What would you would do if you learned your spouse was cheating and became pregnant by another man? How would you handle the news? On December 7, 1993, Sergeant Stephen Schap (U.S. Army) found himself facing such a dilemma. He became enraged and used brutality against his wife’s lover. The U.S. Army had sent Sergeant Stephen Schap and his wife Diane to Sickles Army Air Field in Fulda, Germany.

Schap’s superiors praised his work habits and said he was an excellent soldier. He also developed a close friendship with co-worker Specialist Gregory Glover. The men worked together as helicopter mechanics. Glover often visited the Schaps and had become friends with both Stephen and Diane Schap. Life appeared normal for the Schaps. But this soon changed.

After arriving in Germany, the Schaps had marital problems. Diane wanted to divorce Stephen and return to Baltimore. Although Stephen wanted to work on his marriage, he would honor his wife’s wishes.

On December 7, 1993, life took a sinister turn for the Schaps. After experiencing a health concern, Diane was hospitalized. Stephen rushed to the hospital to visit his ailing wife. He assumed she suffered from an ovarian cyst. He was wrong.

She admitted to her husband she was pregnant by another man and her illness was related to the pregnancy. Somehow, she had managed to hide her pregnancy from her husband. Since Stephen had a vasectomy, he knew the child couldn’t be his. The shocking news infuriated him.

He asked two questions: Did they have intercourse with her lover in their bed? And who was the baby’s father? She told him she didn’t have intercourse in their bed, but refused to identify the father. He insisted on knowing because it could affect his relationships with his co-workers. She only revealed the man’s rank.

Schap then knew the man’s identity.

He told his wife he would return to the apartment, pack up his belongings and leave. After Schap left the room, Diane spoke to her lover on the phone. She told him Stephen knew about her pregnancy. During the conversation, she heard her lover say two expletives before the phone went dead.

Nearly a half hour after the phone call ended, Stephen Schap burst into his wife’s hospital room. He opened a gym bag and pulled out the head of his former friend Specialist Gregory Glover. “Look, Diane—Glover’s here! He’ll sleep with you every night now. Only you won’t sleep—because all you will see is this!”

Schap had attacked Glover while he was on the phone with Diane. He beat Glover, stabbed him to death and then kicked his corpse until the head separated from the body. Schap had killed Glover in front of witnesses who saw him flee the scene with Glover’s head.

According to court documentation:

‘Schap placed the severed head into an athletic bag, appellant took it to the hospital where his wife had been admitted when it was feared she might suffer a miscarriage (of a child by the deceased). To the horror of his wife and hospital personnel, appellant burst into her room, pulled the head out of the bag, deposited it on her bedside tray table, and physically forced her to look at it.’ 

Medical staff arrived in the room after Schap burst into his wife’s room. He refused to allow anyone to cover Glover’s head. He wanted his wife to see it. Schap spoke to a German doctor and said his wife had humiliated him. Schap waited for the police to arrive. A German newspaper printed the following headline: “Jealous Husband Runs Amok with Head.”

On April 1, 1994, Stephen Schap was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence was eventually reduced to 45 years. He was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to serve his sentence. It’s been said there is a fine line between love and hate. In this case, rage had consumed a man who loved his wife. It’s difficult to know what we do if our spouse cheated, but we can only hope we could walk away peacefully.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and avid reader. He can be contacted through his website at www.themarcabe.com, through Facebook: www.facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. And be sure to listen to his podcast at www.spreaker.com/show/the-marcabe.