Murder

CHILE: Cult leader accused of killing baby found dead in Peru

Wed, 01 May 2013 16:44:00 +0100

Lima - A Chilean cult leader who allegedly burned a newborn baby alive to stave off apocalypse before fleeing to Peru was found dead on Wednesday in an apparent suicide, authorities told local media.

Ramon Castillo, the 36-year-old leader of a doomsday sect, was accused of throwing a three-day-old baby girl - possibly his daughter - into a bonfire in Chile in November because he believed she was the Antichrist, according to regional media.

Castillo's body was discovered in an abandoned house in...

CHILE: Two Members of Child-Killing Sect Turn Themselves in after 3 Months on the Run

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Following last week's arrest of four people from a 12-member sect, two more have come forward about their part in the violent murder of a newborn child in November, 2012, among other crimes.

VALPARAISO REGION – The Colliguay Sect, led and controlled by 35-year-old Ramón Gustavo Castillo Gaete, believed that his son, borne by sect member Natalia Guerra, was the antichrist.

After imprisoning the infant’s mother during her pregnancy, members took the child from the allegedly consenting...

CHILE: Four people arrested after burning a baby alive because they thought the toddler was the ...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:08:00 +0100

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chilean police on Thursday arrested four people accused of burning a baby alive in a ritual because the leader of the sect believed that the end of the world was near and that the child was the antichrist.

The 3-day-old baby was taken to a hill in the town of Colliguay near the Chilean port of Valparaiso on Nov. 21 and was thrown into a bonfire. The baby's mother, 25-year-old Natalia Guerra, had allegedly approved the sacrifice and was among those arrested.

"The ...

PENNSYLVANIA: Couple probed in 2d child's death

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

A Northeast Philadelphia couple sentenced to probation for practicing faith healing after the 2009 death of their ill toddler son are again under criminal investigation in connection with the death of their 8-month-old son Thursday.

Herbert and Catherine Schaible - members of a church that shuns medical care - were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to bring their 2-year-old son to a doctor when he was sick with bacterial pneumonia. The couple had prayed over th...

UGANDA: Priest Charged With Murdering Four

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Five people including a catholic priest in Isingiro district have been arrested and charged in court following the murder of four people in a suspected land wrangle.

Fr, Cleophas Ensiyaitu, a parish priest of Birunduma Parish in Rugaaga Sub-county, Mbarara Archdiocese was on Thursday charged with murder by the Isingiro Grade one magistrate, Patrick Talisuna and remanded to Mbarara central prison

He was charged together with other four, suspects, Everlist Ssentongo, a head teacher at B...

INDIA: Terror suspect Manzar Imam arrested

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:38:58 +0100

Ranchi, Mar 4 (PTI): Manzar Imam, a suspect in a couple of terror blasts in the country, was arrested at Kanke in Ranchi district (Jharkhand state), police said today.

A team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Ranchi Police arrested him last night, Senior Superintendent of Police Saket Kumar Singh said here.

He, however, refused to specify on which terror incident Imam has been nabbed by the NIA.

Earlier, Superintendent of Police (City) Vipul Shukla said the NIA had ar...

GHANA: Fetish Priest arrested for butchering two students

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100

A Fetish Priest at Kwahu in the Eastern region is in the grips of the Police over the alleged murder of two students.

He is known as Kwabena Oduro alias Efo.

According to the Police, three students on February, 19, visited his shrine for ritual purposes.

However, the students, Michael Fori Agyapong, 21, and Joseph Nyame ended up being butchered by the Fetish Priest who was in need of human parts.

Eastern Regional Police Public Officer, ASP Yaw Nketiah Yeboah, told XYZ News that the fetish priest ...

SAUDI ARABIA: Islamic preacher spared after raping, killing daughter

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:29:00 +0100

A Saudi preacher who raped his five-year-old daughter and tortured her to death has been sentenced to pay “blood money” to the mother after having served a short jail term, activists said on Saturday.

Lamia al-Ghamdi was admitted to hospital on December 25, 2011 with multiple injuries, including a crushed skull, broken ribs and left arm, extensive bruising and burns, the activists said. She died last October 22.

Fayhan al-Ghamdi, an Islamic preacher and regular guest on Muslim tel...

PENNSYLVANIA: Methodist ‘Sinister minister’ convicted of killing second wife while awaiting ...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:29:00 +0100

It took a Pennsylvania jury just 90 minutes to convict the man prosecutors called a “sinister minister” for killing his second wife. And in two months, Arthur Schirmer will go on trial again for killing his first wife.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Schirmer was convicted on charges of first-degree murder and evidence tampering. The Monroe County jury found that Schirmer staged an auto accident to cover up his killing of second wife Betty Schirmer, who died of bra...

MICHIGAN: Pastor Arrested For Murder Has Violent Past

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:56:00 +0100

ISABELLA COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A church pastor arrested Thursday for a brutal murder in Isabella County also apparently has a violent past here in West Michigan.

55-year-old John Douglas White was arrested Thursday morning in connection to the murder of a 24-year-old woman in Mount Pleasant.

He's been charged with first-degree murder, after her body was dumped in a wooded area on the side of the road.

Police say 24-year-old Rebekah Gay was hit over the head with a mallet several times ...

MICHIGAN: Pastor Charged In Murder Of Fiancee’s Daughter

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A Michigan pastor has been charged with the murder of his fiance’s daughter.

According to Fox News, ex-convict and current pastor John D. White confessed to police that he had killed 24-year-old Rebekah Gay in her trailer in central Michigan. White, who is engaged to Gay’s mother, was reportedly fulfilling a sexual fantasy when he beat and strangled the young woman.

White told police that he beat Gay with a mallet and used a zip tie to strangle her. The pastor also said that he s...

GHANA: Pastor Arrested Over Murder of Couple

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0100

THE ASOKWA District Police command in Kumasi has arrested a 38-year-old pastor of the Prophetic Fire Ministries International in connection with the murder of a couple at Boaso, a farming community in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region.

Pastor William Amankwa Wiseman is suspected to be behind the killing of Simons Adu Gyamfi, 43, and his wife, Georgina Afua Kyerewaa, 38, who are linked to a protracted chieftaincy dispute in the area.

