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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸$ q8 t t8 V+ U4 p4 Y( s G. o
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer
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Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
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8 s/ L- c1 h- B$ wBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated 7 S# O' w' q* ]- Y. K
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET
7 d3 U) ?9 Z6 [+ X/ o/ `( }MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while % @# a7 E) x" a0 u* a" e
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
5 K/ F1 I1 O2 iwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.! U: q8 w- a9 z! w
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
F1 b- J& Z x' f/ Y& O; H$ ^South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor
( n7 D8 }5 a7 l0 X# e3 M9 ^told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
# ?4 z" z! I1 f- T8 u; q1 \isolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.
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5 `' l- N1 Y: O# U' X"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant
6 P; x. i( ] S+ b* FDistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.. h' Y4 \% |; G2 N, R0 G
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-6 z# Z% ?+ `! Q9 X' N
year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse , S9 [9 f7 u _: |& b
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.' h- W1 K; I- |. K! x3 f2 B
8 d/ T" R" d1 X- y9 zHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges
3 k" t- F. V% W; ?& Jthat he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
7 s; [# A% m; D% rled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
( x8 O5 L3 A Z& c* ^* vabused and impregnated.
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9 F; V1 a3 K$ x& b& D, hInvestigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 " a7 _6 M$ c: I* {5 T. e
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then 3 r1 H. l0 q2 ?# U! k
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
( v+ M/ {" ~" d" }. p# x, N" D; a) {her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous
/ I2 V e& i3 |6 E# q) f* urelationship.
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, T& _+ c3 g7 h- l+ h. T; THopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
, v9 _" V8 E4 g% uhim from the court.3 |1 A* j4 j( M, D% p% a4 D* X
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Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
4 s/ y0 t0 R7 R5 W& H6 Qin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.. D& w* }' \: l
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"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very " t1 Z- |" k1 X
disturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A . h6 m& B( T4 d8 q9 W
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully 9 c' @) a3 ~- t2 ^) D; B5 t
recovering are slim."
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Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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1 i" o" t- O6 h9 y' k1 UHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in 6 N, ]! x/ r& L8 E' Q# J
2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her 1 V* r5 C# ^0 F/ C
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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" x0 r' i5 I' M8 c7 d"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha ]1 d: Z% z2 Y- Q# B
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," 9 k' G; L; ]* L- t; x3 I
Hopkins testified.; I$ x# l& [' @7 S3 l0 v. Q
8 a, g: |. t0 G* l: l, _+ ]" N" w- n# HHopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and ( j/ o5 L$ k$ ~" Y
earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near 2 A& A3 R/ L8 z/ m, f$ ], \) I- I. u
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
, J/ p* w8 _2 I4 h6 PFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.
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# a4 {2 x5 }- ]: U8 ]% ZHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
2 Y! J5 U7 d1 f/ }3 Porders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.- A( Z& ]6 Z6 |& ?$ {
5 ^% V" ^9 I+ r: gIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and # V6 H4 T6 f# o$ k9 l+ ?
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
5 W" ~- k5 z5 M) ~ p( I" [! g$ cdeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
G& v; Y' E* V! Qprophet who could see the future.; k0 J) I& Q8 M$ i3 F$ y1 x$ e
0 j. P7 V( c9 j3 a: H. cSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
! K+ O* l5 o# w( v0 q. Dwith in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who + b R. a* P! J/ |
commended the jury.5 Y" g3 d a, ]& N& t# K
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
3 t; q8 g$ s& G4 y( x( A0 G6 K7 C9 C- l2 pconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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