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牧师杀妻并冷冻她的尸体,而且乱伦,兽奸
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Preacher convicted of killing wife, freezing body+ z1 P- C1 _8 D- Z4 t
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By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa Nelson, Associated & b8 N. w; N9 \8 m H+ S/ C& J# b
Press Writer – Fri Apr 9, 11:02 pm ET( c" B5 A3 u% {! Y6 Q- p7 x
MOBILE, Ala. – An Alabama evangelist who terrorized his family while 1 K4 Q G6 X9 P) u9 {+ m! T
impressing audiences at revivals was convicted Friday of murdering his
5 } }% H8 Y1 i1 nwife and storing her body in a freezer for years.
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People who heard Anthony Hopkins' sermons in rural towns around the
, o4 l% Z! g0 G! A5 qSouth sometimes called him a psychic or even a prophet. Yet a prosecutor 4 U1 E. h6 [( F9 h2 @. `+ w" L
told jurors that Anthony Hopkins terrorized his wife and young children,
: q7 H4 l* ^# |( l3 J2 Uisolated them and used the Bible to manipulate them.) x8 n% d, n. I! V6 w' h
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"He was the supreme commander of his own little army," said Assistant 2 p8 T" t* |. @1 m$ S+ b
District Attorney Jill Phillips.8 `+ O4 Z( l- z- P3 P/ q4 _( w
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After deliberating for 1 1/2 hours, the jury in Mobile also found 39-
& k+ T: M" P( c, Byear-old Anthony Hopkins guilty of rape, sodomy, incest and sexual abuse . v; R/ F, m( f, q, ?
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
. O) a+ ^ h7 ^that he killed 36-year-old Arletha Hopkins. Authorities said they were
7 \# F0 z3 d) b9 M( bled to the body of his wife by a teenage relative that Hopkins had ( m' ]8 J- _! W/ Q2 v" }+ a
abused and impregnated." x& q1 j9 b2 d8 y; k. @- D7 P7 j% U
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Investigators say Hopkins killed his wife in a violent fight in 2004
. X/ ?! P2 T. j" `after she caught him having sex with the teenager. They said he then
9 V5 b, l3 {5 N- _stuffed the wife's body into a freezer at the Mobile home he shared with 8 s2 N. y. D4 L8 v; a5 i* x
her, the couple's six children and two of her children from a previous
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Hopkins showed no reaction on Friday as deputies handcuffed him and led
1 S* t2 c" f# d+ t0 G: `2 Dhim from the court.
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Children who grew up in his home and who had testified against him stood ' {; \' x5 O7 L# ]4 j: ?3 `' Q
in front row and hugged each other and cried as the verdict was read.( L" \, N! [- m, z" B' b
( m: i/ F6 { G7 D1 ~3 e. Z"There is nothing pleasing about any of this, it is all very
* L# N# S3 d2 u% t: f* _5 Sdisturbing," Ashley Rich, the prosecuting attorney, said afterwards. "A
4 |4 j6 k6 ^% O1 Z, S& Q) ]number of children have been harmed and the chances of them fully . e6 n1 F$ S& k" i3 d3 ~# h) J
recovering are slim."
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Defense attorneys left court without answering questions.8 [! a) }$ K/ @8 t: K3 A
3 I( g, v1 E2 C$ |) M& xHopkins told jurors Friday that he came home on a December evening in
/ u: k$ w# a1 [2004 and found his wife dead on the floor, with the youngest of her
" q8 f/ d) h) x+ Q$ J8 Ieight 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 % c) m' b3 R' _4 g. w4 n
are you alright?' I began to shake her, tilt her head back and do CPR,"
" M( y# F U, r* i2 oHopkins testified.8 M# v7 S1 u' W& k8 i# ^( S5 z0 {
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Hopkins served in the U.S. Army in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s and 1 B) S; f2 l; b% I' q* @
earned a medal for his service. Hopkins was arrested in Saraland, near 3 w# {# h' Y3 J
Mobile, in 1998 for being absent without leave from the U.S. Army in * n0 C/ j: s* S! `
Fort Bragg, N.C., from June 15, 1995, until April 6, 1998.3 n- E [3 P: N7 `
. w7 k1 V6 G% Z3 CHe testified Friday that he decided to leave the Army after he got 2 `2 S9 ^0 o# o/ n
orders to serve in Korea and could not take his family with him.3 Q+ u* z% ^* s: N( {
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It was then he said that he had a calling to become an evangelist and
( \6 k2 ?& X+ e1 [% bbegan preaching at churches and revivals around the rural South. He # U! E% u5 K" Z/ g1 H d. W! s* B8 N, U
developed a following because many who heard him preach considered him a ! p4 U6 q) R, @% Y% K
prophet who could see the future.3 N7 }% o4 ~4 F
- N0 {- B% A8 d6 B3 i: x7 ySix of the children who lived with the couple have been sent to live
1 u& i# Y) ]' |( Bwith in Georgia with Arletha Hopkins' stepmother Mary Best, who ! B1 }6 _" L% J9 @- |
commended the jury.
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"They saw the same thing I did because it didn't take them long to
7 Q% K. E1 Z+ G6 Gconvict him," she said after the verdict. |
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