A U.S. Army sergeant who decapitated his wife’s lover and brought the head to her hospital bedside was found guilty of premeditated murder by a military court Friday.

A jury of four officers and three non-commissioned officers deliberated less than two hours before reaching the guilty verdict on Sgt. Stephen Schap, 26, of Baltimore.

Schap, who faces a mandatory life sentence under U.S. military justice, sat ramrod straight and showed little emotion as the court martial’s verdict was read.

In early December, Schap figured out that his wife, Diane, was pregnant by his best friend, Spec. Gregory Glover, 21, of Phoenix. He found Glover, and stabbed and beheaded him with an eight-inch military knife.


Witnesses testified that he kicked the head several times to sever it completely from Glover’s body, then picked it up and said: “This is what you get for adultery.”

Schap then carried the bloodied head in a sports bag emblazoned with the logo “Head” to a hospital where his 26-year-old wife was undergoing emergency gynecological treatment, prosecutors told the court.

Diane Schap, who confirmed that she is pregnant by Glover, said in halting testimony earlier this week that her husband entered her hospital room, set the head on a bedside table and said, “Look Diane, Glover’s here. He’ll sleep with you every night, only you won’t sleep at night.”

From the outset of the trial, Schap had admitted the killing, but he denied that he had planned the attack and pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder.


The Schaps were in the process of separating when Glover was killed.