They were shot to death in thei...

PENNSYLVANIA: Authorities: Retired Methodist Pastor Killed Both Wives

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Retired Pennsylvania pastor Arthur "A.B." Schirmer was a serial philanderer, preying on women in his church who were having trouble in their own marriages, court documents say.

Yet adultery might have been the least of his sins.

Charged two years ago in the death of his second wife, Schirmer now stands accused of killing his first wife, too, after a grand jury concluded her injuries weren't consistent with a fall down the stairs, Lebanon County prosecutors announced Friday. He intends to pl...

OREGON: Faith healing couple enter plea in son's death

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Click this picture to view a larger image.

Brandi Shaunai (Smith Sprout) Bellew, 36, and Russel Lewis "Rusty" Bellew, 39, the mother and stepfather Austin Lewis Sprout, a local teenager who passed away at home on Dec. 20, 2011 pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide in a plea agreement in Lane County Circuit Court on Sept. 18.

The Bellews, who each appeared in court with their individual attorneys, were sentenced to five years of probation, time al...

INDIA: Priest arrested for Puri murder

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:29:00 +0100

BHUBANESWAR: Jagannath temple priest Krushna Chandra Pratihari, who was on Wednesday detained by police for allegedly plotting the murder of fellow member and BJD councillor Talachhu Bhagaban Mohapatra, was arrested on Thursday. With this, the total number of arrests in the August 22 murder rose to six.

"He was one of the conspirators. The motive stemmed mainly from land dispute. There was tug-of-war between them to occupy a prime land in Puri. We are trying to find out about the other conspirator...

NIGERIA: Pastor arrested over motorcyclist's mysterious death

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:57:00 +0100

The Lagos State Police Command has started investigating the case of a commercial motorcyclist, who suddenly slumped and died after visiting a pastor.

It was gathered that the deceased, identified as Sule Ade, reportedly died shortly after exiting the house of prophet John Jegun at Ajenifuja street in Bariga, Lagos, last weekend.

Eyewitness account to the police revealed that Ade bled to death while attempting to get on his bike, which was parked in front of the pastor's house.

Police officers f...

GEORGIA: Korean Pastor Shot and Killed by Wife in Atlanta

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A Korean pastor in his 60s was shot and killed by his wife last weekend while the two were in their Atlanta home, reports the Korean-language Korea Daily.

Young-geun Jeong, 64, served as the pastor for a local Korean church and was also the founder and dean of Faith Bible School in Atlanta. His wife, Hanna Jeong, 63, is being held without bail in connection with the shooting.

According to Gwinnett County police, an emergency ambulance arrived at the Jeong home on July 21 in response to rep...

NIGERIA: Kaduna - Pastor Arrested, Charged to Court for Homicide

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Kaduna — Following last month's killing of four persons in Karatudu village near Gonin-gora shortly after the recent Kaduna crisis that claimed many lives, Pastor of Assemblies of God Church in Karatudu, Reverend David Garba, has been arrested and charged to court by the police for homicide.

Ten travellers on motorbikes from Abuja to Kaduna were said to have diverted from the main highway to avoid being attacked at Gonin Gora near Kaduna and took a bush path in Karatudu where four ...

CANADA: Schizophrenic Christian believed he was beheading a space alien

Wed, 23 May 2012 02:59:00 +0100

A Chinese immigrant who beheaded and cannibalized a Canadian bus passenger in front of horrified travelers four years ago spoke out for the first time, saying he believed his victim was an alien.

Vince Weiguang Li, 43, after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was found not guilty of murdering 22-year-old Tim McLean on a Canadian Greyhound bus on July 30, 2008.

He has been holed up since his trial at a Winnipeg, Manitoba area mental health centre, where he has received treatment an...

TEXAS: Ex-priest convicted of trying to hire hit man to kill abuse accuser

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:25:00 +0100

A former Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy at gunpoint was convicted this afternoon of trying to hire a hit man to kill the boy.

John Fiala, who faces up to life in prison, showed no outward emotion as the verdict was read. The jury of nine women and three men that convicted him after a few hours of deliberating will decide his punishment.

Testimony in the punishment phase of the trial is underway.

Fiala testified this morning that he told a purported ...

GHANA: Fetish Priest To Hang

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

SENTENCED! Mallam Tetteh (left) and his Landlord, Derek Ameyaw

A 37-year-old fetish priest and spiritualist, Joseph Tetteh, popularly called Mallam, who allegedly murdered a popular businesswoman in November, 2009 at Okorase, near Koforidua, has been found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging by a Koforidua High Court presided over by Justice G.S. Suurebareh.

A seven-member jury hearing the case yesterday unanimously returned a verdict of guilt against the fetish priest fo...

TEXAS: Trial Set For Former Local Minister Charged In Wife’s Death

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

GATESVILLE (April 21, 2012)—A trial date has been set for a former Gatesville preacher who is charged with capital murder in connection with his wife’s death in a house fire.

Fifty-second district court Judge Trent Farrell set David Allen trial for October 29.

Allen is being held in the Coryell County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond.

Farrell also set a second trial date for Dec. 3 after defense attorneys said they also are involved in a capital murder case in Brazos County that co...

WASHINGTON: Stevens County pastor convicted of killing wife

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:57:00 +0100

A Stevens County retired pastor has been convicted of killing his wife by shooting her ten times in 2009 after she told him she was leaving him.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Stevens County retired pastor has been convicted of killing his wife by shooting her ten times in 2009 after she told him she was leaving him.

The Spokesman Review reports (http://bit.ly/H67c7p) that a jury convicted 70-year-old Craig R. Cosby of first-degree murder on Friday for killing 53-year-old Susan M. Cosby.

Sentencing has ...

TEXAS: Man allegedly killed soldier for not believing in god

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:41:00 +0100

Can being an atheist in America get you killed? If police in the small Texas town of Petrolia are to be believed, the answer to that question is yes.

