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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
* [( @8 Z" A9 O) |7 ?0 ihttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer7 X* L' q& d; _5 K$ m, J
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8 G l" c. B. w) k2 ]$ F8 DPreacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
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o8 V$ w+ R( x4 k" o1 w: w/ t3 F: VBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
0 F) O. ?% X; k4 f4 @8 C1 IPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET: K, G5 q$ i: ^6 t. I% L# a
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while 7 v, _- q9 a7 F5 c# C
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his ; ?0 A, v& R6 A$ g4 G$ `2 L
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.2 {" E) E* _6 p- y. O- t5 d4 Y! n) w
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
b3 O. x# d# t5 k0 FSouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor : y; a6 Y2 k) Y6 e$ n
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
! G) C5 w' Z( v* l9 \. ?/ m) D) xisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.
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% `( H) @4 B8 [/ x2 n3 x" u"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant 4 M( G* N5 F; X
District Attorney Jill Phillips.
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39- @; o. K3 W, P! K+ ^( B- Y* ~
year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse " @* E! ?' ]$ s& ?
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.! A' l; ]5 R- A& C
k; _0 ]2 V4 e# O. z/ d2 z( bHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges 6 H% b2 s) t) H/ D: E
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were 2 j `1 ]( U: H: Z5 s
led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
' Q/ s/ p- w7 k" e% Fabused and impregnated., G. T# L7 X7 T% K) G4 S
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
- O0 ]# V6 B) X o" Tafter she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
$ T4 L; G/ T& ustuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
8 e5 Q) I |% q; e4 J7 oher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous
$ ?5 x' s) N- xrelationship.
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" n1 {% O# q2 l8 qHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led ' Q: r) n5 m$ j9 m
him from the court.& u) F% A9 }/ {2 \" U
+ f4 |7 `7 w, }8 {% TChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood + P' M0 y4 |1 ?! Z( B/ O
in front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.( t l* q4 c: a% q: c3 B
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"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
1 v. v: d1 l2 A; ]3 A2 m. Y# Zdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A # y! O* o: h6 w+ x
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully ( L$ E2 L' x% b- c$ m4 V8 r, U$ O+ \
recovering are slim."
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Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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- a' q7 z, I! u* J" tHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in ' `7 O/ w2 S& `% @
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her m: Z9 z+ C7 K
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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2 j: q) l; L3 k( U% L"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha ' C e2 w3 @. P8 O6 d
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," * {" G3 A% }& [- x
Hopkins testified.# h7 q, m+ X" G
" z8 `/ K* @4 d& s7 \, tHopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
4 j. |4 |0 _" |( R8 Pearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near $ J1 p: g0 p ? j: T3 t7 L
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
& X; ~: G: g' u3 |Fort 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
! ?- `, S! K& M% K2 lorders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.$ h' q" t1 I* }5 c) S9 U
4 f0 e, k' p H: hIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and ' B' K9 h: L* j; c
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He ( g _3 t- b- k9 a! d
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a . d" b$ @; T. Z- @
prophet who could see the future.
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Six of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live 1 x L" m9 p7 `5 x( _$ r2 ]
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who
$ i5 j! Y1 Q7 X+ mcommended the jury.! D. {' l# l1 d3 ~
* W& ~: ?1 r8 Z: j \"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to & U0 n" ?4 V2 f% R: `' n8 b8 [
convict him," she said after the verdict. |
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