigating reports of a threat made against one of the defendants, but did not identify who was threatened, a spokeswoman said
"We will not comment on measures taken to ensure this individual's safety," said Maj. Kathleen Turner, a public affairs officer for Lewis-McChord. "The U.S. Army ... is investigating allegations that a threat was made to one of the defendants; however, we are not releasing any further information associated with these allegations."
Winfield told Army investigators he alerted his father to the killings this year, saying he feared for his life, a tape obtained by CNN indicated. His father tried and failed to get the military to intervene, Winfield's attorney said.
Winfield, Cpl. Jeremy Morlock, Wasilla, Alaska; Pfc. Andrew Holmes, Boise, Idaho; Spc. Michael Wagnon, Las Vegas; and platoon leader Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs of Billings, Mont., are charged with premeditated murder in the killings of three Afghan civilians between January and May of this year. Seven other soldiers face charges ranging from conspiracy and interfering in a military investigation to drug use while in Afghanistan.
Military reports indicate Gibbs kept track of the killings with skull tattoos and took body parts as souvenirs, CNN said.
The Army did not comment on Winfield and the other defendants' prison housing or whether they could communicate with each other.