Officials in Clay County, Texas revealed this week that human remains uncovered near the Oklahoma border last month were those of Spc. Jose Ramirez, an El Centro, California native who went missing from Fort Sill, Oklahoma more than seven years ago. A former friend of Ramirez’s, 30-year-old Justin Green, was charged with the murder in F...

KENYA: Evangelist Paul Ng’ang’a arrested over girlfriend murder

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A televangelist has been arrested over the murder of his girlfriend in Nairobi’s Dagoretti area.

Police are holding Pastor Paul Ng’ang’a Wanjiru of Wells of Faith Church and his son James Mutua over the murder of the woman who was identified as Caroline Chinjira, an employee of Panafric Hotel.

The two are accused of strangling Chinjira along the Southern by-pass in Lang’ata area on Friday night before she died on Saturday while undergoing treatment.

Chinjira was four months pregnant, whi...

NEW YORK: Infant Died After Contracting Herpes Through Circumcision

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A two-week old infant died last fall in a Brooklyn hospital from herpes contracted from a religious circumcision. According to the Daily News, the unidentified infant died last September at Maimonides Hospital—the cause of death was listed as “disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction.” The case sounds eerily similar to that of Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer, a Rockland County mohel who was found to have given three babies herpes through the ...

S KOREA: Pastor and his wife arrested after killing three of their ‘demonic’ children

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:02:00 +0100

A tragedy occurred in Boseonge, South Jeolla Province, when a pastor and his wife three of their children, who had the flu, to death under the pretext of “expelling evil spirits” based on the Bible.

They were arrested by police following a tip off from a relative, while praying and fasting in an alleged attempt to revive the three.

The couple were identified as a 43-year-old pastor, Park, and his 34-year-old wife, Cho.

Police said the couple, who were running a small church in the town of Bo...

KOREA: Pastor arrested over child killings

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:33:44 +0100

Parents accused of whipping and starving their own children in attempt to cast out demons

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean police have arrested a Christian pastor and his wife over the deaths of their three children. The parents are accused of whipping and starving the children in an attempt to cast out demons.

Police said Monday that the couple was arrested Saturday after their 10-year daughter and two sons aged eight and five were found dead at their home in the southern county of Boseon...

FLORIDA: Pastor's daughter shot in head at church: Dies

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

ST. PETERSBURG -- An accidental shooting at a church in unincorporated St. Petersburg left a woman critically injured Sunday afternoon.

The shooting happened at Grace Connection Church, located at 4017 56th Avenue N.

The pastor’s daughter, 20-year-old Hannah Kelley, was shot in the head and transported to Bayfront Medical Center by ambulance.

Here’s what deputies say happened:

Following the church service, several members of the congregation were gathered in the church's rec room....

OREGON: Faith Healing death - parents charged with manslaughter

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Creswell, Oregon: Faith healing couple charged with manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Austin Lewis Sprout. Authorities claim Sprout died from a treatable condition after the couple failed to seek appropriate medical attention for the teen, choosing prayer over modern medicine.

On Friday, Brandi Shaunai Bellew, Sprout’s mother, and Russel Lewis Bellew, Sprout’s stepfather, were arrested following a seven-week investigation into the death of 16-year-old Austin Sprout.

Earlier this wee...

NIGERIA: Pastor arrested after deadly deliverance

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:16:00 +0100

When a woman agreed to a suggestion by a church member to take her to a nurse for treatment to stop her bleeding after taking a family planing injection, she did not have any inkling that the decision would lead to the death of her six-year-old daughter.

It was learnt that while on the way to the hospital, the church member changed the plan, suggesting that they go to a man of God who would be able to solve the woman’s problem.

At the prophet’s church located in an uncompleted building at...

TEXAS: Pastor Arrested In Connection To Wife's Death

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:30:00 +0100

(KCEN)- A now former pastor is now in the Coryell County Jail charged with the murder of his wife.

David Allen's wife died in a fire last March in Gatesville, but now, the Coryell County Sheriff's Department says it was not an accident.

Allen was arrested Tuesday night just before 7 p.m. and charged with capital murder.

According to his indictment, the grand jury is charging him with capitol murder, saying he intentionally set his home on fire while is wife was asleep inside.

Those who ...

UGANDA: Man dies in church, pastor arrested

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:12:00 +0100

Police have arrested a born-again pastor in connection with an 18-year-old youth who died in his church during prayers to drive demons out of him.

The deceased, Peter Mujabi of Kabuusu, a Kampala suburb, died yesterday as Pastor Augustine Iga of Revival Prospering Church Kawaala prayed for his deliverance from evil spirits.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Ibn Ssenkumbi told The Observer yesterday that a friend of Mujabi’s mother advised her to take the young man to Pastor Iga...

UGANDA: Man dies in church, pastor arrested charge MURDER

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:12:00 +0100

Police have arrested a born-again pastor in connection with an 18-year-old youth

Police have arrested a born-again pastor in connection with an 18-year-old youth who died in his church during prayers to drive demons out of him.

The deceased, Peter Mujabi of Kabuusu, a Kampala suburb, died yesterday as Pastor Augustine Iga of Revival Prospering Church Kawaala prayed for his deliverance from evil spirits.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Ibn Ssenkumbi told The Observer yesterday th...

TEXAS: Pastor charged with capital murder of wife in arson

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A Gatesville pastor has been charged with capital murder in the March 2011 death of his wife, according to officials.

David Keith Allen, 49, is being held in the Coryell County Jail. It does not appear bail has been set.

Allen was arrested Tuesday night after a Coryell County grand jury handed down the indictment, authorities said.

It is alleged Allen’s wife, 54-year-old Paula Allen, was killed after the defendant intentionally set the couple’s double-wide mobile home ablaze in the...

MINNESOTA: Baptist pastor convicted of 1st degree murder in drive-by shooting

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

It took a jury six hours to convict Derrick Trevor Griffin of murder.

An ex-Minneapolis church pastor will spend the rest of his life in prison following his conviction Friday for the murder of a popular North High School staffer.

After a two-week trial and six hours of deliberation, a Hennepin County jury found Derrick Trevor Griffin, 41, guilty of first-degree murder while committing a drive-by shooting. The conviction carries a sentence of life without parole.

