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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
5 T! k/ t9 V' g/ e+ L- khttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer1 ^1 w0 Q5 t! o* O6 O2 R
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Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
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/ a- q! C5 C, c& V0 Z/ w. ?By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated
; O* t" Q# }/ x6 L2 |, c1 K0 e& XPress Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET8 T: a* {1 f% Y# L3 F& u
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while
, E6 O- A; k6 M+ q4 Uimpressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
& S$ B. k# ]0 S: b' Z( K' Kwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.7 P: @. {7 m. X& _
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the - O6 m9 i0 m& @+ i u
South sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor
7 P! { T4 ^+ }/ ~5 O( Htold jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
" C& r; \# |4 G3 W: ~4 qisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.4 g8 O/ ~: N7 m8 \$ f" S( h0 C
. a0 [8 {7 w3 C c"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant # G* U! I4 u1 @9 ]/ B* u
District Attorney Jill Phillips.* A+ T6 P, ~9 q- }
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-' r; S! r. i* H0 y( P3 u
year-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse
+ p1 |; x3 T ~1 u3 \4 v# c" Rof 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 - e2 }; R: g4 Z6 [
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were / v' G- F0 f; o" b# n
led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had 1 U, y/ Q0 Q p+ |7 Q- O: j
abused and impregnated.6 y! m5 y9 _; H+ E0 k: M* G& Z- F% C
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
8 f+ G4 x/ `0 _- |) U! R7 a2 |after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
3 N8 E* i- ~/ C0 A- ~9 q& i4 Dstuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with 5 y; c6 u9 H- i1 S6 y5 P% e
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous , Y4 _: g J# U1 t
relationship.
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# K- [! k7 f+ E$ @+ XHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
3 Z. V7 V! B. @/ rhim from the court.
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?/ h0 A% }7 VChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood n+ O: ?2 B# f/ ^5 O" J( P
in front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.0 f* n; l2 i7 L9 G
% H: z* | b% i"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very 3 m5 s) \" c: m$ n% a7 G5 Z5 R0 ?
disturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A ( A+ S0 d4 c; r; P9 Q
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully
4 O8 @: W+ t0 o- l% lrecovering are slim."
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. H* G7 p! a' CDefense attorneys left court without answering questions.
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& v/ L9 L. b8 s: I1 W5 mHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
; e1 S* J7 g6 y3 t* l! M( S2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her 2 S# }1 `7 m i- y5 a$ U( V
eight children, an month-old infant, beside her.
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) a; ^ C0 T2 ^' u1 A"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha
# X3 h4 d/ @0 I" x; T) V& L# `( Aare you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," , s+ s5 H; b& }- E( f
Hopkins testified.6 \7 E, n1 p% c6 `) p# ^+ q
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Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and " D0 w6 N) i, f$ S/ _( l' @8 p6 }
earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near 1 ?& \) P# E. X |& f( X
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in . Y5 H O: T s A7 F* t0 d
Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.
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- Q+ T. V0 e* VHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got ; r! Y0 Z* J, ?+ U* g6 F9 I
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.
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It was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and 1 b2 Z3 U. {4 D) s. \
began preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
" ~& S) h w1 Z- s# odeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a
) `/ H3 R1 V2 o( I3 Kprophet who could see the future.
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: A# F' `( M, J" aSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live : m% s( _! k- z" A5 `9 H+ A, j
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who |, v" z% v" T$ \: Y h; I
commended the jury.
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
0 L4 g: Z6 w* tconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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