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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸) U) Z$ T" h3 u6 F$ p/ g+ s
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer
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3 _7 [; L1 a" a8 U6 f% i/ K. _4 \Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body4 z5 {' T. C' T2 z9 B- C
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By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated - T ~4 g% ?0 g! |% X/ E& u8 n
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET
$ w- r' p5 G, ?" fMOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while . M- w. X; ?# e9 ], M9 L! x
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
2 |9 `3 o {, j1 f8 ^% iwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.0 c; }6 |* P, _, r$ {
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
3 Z, l- P+ j! j9 `: eSouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor
3 M8 @+ z. g% ~8 m5 K) Ctold jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
0 F; a) L f6 |' z4 Misolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them." U! g* n7 o X5 o, E
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"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant * o# k6 K! V1 T ?# J& A8 c
District Attorney Jill Phillips.0 Z5 e$ I0 R2 I" t# e% |) p4 e
, q0 K. |; T, Z- C8 v- ~4 e, o3 B2 OAfter deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
% R2 m$ b4 S3 ~$ q1 P8 g" i) Zyear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse % h, S6 g3 K/ w; d
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.& I" r/ Y' o( _) I& j6 E, K
* r2 K ]; V0 q n, GHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges
8 A; o7 \0 U( ^* @4 ~8 cthat he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
) S2 _) O$ b& N% D0 s# k& W1 W& z( Aled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
% n% Q B6 N2 _+ o l/ yabused and impregnated.
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
3 C- m7 \6 L1 W6 Y$ Tafter she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
, h* ]/ h7 C6 L5 Istuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with 2 b8 G3 ~; c$ Y6 `- W$ O; j5 v
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous
$ ]- O0 D5 [3 j% Arelationship.
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7 w, c# N+ [8 w$ N6 bHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
) l3 E1 x0 i6 w& ~9 mhim from the court.
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. @6 w2 U8 t/ m' s6 m l7 p! QChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
+ e/ F6 w+ |" l5 Q' B3 fin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.3 ], @& w( W4 i
% Z7 F, _* P$ }) I5 ~"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very ( t% ^4 H* O, g' Q
disturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A ' X5 e! K, l5 b9 m" l4 n
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully & Q' f0 D. h; U" j0 j- x
recovering are slim."
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$ Y, Y) G+ D+ s, uDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.9 i: D* g! [4 |
# t( {8 e( N7 L, d. S/ GHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
) T' c1 E+ I$ W2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
: ~6 L1 ]) `% A( A/ }) Geight children, an month-old infant, beside her. t& Z0 N4 n; u% m
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"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha . Q# q8 n) j0 k5 \* X
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR,"
$ O" |" y' X" Q' K @Hopkins testified.
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2 C# ]; A% E6 C8 @- x! IHopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
5 _! i- G7 }7 T5 V. c. dearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near
* w6 V7 _( K3 h) EMobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
W% q# m" {# m7 p# CFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.
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He testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got ' H0 H' Q9 u- L6 o
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.
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I3 Y0 P2 W& h% _) L; ?9 YIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and 3 Z" ^4 O" ~2 T( G9 @* z
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
7 r$ H0 m1 n; J3 Y. d9 Tdeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
# O5 v( t; f- v6 aprophet who could see the future.
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* _+ u- G0 f) @9 p9 T9 PSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
$ q- ?3 L7 z6 m& Nwith in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who 8 H6 z F! J% ^4 J) A: w9 L! |
commended the jury. g* _ \! d) v0 V7 G" @- z2 W+ E
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
/ U( A; e+ V2 D' `) u/ Z# }convict him," she said after the verdict. |
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