Calvin Gibbs - the boy next door and the killer next door

Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, age 26, was convicted by a military tribunal in Tacoma, Washington, on November 11, 2011, of the murder of three Afghan civilians in a remote area of Kandahar Province in 2010.

He was a member of a unit of the 5th Stryker Brigade, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

He has been sentenced to life in prison, but will be eligible for parole in less than a decade.

Calvin Gibbs - the skull-maker

These killings were described by the prosecution as "thrill-kills", and involved the cutting off of body parts of the victims and pulling their teeth as trophies. It was reported that Calvin Gibbs played with the bodies of the dead, moving a corpse's mouth like a puppet. 

He planted weapons on the dead civilians so they would look like insurgent fighters.

Three other members of his Unit have also been charged with these crimes.

Calvin Gibbs was from Billings, Montana and has a wife and young son. 

It is one thing to fire upon and kill those who are trying to kill you. Self-preservation kicks in. But to kill the innocent is a sin, in anyone's books. 

He has been described by people who knew him before his military service as coming from a good family, as well-mannered and always a nice boy and very polite and kind.

Then what happened to him? 

Pray for the
victims of Calvin
Gibbs

War happened to him and he became not a nice and kind boy, but a bringer of death to those who did not deserve it.

Pray for the victims of this man and his cohorts. Pray that God gives them justice in the next world. 

God knows that they didn't receive it in this one. 

God help us all. Amen.