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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
* ^- d O2 ~4 W7 H% ehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer' h% Q9 h! {. J7 N5 X, |
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; u) I+ a' e. \6 z0 R7 a- rPreacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body/ X; A6 r: U) I" @7 ]
+ g( q9 [8 C) u2 n5 z% N: M' gBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated 5 c. h3 |4 s) I1 C1 i2 O
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET; l0 s2 N- S: q& u3 f" N
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while & o8 A9 a! b' H9 x6 I
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his 0 [* i9 e8 R; N1 g/ g3 y
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.; U; P) N3 u! \0 I; m
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the 7 C6 J2 w5 y0 @
South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor ) W* ?: d- a5 z9 V
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
- s& J5 k. q0 q2 Yisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.; c: {' [6 `) c, W# e0 v, T
5 f0 f) D% t' x' O7 ]+ e- O"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant & l4 a" ?) u S# w! M1 r1 N
District Attorney Jill Phillips.8 G! v( S* s: f" Q: W* ?. {
$ h9 @5 Q: y; X# h4 e( RAfter deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
) v9 v+ [4 | M1 hyear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse
/ _& [4 m1 p- aof a child between the ages of 12 and 16.
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Hopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges
4 X: _7 c+ N* F3 _) F+ E% wthat he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
6 P$ l( H2 e9 A% W3 D! `/ wled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had + J5 `8 H7 Z! c% @
abused and impregnated.7 g; l& \- |6 e# p+ c1 \ I% Q
7 p0 _+ F6 }* k/ ?Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 " W( s# }% q2 R, \9 C
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then 4 g- O) {' Y. @+ B7 I/ O- r
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with 4 Y& O- R; ^. i# G8 F
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous 6 P6 V( f% v: g, g) V
relationship.+ q5 k L3 b& m# ^, }
+ i+ N2 W4 Y/ Q3 \Hopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
! m- X1 L8 @8 l) W: |5 chim from the court.0 Y, z5 s! m) K1 F
A5 z) ?' c, B; mChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
' ?8 F. Z8 L0 G: {3 M) W- xin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.8 f' G% H9 c5 `# F' G! _6 y
1 K4 z& q& K' _" ]) K"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
4 Q. b" R3 F7 L8 V7 Ndisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A % ]3 a- I4 }: a: B/ O
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully
: Z. z0 a( q' vrecovering are slim."4 x2 g L1 h% v/ q, K2 P
! ?( Y* D( e1 L3 X' B8 M+ f0 SDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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3 p) `1 J! v" L7 t/ s. LHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in % V. @3 Z) Z0 r/ K! P4 m3 ~$ l
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
2 _5 z1 ]4 U/ w2 i# }eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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# S. [0 X- ]; w( a4 ~8 n, x* L"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha
; J6 {/ @! s3 t5 t3 p0 X4 jare you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR,"
; \! J) w5 e7 F+ o( Q0 Z$ v$ oHopkins testified.
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. U. @) q) q5 v( B8 P, lHopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
% F- k- A! D7 O. f2 w9 S0 _; `( A) searned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near % Z0 v% i+ U6 ^! m3 ]9 x
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
7 u* n& d# u5 c' g) B) s2 \Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.
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8 B2 D) z9 n' m+ M eHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
) E7 E. w+ h1 I+ ~( Rorders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.- w& K) x! E; _
6 F# |' |% z+ Z+ Y7 r/ [It was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and , i3 T& e% u% L/ D! P4 l& [1 k! N
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
3 a0 I$ ?8 f0 }/ odeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a 8 i- t9 u5 v- `( c- E) U! s" A
prophet who could see the future.4 T& t3 F9 {; @% v6 c8 O) j# c
: X: Z, |& T, P, l2 f- T( wSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
# a9 p7 y1 B, Awith in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who
% e9 n9 H! Y6 Q u2 i/ |. v& c3 fcommended the jury.6 Y. V% N- V$ l
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
8 Q+ H( @5 T. {( Q8 e* m$ hconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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