Griffin was charged with the jea...

BOLIVIA: Suspects arrested in exorcism killing

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:50:00 +0100

(AP) LA PAZ, Bolivia - An evangelical pastor and his sister have been arrested by police in Bolivia after they purportedly killed a sibling during a bathtub exorcism, officials said Monday.

The suspects, Carlos Uriona and Adelaida Marca, were arrested after they allegedly drowned their sister during the ritual, police spokesman Juan Carlos Corrales said.

"The suspects confessed that their 18-year-old sister was possessed by the demon and they wanted to purify her and christen her in ...

SAUDI ARABIA: Woman beheaded for practicing 'sorcery'

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:39:00 +0100

Riyadh: A Saudi woman was beheaded on Monday after being convicted of practising sorcery, which is banned in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the interior ministry said.

Amina bin Abdulhalim Nassar was executed in the northern province of Jawf for "practising witchcraft and sorcery," the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

It is not clear how many women have been executed in the desert-kingdom, but another woman was beheaded in October for killing her husband b...

INDIA: Priest held for killing elderly man

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:00:00 +0100

CHENNAI: A 26-year-old temple priest was arrested on Friday by the Kancheepuram police for allegedly murdering an elderly man and injuring his wife. He is also accused of stealing gold ornaments worth Rs 3.5 lakh from the couple's house.

A Balu Chettyar (80) was found dead in a water tank near his house on November 20. His wife Amsaveni (75) was found injured in their home. Police probe revealed that it was a murder for gain.

Deva alias L Devendiran of Kolathur, a temple priest, was pic...

OHIO: Pastor and teenage boy arrested in connection with three murder

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

AKRON, Ohio -- Two churches denied today that suspected "Craigslist killer" Richard Beasley was a chaplain in their denominations or that he used their affiliations to mentor teenager Brogan Rafferty, who is charged with attempted murder.

Beasley, 52, who his mother said worked as an unpaid chaplain, was arrested on Nov. 16 along with 16-year-old Rafferty.

Rafferty's mother Yvette Rafferty told "Good Morning America," "Brogan looked up to Chaplain Rich Beasley. For 10 years now he's been taking...

SWAZILAND: Skull found in pit latrine at priest’s homestead

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

MKHUZWENI – A human skull has been discovered hidden in a pit latrine at a priest’s homestead.

The human skull was discovered by police officers at the homestead of Simeon Matsebula who is a priest at the Lutheran Church at Mkhuzweni in the northern Hhohho.

During their investigations the police officers consisting mostly of those from Buhleni police post also discovered some human bones in a homestead of a traditional healer who has since been arrested.

The man of the cloth was however not ...

MISSOURI: Former pastor admits killing congregation member

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:14:00 +0100

A former Independence pastor who preached at the memorial service of a murdered congregation member pleaded guilty Wednesday to being the killer.

Still unclear, however, is whether the victim’s widow played a role in her husband’s death.

David Love had pleaded not guilty in January to first-degree murder, and his trial had been scheduled to begin in December.

But on Wednesday morning, Love pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the 2010 shooting death o...

INDIA: Digha temple priestheld in murder case

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Police Friday arrested one Heera Das, priest of a Digha based temple, in connection with the mysterious `death' of Tarun Das (45), whose badly decomposed body was recovered from Udasin Math Hanuman Temple premises in Kurji Pul locality under Digha police station,Patna, Thursday.

City SP, Central, Shivdeep Lande said that some witnesses revealed that Heera Das had a scuffle with Tarun Das Sunday night.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Priest-arrested/speednewsbytopic/keyid-429407.cms

...

MARYLAND: Pastor gets life behind bars for murder of disabled man

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:54:00 +0100

(Reuters) - A former pastor was sentenced on Monday to life in prison for ordering the murder of a blind, developmentally disabled man in Baltimore so he could collect $1.4 million in life insurance policies.

In August 2010, Kevin Pushia, 35, pleaded guilty to orchestrating the February 4, 2009 murder of Lemuel Wallace, who was picked up from his group home and shot dead in a park bathroom by an unknown gunman.

In addition to the life sentence ordered by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry...

TEXAS: Woman in pastor love triangle killing testifies

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:35:00 +0100

It was a letter from a married pastor delivered by his adult son that started the affair that prosecutors said led to the shooting death of Pauletta Burleson.

"I think you have the prettiest smile," Pastor Tracy Burleson wrote to Tyonne Palmer. "I know I'm married but things aren't always what they look like from the outside."

The two met, began dating and a month later, they were engaged.

Taking the stand in her own defense Tuesday, Palmer, 32, said Burleson told her he was separat...

TEXAS: Convicted pastor's mistress on trial for capital murder

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Depending on who is on trial, William Fuller, the 21-year-old pastor's son who admitted to shooting his stepmother for his father, is either a lost soul, manipulated by people in his life or a deranged, emotionally disturbed liar.

During last month's trial of his father, Tracy Burleson, prosecutors and defense lawyers painted Fuller as a lovelorn young man who was cajoled, beaten and finally bribed to kill Paulette Burleson, the woman who raised him since he was 11.

Attorneys on both sides s...

JAPAN: Man, priest arrested for drowning teenage girl in bid to cleanse 'evil spirits'

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

KUMAMOTO -- A man and a priest have been arrested for drowning the man's 13-year-old daughter by pouring water on her in an apparent bid to rid the girl of "evil spirits," police said on Sept. 27.

Atsushi Maishigi, 50, a company employee from Kumamoto, and Kazuaki Kinoshita, 56, a priest from Nagasu, Kumamoto Prefecture, stand accused of inflicting bodily injury resulting in the death of Maishigi's 13-year-old daughter, Tomomi. Both men have reportedly denied the allegations.

"Our actions...

TEXAS: Trial starts for pastor in murder-for-hire case

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:25:00 +0100

After a Houston pastor's wife was shot execution-style in her garage last year, police suspected her husband.

They later came to charge the pastor, his son and the woman who was dating both men.

Pastor Tracy Bernard "T.B." Burleson distracted Pauletta Burleson with a shouting match so his 21-year-old son could creep up and shoot her in the head for part of her life insurance money, prosecutors said Monday.

