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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸: n: b) `& T6 V. e
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer
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Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body2 Y, b- ?$ S/ M
1 K( s9 x9 Y3 c( _0 eBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated 7 [, K" {* C9 A7 p6 n6 ?: W
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET
V2 L8 d+ w, ]MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while
- [4 M/ u% n. w. M; o3 j Qimpressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
/ m6 [/ g' k4 t6 \% J3 ?8 J* pwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
* T3 ?0 o6 F) d, b) n5 z7 CSouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor G |- y) v2 `, K$ o6 X
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children, . A7 z s) r, }$ I; l9 w) J
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
8 w% x1 ?, p# K( R0 GDistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.0 p3 R& i J# [
7 V0 g, _9 Z* C( {1 d. }After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-/ y! h) T8 c) a
year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse
8 D% [5 f; }7 \of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.
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" Y4 `: @8 S5 d! N' X( yHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges # a$ Y/ ^: e4 H( Y, I
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were 2 q" [0 t" j/ D/ {* S
led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
7 Z; [% q# H' ~9 U, Yabused and impregnated.+ b( U4 m7 i" ^& ~, X+ r" W
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 ( S: x0 y9 w# l
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
2 i! X4 o7 t% a" dstuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with 2 p9 ~" l& H0 ?- ]4 K: L
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous ' S0 }- Q4 {: l3 F4 c
relationship.
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Hopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
4 o8 n; W2 t0 @) I. {him from the court.7 l6 y; j# z, p# @1 \# V6 g
2 n% \/ Y1 t" J7 |2 }Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
. U4 x4 A! O5 c5 oin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.
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"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
% F$ d/ | s3 j8 rdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
# [$ W( i& f$ p3 D9 v2 rnumber of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully # q4 ]+ d# ]$ c: S
recovering are slim."4 e3 l {. d' _ Z6 b G* V- _
4 {% M* K( n j, [. tDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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Hopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in ; i/ j/ j9 u/ |* b9 f
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
3 { r. j( e& k3 v2 i: Neight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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' d4 G0 @5 _* ?: X; ?"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha 3 m6 c4 J. ]: ^1 K( R+ [
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," , F, L9 c5 W; N2 Z
Hopkins testified.
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Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and ( r+ [ m" O1 e B
earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near & m- p, }+ ]+ C; M) J v6 F
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
1 s% t! R8 G: mFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.7 l, m( H- Q/ D
0 }+ f8 R7 ?0 r; _5 k1 G% F: ?He testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
7 f: t7 P2 H) z1 C, V- eorders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.: _" k6 x. r+ _) v
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It was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and
- W" Y% f0 i6 w- r" Zbegan preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
0 |7 [7 Q& T+ u7 H2 Zdeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
6 z- y* P8 {+ q6 a. nprophet who could see the future.
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Six of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live 4 P3 @" e: V3 z: r
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who ) N& O4 L% L2 T: F
commended the jury.5 [' k: h1 y3 W( \/ @( i1 R; \
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to / Y% f4 s2 ]6 Y
convict him," she said after the verdict. |
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