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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸* _8 {& o# O$ n! R% \$ \
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer0 k0 s! \3 x7 z' w4 [
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/ e! l) B+ o- B! p n( |Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
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By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
" y( l r; K, | y9 | W3 R, C& aPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET$ T) M8 |4 z$ f# _' x5 f
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while 0 F) E% b9 j) d% f
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his 5 d9 X/ p5 K3 L
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.& g/ H3 F4 O' ?
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
% A! Z' ]& |; ISouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor : K8 d0 n; ?8 V* q9 [' v1 j
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children, 2 v2 _4 H, m" P+ _9 O
isolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.7 B3 D* I* @, f
7 c" }5 n: l5 i4 |1 R C"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant ! i. u3 g7 j0 o8 H. N0 ?# x
District Attorney Jill Phillips.
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- p% u% g3 }$ r9 iAfter deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
' z- s: \+ C! L7 v) i) ~year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse ) q: Q% b+ f9 k$ V/ \
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.
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) L9 q4 r. V) B$ G# U/ ]Hopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges ) B! Z" d) x; W* l( A/ ?! Z5 w
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
9 d# q6 f: @, y' K2 X# T7 w; E" Gled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had : L5 r( i4 ~+ Z( g& P
abused and impregnated.( b6 h, X3 }! q4 ~' D& ]8 k
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
B! W0 D* @6 S3 s; |) gafter she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then 8 X2 N e' ?. V3 ` ^9 j0 d
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with v' u, P$ \& B! X! e. ^; L
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous
8 E: k2 Y Y) q9 ^6 V7 c L% u8 k; l9 a0 Arelationship.
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6 V% r' _4 z5 u S9 J6 }2 NHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
, T& g8 o- n( a1 ~* X1 h+ c9 \him from the court.. Y# |. X/ c: d* }; f" k0 |
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Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
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* ]/ W* e- y* D5 {: f"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
) o% z! j: A) O7 |: Z4 ~9 Fdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
8 k( n# s" f5 q% v' onumber of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully $ G: u2 { J; i- }
recovering are slim."& e0 F/ r: x' J! Y
* s/ f# R. j+ W) ~" lDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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Hopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
: ~4 l6 j5 b0 T2 [) Y" W' u$ c2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her ' I* U3 H1 k' k5 C8 I3 Z/ h0 w
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.: _" U6 [2 q! R" Y# _: Y: c
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"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha
0 h( d4 w( L- q' b7 zare you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," * K$ G) t5 t. n
Hopkins testified.
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" i! M" O' U4 PHopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and * a5 }2 E9 U9 E# U( j. U
earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near
. E, {4 i) _$ ~+ O3 bMobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in ; F# D9 X3 c& w0 @4 N1 M
Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998. C* X9 b' N+ K5 J9 g- C
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He testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got , T% S1 V. N% ~3 S" G. T
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.
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4 `- L; H* l) w1 L; t) l! s4 UIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and
- i% X3 z( l3 g4 }' @7 K* Ybegan preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He A5 A; K! b+ H. h% g# w: f
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a E2 h! }: w0 r: |& N" j
prophet who could see the future.6 I4 H) b; a( \, U0 n) v% I6 ]; m
2 N/ N5 h. D, ESix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live , g3 v, D, }" H$ x+ e
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who
! ~4 g+ q! I9 icommended the jury.
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to ; ~( _. G2 x5 s w6 I5 {( I; z
convict him," she said after the verdict. |
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