"He manipulated his son, who was easily manipulated," prosecutor Kari Allen said Monday in...

INDIA: Priest held for rape, murder of 5-year-old

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:34:00 +0100

CHENNAI: A 46-year-old priest was arrested on Thursday on charges of raping and killing a fiveyear-old girl in Gudiyattam , about 30km from Vellore town. K Kumara Gurukkal of Pandian Nagar, who kidnapped the girl on Monday before sexually assaulting and killing her, kept the body in his house till Tuesday night and later threw it in a well, police said. Kumara Gurukkal has been remanded in judicial custody.

The police said after R Rajeshwari , a class 1 student of the government middle...

FLORIDA: Man shoots church pastors, kills wife

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:13:39 +0100

LAKELAND, Fla. — As the congregation bowed their heads and prayed, a former church member stormed into the church and opened fire, shooting and wounding the pastor and associate pastor from behind before he was wrestled to the ground.

Earlier, Jeremiah Fogle shot his wife to death at his house, where he had started his own church, authorities and relatives said. They did not know what led to the shootings.

Derrick Foster, a teacher in the ministry, heard the gunfire, then screams and he and a...

SWAZILAND: Pastor arrested for disabled brother’s murder

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

NHLANGANO-Pastor Mathole Ephraem Shabangu of the BBC Church in Zion in Hosea has been arrested and charged for stabbing to death his disabled younger brother.

Siboniso Mawodi Shabangu, 30, died on Thursday night while receiving treatment at the Mbabane Government Hospital after being transferred from Matsanjeni Health Centre and Hlatikhulu Government Hospital.

He was stabbed five times with a spear in the chest, stomach and face. The incident happened on Wednesday at around midnight at the dece...

INDIA: Priest arrested for murder

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Panchkula, August 14
With the arrest of Jagmohan Giri, a priest, the Panchkula Police claimed to have solved the murder case of a priest of the Shiv temple in Bhareli village, Barwala.

On August 9, 90-year-old priest Sheetal Giri was found dead in his room. There were some injury marks on his head.

The police said Sheetal Giri was residing at the Shiv temple from the past many years, but last month Jagmohan Giri also arrived there.

The police added that on the night of August 8, both the prie...

NORWAY: Massacre gunman was a Christian right-wing extremist who hated Muslims

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Posted on Twitter: 'One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests'

THIRTY-TWO-YEAR old Anders Behring Breivik, arrested after yesterday’s bomb attack in Oslo and a random shooting at a you th camp on the Utoya Island, has been described as a right-wing Christian fundamentalist by the Norwegian police.

According to this BBC report, the police announced today that they had arrested Breivik over the two shocking terrorist attacks that killed at l...

INDIA: Church priest rapes minor girl and sets her ablaze

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:01:00 +0100

A Christian priest has been arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl and setting her ablaze in his house at Nadendla village of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh.

The girl, N. Mounika, who was working as a domestic help in the house of Dasi Ajay Babu, a pastor in the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, succumbed to her burns at the Guntur General Hospital on Wednesday. Before dying, the girl told her parents - N. Prasad and Rani - that she had been sexually exploited by the pastor for the ...

ISRAEL: Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, arrested for endorsing book condoning murder of non-Jews

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:50:00 +0100

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Rabbi Dov Lior endorsed book condoning murder of non-Jews. Religiholics protest his arrest!

Kiryat Arba's Chief Rabbi Dov Lior was detained by police Monday afternoon over his endorsement of the Torat Hamelekh (King's Torah) book. The arrest was made by the National Serious and International Crimes Unit.

Lior, head of the Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Rabbis and one of the most senior national religious rabbis, was pulled over while driving on the Tunnel Road connecting Gush Etzion and Jerusa...

GHANA: Pastor's wife held in his hanging murder

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:52:00 +0100

Police in Kumasi have arrested the wife of the pastor who was found hanging in their matrimonial home at Denkyemuoso in Kumasi last Monday.

The woman, Mrs Gladys Anim, is being held as a prime suspect after the police suspected foul play in the death of the pastor, Rev Kwame Anim.

Mrs Anim, who is in police custody, was arrested on Thursday following the discovery of bloodstains in the clothes of the deceased and his children.

Police investigations have also revealed that at the time ...

CALIFORNIA: Schatz’ sentenced to prison

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:06:11 +0100

The Paradise couple who were arrested February 2010 in the beating death of one child and severe beating of another [over biblical discipline], were sentenced to prison this morning. Kevin Schatz was sentenced to two life terms for second-degree murder and torture and will have to serve at 22 years. Elizabeth Schatz was sentenced to 13 years, four months for voluntary manslaughter and infliction of unlawful corporal punishment. They each were given six months in county jail for...

SOUTH KOREA: Police say man crucified himself with drill, string, nails

Wed, 18 May 2011 05:54:00 +0100

SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean taxi driver found dead and nailed to a cross in an apparent re-creation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ probably carried out the ordeal on his own, police said Wednesday.

The 58-year-old man was wearing only underwear and a crown of thorns when he was found May 1 — one week after Easter — in an abandoned stone quarry in the country's south. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, there was a stab wound in his abdomen and nylon strings...

SOUTH KOREA: Taxi driver found dead on crucifix

Wed, 04 May 2011 14:21:00 +0100

A SOUTH Korean taxi driver said to have extreme religious views has been found dead on a crucifix after an apparent attempt to emulate the death of Christ, police said today.

The body of the 58-year-old surnamed Kim was found on Sunday on a wooden cross in an abandoned quarry in the central city of Mungyeong, with nails on the cross protruding through holes in his hands and feet.

Local police said the man, wearing only underpants and a crown of thorns, had a stab wound to his right wais...

CALIFORNIA: Couple plead guilty in fatal Paradise child beatin

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 12:05:58 +0100

OROVILLE — A trial for a Paradise couple facing murder charges for beating one adopted daughter to death and injuring another ended before it began after the pair entered unexpected guilty pleas Friday.

