'Kill Team' Ringleader Gets Life Sentence For Afghan Civilian Murders
American Soldier Calvin Gibbs has been sentenced to life in military prison for murdering Afghan civilians for “sport” and “thrills.”
Army Staff Sgt. Gibbs has been described as the head of a five-soldier “kill squad” that targeted and framed innocent civilians in Afghanistan.
The group of men, all in their 20s, murdered civilians and cut off body parts to keep as “souvenirs.”
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The group also took gruesome photos that were leaked to the press last March. The U.S. Army described the photos as “repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the U.S. army.”
The “kill squad” would frame the dead civilian bodies with Russian grenades to make them appear as though they were Taliban fighters that were killed by U.S. soldiers in self-defense. The killings took place last year over duration of five months in the notoriously dangerous Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
Gibbs, who pleaded not guilty, was handed his sentence on Thursday. The sentencing allows the former sergeant to be eligible for parole in 10 years.
The attorney representing Gibbs argued that other soldiers framed his client as the mastermind behind the deaths as part of a plea deal.
Gibbs pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and testified in his own defense, arguing that the deaths were legitimate. Gibbs did admit to taking body parts from dead Afghans for keepsake. He compared taking trophy body parts from human kill to “keeping antlers” from deer.
However, in court Gibbs said of using body parts as keepsakes, “I was numb to the situation. I wasn’t thinking; it’s sickening. I am embarrassed.”
Prosecutor Maj. Andre Leblanc said at the sentencing hearing of Gibbs, “He said they were all dirty savages. He is the savage, not the innocent Afghans he murdered. It is monstrous. What kind of savagery does it take to do this? To cut a finger off a victim and show it to people. This is savage being.”
Gibbs is the highest ranking solider in the “kill squad” case and is a father to a three-year-old son.
In a taped confession obtained by ABC News, a soldier charged with premeditated murder, Jeremy Morlock, told investigators that Gibbs was a “crazy” sergeant and said, “He just really doesn’t have any problems f---ing killing these people.”
