 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸3 b: u) A; }, b
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer
( J. |' i( z7 Y; [. Y1 _
- T4 X3 f5 r4 o7 Q1 I1 x' E/ [4 K, h6 B9 n' q1 x# m" f* J) }
Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body4 F5 ]# m/ G7 _1 @! l7 C4 C' [# i
: F; X: c" H2 l" J# mBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
% T3 Z$ }' p3 r$ ]% ]7 lPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET/ M, Y4 X X9 c& O( Q2 z' h4 [
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while , I: e& D- C8 _
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
( ` B$ w- t0 c {wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.+ ?9 K5 ^( U" S% b
; X$ K5 I9 o2 j0 I0 \9 Y; ?1 i. ^
People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
9 H5 z0 I& z/ f DSouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor 6 Y7 b+ y! Y6 \% a5 m9 g+ V! B) Y
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children, ) i1 K) {) |( T R. v$ H
isolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them." _4 h0 S) E6 @) V3 h
* a: X7 [& b& _8 v- O& K9 ]4 e"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant ) h; d2 y3 j3 q& W1 M# M
District Attorney Jill Phillips.: N" ?2 r/ U5 Y, O1 U9 B
+ _/ Q W% g# R
After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
+ o8 H, |: w0 k/ d0 Y+ Q* Dyear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse
- t; k/ ~2 K+ ~: g9 oof a child between the ages of 12 and 16.) ~$ C/ |1 n- Z" G4 G
$ C2 z- J* J3 R# s+ ^
Hopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges ( S" P# @9 N7 s! ]
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
# h4 t0 w9 O( ]led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had * m0 C3 \2 i5 ]& T& k
abused and impregnated.3 {0 z7 p4 w/ n1 p- B! u- C
! |2 c* f* m+ ~0 G, p# |
Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 ( h) M1 P- ^/ _/ b3 a( T) C" L1 ?
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then 7 i7 J0 _! V! P( `1 b: I0 F0 x" W
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
9 `, [- i( C" ~' yher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous + ~, R3 _( c% i
relationship.# N( W2 P; n K% k7 d; e, t
3 c/ x. w8 @1 Y( l" n5 i; S7 DHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led . o, p7 n, R Z: d7 R& H% v! P: V
him from the court.# P! c, C" I/ u: ?4 K5 u
6 I y& r& b, `0 i! dChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
3 |8 P% E. M: n2 _, min front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.
* B1 p/ d! G% I+ \7 \2 N
% y) p8 V! j% Z9 P" u: F"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
; q/ p6 ^1 s& y% X6 pdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
: ~# l: Q1 W8 o8 V K6 knumber of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully , [) J% Y" l* N; K
recovering are slim." E) n* N+ O! k
4 k5 m0 c, w- j* X/ |; m. q3 R
Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.
0 R }1 J6 Q: G" x( [8 _. Y. i7 m
# ~: u" v) i+ W' \ q# jHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in # K7 ]- L: o5 \" a: m- H( C
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her ' S8 z; d) @6 L7 j% h; F1 I
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
& h+ g. S0 U! g
# ?7 a3 _& d) R"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha
% d5 |! F5 b0 _% X* [5 }are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR,"
) m+ B: K/ X+ B' q# u" r4 wHopkins testified.
- r9 q# @& H, C }3 A/ ^
, n. h$ G6 u& Q7 t1 [Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
* O$ B! n; E( O+ s7 d( _* C/ xearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near / E5 i, Y* O1 x' Z
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
2 T! j& }, G$ y2 B# d4 D# u5 uFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.; w; N$ q+ J1 \8 M; u6 ~6 K* C
' f: Y1 |9 B1 L1 H. W6 |* H: q& AHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
" e& \ l5 y: K! X# dorders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.
5 k, C" ^( ~( b; \0 z( F I+ D* ~3 c' ~: H3 E
It was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and
% t6 h9 v8 |7 B8 K) ]. b Ubegan preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He / d: p3 \- E: S' K7 M. Y
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a ; d! k) C. D, e' H( w2 t L: j8 {
prophet who could see the future.* ^0 l5 [% ~7 ?
* Y5 p" |: S* D5 R# T
Six of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
3 c0 c2 a- r; Y& J. ~with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who 3 y; v) w8 I2 A# w. n; u* g% c& t
commended the jury.1 z! o( n G: z& {9 w9 t% x
4 ]4 { z# D3 f& l: ~: t K"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to " l3 P, }1 v+ i6 s
convict him," she said after the verdict. |
|