Elizabeth and Kevin Schatz were expected to go to trial Monday in Butte County Superior Court for the Feb. 4 and 5, 2010, beating of adopted daughters Lydia Schatz, 7, and her then 11-year-old sister.

Lydia died of her injuries; the older girl required hospitalization but rec...

TEXAS: Pastor Arrested For Hiring Hit Men To Murder His Wife – And Recruited Them From Within ...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

(Daily Mail Reporter) A murder-for-hire plot is unraveling in a small south Texas town after a pastor and one of his parishioners have been arrested for the murder of his wife this weekend.

Pastor Julio Cesar Perez is suspected of recruiting men from within his own community church to gun down his wife. Sonia Perez was found dead in her van with several gunshot wounds on Thursday night. She had been shot twice – once in the side and once in the head. There were reportedly signs of a st...

TEXAS: Pastor Paid Men $1,300 to Kill Wife

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- A Texas pastor charged in the shooting death of his wife paid two men $1,300 to kill the third-grade teacher after telling an alleged middleman that "someone was in his way," authorities said in court documents released Monday.

Julio Cesar Perez, 40, who leads a small-town church called Manantial de Vida in San Benito, was charged with capital murder and remained in Cameron County jail without bond. He has not yet entered a plea. The jail had no attorney informati...

AFGHANISTAN: 20 U.N. Workers Killed In Afghan Quran Burning Protest

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:56:00 +0100

20 U.N. workers were killed Friday when protesters overran a compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, according to Reuters. Two foreigners were said to be beheaded.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, April 1 (Reuters) - Afghan protesters angered by the burning of a Koran by an obscure U.S. pastor -- Wayne Sapp supervised by Pastor Terry Jones -- killed up to 20 U.N. staff, beheading two foreigners, when they over-ran a compound in a normally peaceful northern

...

CALIFORNIA: Woman Tries to Kill Children, Self to Avoid 'the Tribulation'

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:51:00 +0100

Lyn Benedetto was booked at Lancaster Station on $1 million dollars bail.

Palmdale (KTLA) -- A woman slit her daughters' throats before slitting her own early Friday evening, claiming that "the Tribulation" was going to occur and she wanted to prevent them from suffering through it, officials said.

Lyn Benedetto, 47, reportedly told her daughters to lie on a bed and proceeded to take a knife to their throats.

The suspect then took the knife to her own throat before driving the victims to an ...

PENNSYLVANIA: Gay Man, 70, Stoned to Death for Homosexuality

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 05:45:00 +0100

Suspect said the Old Testament told him that homosexuals must be stoned, police say

A 28-year-old Upper Darby man has been charged with murder after telling police that he stoned a 70-year-old man to death when the man made homosexual advances toward him, authorities say.

John Joe Thomas, 28, of Sunshine Road in Upper Darby, spent almost every day with 70-year-old Murray Seidman at Seidman’s Lansdowne home, police say. Days before Seidman’s body was found on Jan. 12, Thomas allegedly beat...

NEW JERSEY: Pastor arrested for attempted murder in stabbing of fellow minister

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:23:00 +0100

PATERSON – Both are ministers – he, a popular preacher, respected by his peers but bearing a violent past; she, a former schoolteacher with a taste for poetry.

The Rev. Edward Fairley, right, is accused of stabbing The Rev. Simone Shields
They worked at the same church at some point and, according to police, were in a relationship.

It took a brutal turn Tuesday morning when, authorities and a witness say, the Rev. Edward Fairley stormed into an Eastside home and, without a word, stabbed the ...

UGANDA: Police re-arrest Kampala bomb suspects, including a pastor

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:00:00 +0100

THE Government has withdrawn charges against the suspects who had been facing charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder.

Released yesterday after four months of detention were Abdu Ganiu, Issa Ali Senkumba, Hassan Abdu Isaac, Isaac Gedi Godana Hussein Aliyowi Abdi and Pastor Christopher Baturaine.

Others were Abdul Aziz Ali alias Ali Ibrahim, Yunus Maganda, Abdullahi Mohamod Ahmed, Andrew Kanyoro, Wallace Mungayi and Abushiri Yusuf Muhammed.

Also released were Hassan Kassim Sallah, Abdul...

TEXAS: Priest solicited murder of boy accusing him of sex abuse

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:42:00 +0100

(CNN) -- A Catholic priest, facing criminal charges and a lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused a teenage boy, is now charged with attempting to hire someone to kill the youth, authorities said Tuesday.

The Rev. John M. Fiala was in the Dallas County, Texas, jail on Tuesday, charged with one count of criminal solicitation to commit capital murder, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the jail's website. He also is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a c...

SOUTH CAROLINA: Pastor David Love Arrested On Murder Warrant

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:48:00 +0100

Independence Police Traveled To South Carolina To Make Arrest

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Independence police arrested former Pastor David Love Tuesday afternoon in South Carolina on a warrant for murder.

Authorities said Love tried to flee, but officers tackled him. He is being held in a Spartanburg, S.C., jail pending an extradition hearing.

Spartanburg jail records show Love, 50, was arrested on a murder charge issued by Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar. Court records indicate that Love was in...

IRAQ: 58 die in siege on Baghdad Catholic church

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:11:42 +0100

Militants armed with grenades took about 120 Christians hostage

BAGHDAD — Iraq's dwindling Christian community was grieving and afraid on Monday after militants seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass, held the congregation hostage and triggered a raid by Iraqi security forces. The bloodbath left at least 58 people dead and 78 wounded — nearly everyone inside.

The attack, claimed by an al-Qaida-linked organization, was the deadliest ever recorded against Iraq's Christians, whose numb...

CANADA: Dad in custody after daughter, 13, dies

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0100

Girl refused to say prayers with father: neighbours. Nouténé Sidimé, 13, died over the weekend after being allegedly beaten by her father.

MONTREAL — A 13-year-old girl whose beating death led to the arrest of her 71-year-old father had enraged him by refusing to say her prayers, according to neighbours.

Noutene Sidime died Saturday evening in suburban Longueuil, Que., three days after she was rushed to hospital unconscious and bleeding from her nose.

Her father, Moussa Sidime, had ca...

