 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
7 }4 o5 ?% G. a6 I/ b' shttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer, Z, {; o& w: X& S1 r" W3 g4 L) \' e
/ ?" H9 t- J; W/ D- O
2 ~+ T0 J$ q; p' b+ C2 B* cPreacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body5 b' q" n1 }' a
8 p/ c. P7 {9 SBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
2 J6 I) Y$ M5 Z* r: t, jPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET$ s! k5 G% c( j* h
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while 5 o% b* e% N8 P t$ u5 t6 q1 o
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
5 q [8 w/ \3 R; Bwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.2 G7 f. _( T5 @% `7 I
" x" |6 L% I9 uPeople who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
3 _' z8 l0 V' _# G$ lSouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor & K5 J* {# X l; z
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
+ ^6 M0 j8 P6 f4 L* ]/ Disolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.7 V3 H, n8 V0 D' l2 i4 G" N
8 t8 X6 ]5 l$ v% Y"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant
8 b5 t$ e( c2 }- U; V MDistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.
. E5 `" ^1 M' x; u; w- z. D* k, x
) o" `3 J5 j+ t9 O$ {2 ~After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-7 p, Q2 i1 ^) U. B
year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse % `9 _( x* V, t w z" p
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.$ e# W2 p$ ~0 ]2 ?0 L# ~3 u
) Y" \% S" R* c
Hopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges 7 C2 o1 E! M! T
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
/ Y( B# t' I: Hled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had & ]* o2 @4 `3 o) a/ m# q. c
abused and impregnated.
8 y/ A# ^. s& E5 {( C- A) \ A7 S- a' h* H2 F9 W7 o' M6 C
Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
; `0 G6 l& \$ J& b* t) zafter she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
3 ~8 @' `0 B( s# t: ~stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with * T8 A6 u" A) ^, j" T' V9 h3 L
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous
# k6 Z3 a' S, K: _; u2 Arelationship.
" i1 I- G3 x! F0 t1 G% e" S7 I* j6 X+ j7 J4 D+ N4 Y
Hopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led 3 u; z) R% K6 D8 i% e
him from the court.4 h* _* l) {3 a! V
9 S! Z" f( t1 Q5 Z6 L" X! ]- J3 E3 QChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
! _( k) a+ o; T/ N4 Yin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.
0 X' G5 _1 k4 _* W
* O1 j( ^: p1 r* Q) J" c1 j"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
. u+ b6 Z% H6 P# j# u1 Ydisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
9 i6 R3 K- c3 I6 [+ j8 J& Enumber of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully # `8 a0 [. h w: Y, h
recovering are slim."9 @# o( s/ E. f5 j* |9 J
+ _# O$ Z# E/ u( h! ADefense attorneys left court without answering questions.
& h p [5 l2 v4 U( m
2 G, Y6 y4 w. w7 |& B- ZHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
# B0 z9 q2 ]3 Z7 i2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her l- f7 o; u( L8 R
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.& Y3 _" x p$ ?$ M8 W& t+ {
: G2 Q) V% _6 ^7 n+ t
"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha 9 f) ~+ D/ |, r) }7 Z' S& V
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR,"
* A9 h B9 k$ L7 ~$ v- L6 H, aHopkins testified.! C6 E) l t" k6 P1 b/ f" h( {' Q9 D
7 B4 z4 Q8 [" [
Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
" H& J( Q# {' Iearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near / X4 c7 l e2 r/ P6 U
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in L: |6 i' z9 e- a: E+ Z) F' X Q
Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.* D4 u5 m9 U; E' P6 ~
0 b" O4 n$ r/ r" mHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
1 d! u, [2 b5 e* k; L3 [orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.
! w9 E, S k# r6 z; F% Q3 m# X9 U7 M( ~! P
It was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and 8 Z! w. e3 J9 X t
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
* W- t% `; _4 T* W6 o9 B/ L8 S& Adeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
, u/ w( K" r- oprophet who could see the future.
. \7 h5 J# @% T- T- V
* z5 Y$ p; |$ U2 E, z8 G9 o: JSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live + W: M5 c7 e" o5 {
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who
4 s9 A7 k) I7 ^6 ~- rcommended the jury.
6 O q( S9 `) V# W8 Y; W
" c: }& n" Z0 o# m$ r* B$ ["They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to " c* Y' A3 u t& Y6 R8 |) ?* F# o
convict him," she said after the verdict. |
|