 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸+ j! W" H2 A. k" T# M+ k
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer
, D8 Z, r; }# J: K6 e' k
3 V1 M8 z$ E" r. V" J' z! W. Y% `3 I# k4 n
Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
+ g6 O. p9 H0 B/ C6 i: q7 E6 L0 S/ ~8 N
By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
6 J0 B% H6 z1 C- t( [! SPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET; p: ?& A6 `, N8 u
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while 1 a- Z, Y- z0 C5 l
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his & L8 R6 l& y1 x, J3 _* P
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years." E$ ~* H# C1 I1 B$ a: |
* E1 k. H; z9 W' k& \; y Z& k
People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the ' x0 H. `$ e6 V4 C8 b* n
South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor " ~, j1 V8 Y% c
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
# k; z; z) z% \+ l6 Cisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.+ c6 [& B0 t; W0 o: Y0 c( p
1 B& q1 l$ S1 [
"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant ) T, I% }. l" j
District Attorney Jill Phillips.. w. l% m( X f, _7 m" L" s3 b
& f& _4 J$ \( A; k6 Z
After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
t9 }% u, M! v9 S2 ^5 v* Y' Oyear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse & K* e1 v( K& ^; |9 _
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.
0 T/ a7 |. Y1 \( S
6 k- u. t2 k* \ s' t5 Q! oHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges 1 @+ j T. k l5 _( I8 g/ o% T
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were & C$ _$ p# \0 E; x' F$ \. t
led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
) p3 C6 w2 x F: U3 U/ a# zabused and impregnated.
- L, L" H; Y X5 |$ B0 D& |9 ]7 E3 q' o
Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 ; x9 ~. _ S- I- g
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then 7 v' o! r/ f/ g* P \0 P
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
. P; N5 p: h9 ?) I$ Oher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous - \- |; S/ K7 g: F
relationship." n, c5 b# Z* U0 U2 E
! _7 y4 n& w5 b( f6 x4 v, LHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led ! E) ]; K) T4 I, ?0 \6 A+ K0 v/ D7 O
him from the court.
- p( x* X) p6 K8 h: d$ Y8 B- v9 B9 [& ~( O" {7 v" ?
Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
0 F$ g/ I' e/ i# ]) m: Iin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.
6 x1 O, C j3 g! y# d1 }
1 Y S1 U/ N$ C"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
! ~/ r$ x f+ `! h- Cdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A + A) Y6 k, x7 r* Z' n4 |* D1 N: B8 q
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully
# \- e' E5 I4 h* yrecovering are slim."
9 I; z4 e. i/ |8 x5 H9 m- t- Z5 e0 ?
1 i" K% Y! j) d7 FDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.+ G9 R9 v3 q) ]9 f0 T" T5 y
. p: S1 Z2 B5 t2 RHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in " X+ K9 X5 V/ h. D9 f
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
8 m# O% M3 t# T( I3 Y0 ?4 ^8 Teight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
# R4 b8 b5 `( a5 N7 }0 C
+ P; c3 D0 J f) @* N) `% J"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha
6 \1 }2 w; `+ z1 [5 M3 E6 E }are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR,"
3 \6 \$ X9 N' jHopkins testified.7 q3 b* P6 w6 p
: C& c8 @! k. C' X, Z9 a
Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
' d+ {; U# H- I. B& Xearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near # p7 @5 W2 {) t. T: Y( \
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
/ y/ Q8 e: S, e' x' T6 L4 K5 iFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.1 R% k, @' O" f/ K( {* q
" U+ b+ T) \7 a1 @3 W0 X
He testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
9 n7 Z% s* f& z/ Eorders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.% N0 U. c1 j( G# T5 ?
! {/ ^5 t! ?) N; C+ y" FIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and , N/ S% l- a- X! [6 d- U! J1 X
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He & @4 p$ r6 h3 z9 D$ ?" v1 e
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a 2 Z7 V1 p% x% z. G) R- h' r5 N
prophet who could see the future.
% U# j. S5 @; [; u5 H' x
* f; c! m& @# P' E0 I, xSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live $ G4 n) s# w3 W" o# H
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who ; M3 K# i- o8 n: |; a n7 z: V
commended the jury.
8 N$ X0 M: H6 V/ l: }0 T+ I& P4 ^$ U5 a: H8 O4 l. D
"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
2 M* w- k5 o, i$ sconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
|