NIGERIA: Pastor hacked to death by own brother who did not want to attend church

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0100

TRAGEDY struck in Asaba, Delta State capital on Friday when a pastor was hacked to death by his own brother.

The sad incident, which occurred at Jarret Street by Cable Point area of the town, threw the area into confusion.

Our reporter gathered that the pastor had wanted to take his brother who was said to be mentally deranged to the church for spiritual deliverance but the brother put up stiff resistance.

Eyewitness said that “at a point, two of them (brothers) went into scuffle and attempts ...

PENNSYLVANIS:Ex-pastor to stand trial in wife's '08 death

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:47:00 +0100

TANNERSVILLE, Pa. — A retired Pennsylvania pastor was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges he killed his wife and staged a car accident to cover it up, a case that has investigators re-examining his first wife's death.

Arthur Burton "A.B." Schirmer, 62, of Reeders, Pa., should face trial on charges including homicide and evidence tampering, a judge in Tannersville ruled.

Authorities had initially concluded that 56-year-old Betty Schirmer died in July 2008 as a result of an early morning ...

ILLINOIS: Prosecutors: Woman thought infant she stabbed was 'antichrist'

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:48:00 +0100

An Elmhurst grandmother charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of her infant grandson told police she believed the child was the antichrist, prosecutors said at her bond hearing this morning.

Bond was set at $2 million for Sandra Clanton, 39. She has been confined to a hospital mental health ward over the last several days after trying to harm herself.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Fisher told DuPage County Judge Liam Brennan Clanton was in her kitchen Saturday with her boyfriend, t...

PENNSYLVANIA: Ex-pastor arrested in wife's death, under scrutiny in another

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:37:00 +0100

(CNN) -- A suicide that occurred at a former Pennsylvania pastor's office in 2008 led police to reopen an investigation into the death of the clergyman's second wife, resulting in his arrest this week and a new look into the death of his first wife nine years earlier.

Arthur Schirmer was arrested and charged with criminal homicide Monday, more than two years after the death of his wife, Betty Jean, in what appeared to be an automobile accident, according to Pennsylvania State Police. In additi...

TEXAS: Dallas woman says 'signs from God' led her to shoot, kill co-worker

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:25:00 +0100

A Dallas woman was arrested Wednesday after shooting her co-worker to death at a Carrollton pest control business, police said today.

Theresa Gail Robbins, 48, was taken into custody without incident after pulling out a handgun and shooting Greg Brasch, of McKinney, once in the chest at Bizzy Bee pest control. Brasch was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to Carrollton police.

After the shooting, Robbins walked into another co-worker's office, sat down, and ...

IRELAND: Priest Directed Car Bombings -- Cover-Up Revealed in Police Report

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:01:00 +0100

• Catholic priest James Chesney directed 1972 attacks
• Northern Ireland Office and RUC hid truth for fear of civil unrest

A Catholic priest directed devastating IRA car bomb attacks in the Northern Irish village of Claudy in 1972 and his role was covered up by senior police officers, government ministers and the Catholic hierarchy, an official investigation has revealed.

The government said today it was "profoundly sorry" about the cover-up, while Northern Ireland's Catholic church sa...

SWAZILAND: Albino girl, 11, killed and beheaded for witchcraft

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:46:00 +0100

An 11-year-old albino girl from Swaziland was shot dead in front of her friends and then beheaded in what police believe was a ritual murder.

The child had been washing clothes and bathing at a river with friends and was returning home when she was grabbed by a man wearing a balaclava.

As her friends looked on, the man shot her in the back before dragging her away. Her headless body was found upriver a short time later.

The murder is the latest in a series of albino killings in Sub-Sahar...

INDIA: Priest, 6 Others Arrested For Culpable Homicide In Exorcism

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:09:00 +0100

AIZAWL: A priest belonging to the United Pentecostal Church (Northeast) was arrested by the Lunglei district police in south Mizoram along with six other church members for allegedly causing the death of a 52-year-old member.

Police reports said that the seven accused were arrested on Tuesday and charged with committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder (section 304 of IPC); they were later released on bail by a local court.

Thangvunga, a resident of Rahsi Veng locality in Lunglei town,...

INDONESIA: Radical Muslim preacher linked to Bali arrested

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:07:00 +0100

A radical Islamist cleric, who masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings, was arrested by Indonesian police on suspicion of plotting an attack on the country's president.

Abu Bakar Bashir, 71, co-founder of Indonesia's deadliest terror group, al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, was accused of providing vital support for an extremist cell plotting a wave of assassinations and high-profile attacks.

He was seized in West Java, where a plot to kill President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was uncovered last week...

ISRAEL: Book condoning murder has another rabbi in hot water

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:46:00 +0100

The police's Unit of International Crime Investigations on Thursday detained rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg, the president of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar in connection to a book that condoned the killing of non-Jews.

Ginsburg was detained for questioning days after the alleged author of the book, rabbi Yitzhak Shapira was arrested for inciting to violence. Shapira is also a rabbi at the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva.

The book, named "The King's Torah," deems the killing of ...

ISRAEL: Top settler rabbi arrested for inciting to kill non-Jews

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The head rabbi of a prominent yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar was arrested Monday for writing a book that encourages the killing of non-Jews.

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira is the author of the book “The King’s Torah,” which deems as legal, according to “Jewish law,” the killing of non-Jews.

Police began investigating Shapira after an advertisement for the book in a Hebrew newspaper created a public uproar.

Deputy Attorney General Shai Nitzan encouraged the investigation as he be...

KENYA: Police arrest pastor, seize bomb material

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:40:00 +0100

Some of the 300 bomb detonators that police recovered from a suspect in Ongata Rongai, Nairobi July 10, 2010.

Police arrested two men, one of them a pastor and recovered bomb material in their car July 17, 2010. Photo/FILE

Kenya police have arrested two men, one of them a pastor, and recovered bomb material after they intercepted a car they were travelling in.

Nairobi Provincial Police Officer Anthony Kibuchi said the two were stopped...

