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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
' ?7 n5 d6 c8 L. w" J- Y" a- ghttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer& a2 e. U' I3 W* A5 j, |6 G. H. t
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Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
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By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated 4 q2 s0 c5 Q$ Q- S" Y# P
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET* D2 P* @& X+ G5 ~7 j Q" J8 t; t4 z
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while 5 C7 R4 l2 m! f% O$ w+ I
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his 7 o9 z" c: |. h0 ^
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.) y5 O$ B' {; A
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the 7 U$ {7 Q% ?( X/ P+ Z3 @! s
South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor
2 P& |8 S# q; F' ~told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children, 9 c. D. B4 p P% M( y
isolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.& I8 U" c h/ d/ q& q# x% j
: z5 V) r0 \2 H Q"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant
5 v) S$ x+ y- o( Z- E9 c4 t/ CDistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.( s! I, V0 T( n/ o4 w
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
. }1 B4 r, m4 O3 Lyear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse
4 O/ o& W6 @* n( `9 m4 kof a child between the ages of 12 and 16.' k+ Z& G( o( X0 c7 j9 V
7 d8 p4 m2 n- i% ^; `$ X& FHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges & l5 z. J4 w5 ~3 P; b
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
6 m% }3 P( Y- {led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
% g7 l+ F) o5 c9 d2 F- _# babused and impregnated.
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004 5 R9 T" W* \& |+ i' ~* [+ P. L3 A$ v+ N
after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then 6 Q+ L' ]& d P! s. l
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
* p7 U4 M' I. p- uher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous + X4 x: P! R& x; L
relationship./ j( I% V: k5 o
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Hopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
4 j+ r: J1 f: F5 N8 C6 U8 t0 V* Ahim from the court.
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$ g; Z+ D- }" S( n# L* hChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood 0 n5 a$ Q/ U4 j
in front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read. w# m8 r0 |# p4 g+ Z' J! ]: I
8 G. {6 K: n8 W# S. h"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
; `( [$ Y8 Y7 D8 O, [6 kdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A 8 ^5 h' u, q6 s3 J* G u* {
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully - O0 k" T8 _$ K9 W! X7 d
recovering are slim."
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9 L, F" u1 N7 V2 D; KDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.) S+ f8 p# D7 q$ F. g
. p- ]. ]4 c( k( z6 EHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
( ?8 d1 O4 X* j2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
3 [) N+ E0 V$ Y9 I' u7 a: ^; q. Feight children, an month-old infant, beside her.* O# e) w& a- Q
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"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha 8 p* O8 S: x2 C' ^3 m. W
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," " {* B# m3 M8 r8 \
Hopkins testified. e6 A9 g2 E4 Y9 K2 i' u
8 j2 r! G4 `! W: e/ }; _Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and ' e) N, t; X; t2 |$ X6 ]; F
earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near $ Y! I8 a6 u3 E" R! i4 W" w; `/ N6 \
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in ; R) ^ u2 {* [* B$ n# b z
Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.
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8 w) q/ f* D" e% s) S! VHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got
- [% J O1 X: v" H+ t0 h- Norders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.# X3 z6 J" k, h
7 |" Z5 a2 I/ Z- \! n% M" Y% aIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and
7 B8 t, b# v8 w* F7 xbegan preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He 4 C9 r$ ]( H4 {. K
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
2 ^, m6 Y; n9 E2 H( rprophet who could see the future.
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Six of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live 0 i+ P; H. C4 N) }8 u; Y
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who
, [0 \* g/ b0 R. e( a4 ncommended the jury.
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
. k- r& D/ A3 c- g& [7 Jconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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