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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
1 f m' t u5 Z; V% Ihttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer
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Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body! I& E; z& K6 F, ?* ~0 v. n
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By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
5 Q; g2 D+ W. b5 X2 dPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET
: W4 a9 _8 @& K4 c, g6 G2 iMOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while % j) M `! l) E9 o4 V
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
# `& P% X4 v# Qwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.
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$ V& l5 F- x, V5 D0 iPeople who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the ' Z. U5 n5 ?7 G* b" T5 w$ I
South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor , U! R. t. n5 [) [* l
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children, ( k! N3 @3 _9 z# b
isolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.
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"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant
A1 e% P3 |( |! ADistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.+ R2 W! D/ f& V) W9 |. u
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
5 C% _5 I8 P3 ~2 N2 Q& C; `year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse . d- K( t) W( v$ {
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.
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4 E& L( `! A' O l+ l' JHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges
/ m% L6 f8 D, Cthat he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
3 p' F& a. u4 Eled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
. d6 J6 W1 y% A" z: E( {- Babused and impregnated.
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 % ?& j8 _, F$ z" k3 ]0 P
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
$ J3 z) T( }9 _stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
) _( e0 \+ z0 ~# o$ bher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous / B6 }5 c* ]: D4 z! `
relationship.
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Hopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led 8 a/ d6 Q, i( I$ G9 z/ a
him from the court.3 p1 I0 j9 `4 L8 G5 z5 T
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Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
$ S6 |. U. c1 @3 C7 d6 B5 Y6 iin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.2 Y7 ?( ] u8 k+ ]3 v* W5 o. c9 H
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"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very ( q8 `) B; T, S1 i1 r
disturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
" Q( W' M; l0 S- D$ V) Qnumber of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully # j( w( S# o( s' M! q9 ]
recovering are slim."! W4 ]# P6 y* H B% \" `5 l; d
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Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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, m5 u( J+ A9 i) b' j/ oHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in 4 d0 ?7 u9 ? L3 w: s0 }. d$ {" ]1 e
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
* Q2 w e! C9 Jeight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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$ A3 H/ B% k7 _"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha 2 h& D) V; m# Y( t% j
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," , ^+ B: A v9 }0 I$ w
Hopkins testified.
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$ }& \; j5 ?' U$ K4 h/ V; pHopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
( U" c ~! _; `/ H3 q4 B1 X! d/ mearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near 2 G- W4 C. e% Z) ^
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
; ]( N* Q! V7 [5 wFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.% X. y- w' r) ]
# F7 o% h b! I' _$ H4 A* cHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got . A3 \" @3 o! [9 i" \
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.; N8 @" ]" ^7 A
0 _6 N( x. S, C* j' DIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and j! ?; V0 y1 `/ t# K
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He 1 ~$ _0 u8 e% ]: p1 T+ d* P3 q
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
+ |. G7 T% p1 Y+ T9 D! s gprophet who could see the future.
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Six of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
; Q0 ?( Y4 w) [with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who % j: R0 k+ T. B d) A( m
commended the jury.- u2 w$ \) c. f! u
! R' x! @( S, l; n5 Q"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
' _0 V/ I! N0 k0 g% a# vconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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