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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸* l( K$ {" I$ M0 {
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer+ J9 {5 V: O7 U1 E5 q: R9 }/ X4 _
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2 l' k, f% ~% H' I3 cPreacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body9 o5 R7 A0 k$ n' ?9 w8 g6 |
* I2 n7 J5 x" i, x& r9 {* dBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated $ u/ k! s9 {6 a- s' u0 A
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET
1 `( R$ [* J& {! A f# GMOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while + U( I I0 M. Q+ { h# j( H
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his R- N. k W- S$ u
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the % ^7 l) v8 j! |4 y3 N8 `
South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor % O/ b$ C% S: l( e) z% V
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
8 [" {, q+ J+ a* e5 C, j0 }7 b: Xisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.
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- A! i3 o1 x' ^% z: K' X4 z"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant
( [5 i" f, m- j8 E& V( |# K& ODistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
% p( y8 U. j: d* Syear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse ; X" a _! R' k1 Q& n
of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.4 b8 c' R. Y6 p% \8 R" H
) C" F/ P3 a" a- Y. r) ^5 lHopkins was arrested in 2008 while preaching at a revival on charges
2 L, A9 u* U0 P4 G- ?that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
$ M# e6 v$ `: X1 b4 Z$ s, B' jled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
6 n; o/ r. {. v4 kabused and impregnated.
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
! {, n% ] c, N' t- P: {0 [after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then : S7 l8 W! H, a' e2 X' m, i
stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
# R/ K2 u0 u9 C8 pher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous # |* ?) ]. Y. e9 i. d
relationship.3 r0 f2 b5 y2 |
0 a: L4 j$ {# l8 N: ~" D U( PHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led # b( C3 m% S, c
him from the court.
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) \! R& V, f. J% B7 ^7 T, u# }Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood - q" g6 x8 R( _3 T
in front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.4 P$ H. q7 j2 V& Y$ z+ R& m) H
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"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very " ^# @: h0 C5 T. E& y
disturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
/ a' b3 a/ z# W4 G2 V( knumber of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully
+ W6 Y8 l3 {7 J7 C1 ], Hrecovering are slim."
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Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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Hopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
' j/ Y+ P% u$ [8 X5 x2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her ) A7 T8 A" o$ j) W7 L6 g
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha 2 l, S7 v3 k& I1 m
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," 0 ]$ @# R. g7 }3 ^! b" `: X( }* V5 ]
Hopkins testified.$ d' x8 R }4 g
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Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
0 s8 c% u$ K9 ?earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near
8 c9 ~2 l6 q) t$ G2 C! }6 XMobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in ( X, _; v1 n$ ~! q5 j3 u
Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998. l3 Z" x: T/ z! B+ N8 V& U
" _: Q/ ?; H: m- w. c. |He testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got # P# f* @* L- R! ~2 B# {4 m, Q
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.5 u2 D: q \) n; L5 ~( j
) { d- w' q/ r: G' \" J6 LIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and " f: i1 Z" L2 n1 Z) ]
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He 3 ^8 t+ J4 f& s0 H* m0 p
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
/ a& \: @9 o! k. C) n) I; aprophet who could see the future.( Z3 O d% G! b# w1 H3 i
( _, y5 g6 T6 ]7 N) rSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
" P! _ {7 y) cwith in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who
( D; S. u6 ]% X- V* p0 X" ?+ }commended the jury.
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
9 d/ W8 i! b) J3 I$ Mconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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