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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
0 F. x" N, r6 N# ^http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100 ... /us_body_in_freezer( w% m0 Z, p; X) B% L, i
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# [: O, L% @$ ~0 C- c' pPreacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body
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+ I- b/ g0 y# x" o5 u0 C, l4 xBy MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated " N0 L6 M3 Y+ V r
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET4 r6 W% ^2 t& k1 ]
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while ) a8 p2 Z& y+ z
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his ( U2 J# ] K! h- H$ H l1 G
wife and storing her body in a freezer for years.+ Q; A5 `& s7 o' W5 p! J1 `
7 h+ y# D& R9 X' q! cPeople who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
# k5 P% y2 z5 ISouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor
! i, E$ J3 S6 ^told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
& t2 s, i6 z2 pisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them. p2 X) H6 F3 X' e+ n7 H
$ S9 g8 q4 V- R' M* B"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant
" c5 c3 |5 ~) c- O3 q. NDistrict Attorney Jill Phillips.
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
+ ]3 ^# ?% K- I$ Yyear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse 7 t! x5 N, P- a! q, ^! d
of 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 9 P$ o4 A7 z# U' P+ v. i7 I
that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were + @7 M& B/ i: h1 V& q9 H+ m
led to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had
6 _; o3 F! g& Z; S* X; Pabused and impregnated.
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4 ~" ^+ ^; n1 S7 s, c1 p8 p c( qInvestigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
3 {; Q, \, t1 G# s' wafter she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
" L% H9 J5 ^: P- Q+ dstuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with
& L1 h9 `% G) z5 H! wher, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous 1 Y4 f2 p1 }. E5 o k& J5 t( |+ J/ x
relationship.* |; P0 l# b4 [$ p; O5 G
# w1 G! E- X# X5 i# N- |4 i, Q% YHopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led - g# q: M \0 C: U3 Q/ ?/ `
him from the court.
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+ Q" B2 f4 Q( L- z" YChildren who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood
+ j& d/ P! ?% L. Q; e+ o! h, T5 Vin front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.
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: k8 A% M3 T& @. n8 r& U3 n3 b"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
. P2 @& t$ R0 K) b% }7 i$ cdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A 8 q5 D/ @/ I# P% |6 e2 Y9 j( ]4 O0 l
number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully * O$ I- L% V$ y' {" g% f5 L
recovering are slim."3 m" f0 f! Q1 e6 L
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Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.) p- Q H5 x5 e, I( C( h1 P9 K2 K
' d. d; B) y/ ?& N( h& s# N6 kHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
1 s+ Q4 s) Q8 l3 C- U$ R, t* T2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
+ j: c& J* r! T7 o3 x$ ceight children, an month-old infant, beside her.. {2 J7 }8 B/ t8 `' \; Q
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"I was shocked and I began to shake her, and I was like 'Letha, Letha
- O, v* Q# `+ Q- Z: C9 `are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR," 5 C0 C4 t, O# w+ c4 [% H7 p
Hopkins testified.8 q Y3 F$ Q2 H3 T0 Y; m9 C, G6 m
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Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and
, Z. S& r3 }) Hearned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near
- F: c2 Q2 z! Z5 a1 U& oMobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in
% Y" j7 J+ a0 z3 UFort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.* _3 m) _* x5 P2 q3 j' j5 h- V/ d
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He testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got ; ]* w) c) }0 Y. U+ O4 t
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.
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- B; {1 n/ `9 ^% X7 wIt was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and
6 w# y, m: i5 E, m) A% Ibegan preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He
$ m7 k4 o" k/ A/ J: z8 m' zdeveloped a following because many who heard him preach considered him a + S1 u) {3 l" K" V" G7 u* A! w
prophet who could see the future.
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2 X X" \7 V6 LSix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live 5 q! F) R! m( N1 I0 R v
with in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who / [, D0 P" u! v* |0 c- o
commended the jury.
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
# k1 M! e1 u3 k" O- b1 j$ ~convict him," she said after the verdict. |
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