CHINA: Catholic Monk arrested in slayings of priest, nun

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:29:07 +0100

BEIJING — A Catholic monk has confessed to stabbing to death a priest and a nun whose bodies were found at the hospice in northern China where they worked, state media said Friday.

Priest Zhang Shulai and nun Wei Yanhui were both members of China's unauthorized church, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. A report by AsiaNews, a missionary news agency close to the Vatican, said their bodies were found in a pool of blood after they failed to show up for morning Mass on Tuesday.

Monk Zhang Wen...

PENNSYLVANIA: Yoga student arrested in murder of New Berlin Yoga Master

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

NEW BERLIN — New Berlin Yoga Master Sudharman was murdered, the victim of multiple gunshots from a small-caliber weapon, and a suspect is now in custody, state police at Milton said this afternoon.

State police Trooper Matthew Burrows said Sudharman, also known as Joe Fenton, died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. The cause of death was established during an autopsy today in Allentown.

A St. Louis, Missouri, man has been taken into custody in Maryland in connection with the crime.

The su...

UGANDA: Fugitive Rwandan Pentecostal Pastor Arrested

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:03:00 +0100

KAMPALA, Uganda—A Rwandan pastor facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity has been arrested in Uganda 16 years later, a police spokeswoman said Friday.

Jean-Bosco Uwinkindi is accused of inciting and directing dozens of attackers to kill Tutsis during the 100-day genocide that began in April 1994. At least 500,000 members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and moderates from the Hutu majority were slaughtered.

Survivors of the attacks were brought to Mr. Uwinkindi's church to be kille...

ENGLAND: Six-week-old girl died after religious fanatic mother stuffed bible pages in her mouth ...

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:08:00 +0100

A six-week-old girl being monitored by social workers died after her mentally-ill mother sat on her, a court heard.

Julia Lovemore, 41, had torn out pages of the Bible and stuffed them into baby Faith's mouth before smothering her.

She was yesterday detained indefinitely under the mental health act after admitting the manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility , which happened in June 2009.

Cambridge Crown Court heard she was a religious fanatic who had been in a 'florid ...

TEXAS: Son says Pastor paid him to kill stepmother

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:49:00 +0100

The son of a Houston minister told Harris County sheriff's detectives he was paid to kill his father's wife last month, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Pastor Tracy Bernard “T.B.” Burleson, 44, and his son, William Darnnell Fuller, 20 — both jailed without bail on charges of murder — also were having romantic relationships with the same woman, who is accused of trying to burn the murder weapon, according to detectives and court documents.

Both men are charged in the May 18 shooting ...

TEXAS: Victim's Family: Baptist Pastor Led Double Life

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:16:00 +0100

HOUSTON - Did the preacher do it? A 5th Ward pastor, his girlfriend and his son are accused in a murder plot that ended with the death of the pastor's wife. The murder happened a week after his church mysteriously burned down.

The Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force arrested the trio Tuesday morning and brought them to the Harris County Sheriff's Office for questioning.

Pastor Tracy Burleson, 44, and his son, William Darnell Fuller, 20, are charged with murder. Burleson's girlfriend Tyonne ...

TEXAS: Tracy Burleson, Baptist Pastor Accused Of Murder, Previously Charged With Child-Beating

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:19:00 +0100

A Harris County [Baptist] minister arrested today in connection with the May 18 shooting death of his wife had been charged -- along with his slain wife -- with three counts of injury to a child in 2005 and 2006. The minister, Tracy Burleson, does not appear to have been indicted on any of the counts; his wife Pauletta received deferred adjudication in 2007. She had also received deferred adjudication for injury to a child in 1997.

According to KPRC, Harris County Sheriff's deputies arrested R...

KANSAS: Was the Shocking Murder of a Brave Abortion Provider Really the Work of a 'Lone Wolf'?

Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Scott Roeder is now serving a life term for murdering abortion doctor George Tiller. But did he really act alone?

As soon as Scott Roeder was named the sole suspect in the point-blank shooting death of Wichita, Kan., abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in the vestibule of the Reformation Lutheran Church Tiller attended, a predictable story began to be told. Following the lead of a recent Department of Homeland Security report characterizing right-wing terrorists as lone wolves, the Los Angel...

ALABAMA: Preacher Who Stuffed Wife’s Body In Freezer Gets Life In Jail

Fri, 21 May 2010 12:01:00 +0100

MOBILE, Ala. — An Alabama evangelist who authorities say terrorized his family while preaching at revivals has been sentenced to life plus 51 years in prison after being convicted of killing his wife and storing her body in a home freezer.

Circuit Judge John Lockett imposed the sentence Thursday on Anthony Hopkins, 39, who showed no remorse during the proceeding. He got the maximum sentence of life for murder and additional time for convictions including sodomy and sexual abuse.

Assistant Dis...

INDIA: Woman sacrificed to appease tribal god in Jharkhand

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:25:00 +0100

RANCHI: A priest and three others have been arrested for allegedly sacrificing an old woman to appease a tribal god in Jharkhand's Latehar district, police said.

Budhani Devi, 60, a resident of Khaira Jagir village, was abducted April 9 by Bhuneshwar Baiga, the priest, and his accomplices -- Balram Mistry, Basuwa Oraon and Mahendra Singh.

"Prima facie, it appears the tribal priest instigated people to abduct Budhani and later she was sacrificed," a police official from the district said.

Budhani...

ALABAMA: Trial Begins For Preacher Accused Of Murder

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

(Mobile, AL) -- The stepdaughter of an Alabama traveling preacher and self-proclaimed prophet accused of killing his wife then storing her body in a freezer took the stand on Tuesday.

Thirty-nine-year-old Anthony Hopkins has been charged with killing Arletha Hopkins on December 4th, 2004 and for the sexual abuse of his then eleven-year-old stepdaughter.

According to the "Mobile Press Register," prosecutors claim Hopkins killed his wife after she found out about the incidents of incest.

The s...

PAKISTAN: Hindu priest sacrifices 3 daughters, self to please goddess

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

MIRPURKHAS - A priest of Kali Mata temple slaughtered his three daughters before killing himself as a sacrifice to appease the goddess inside the temple at Mirwah Gorchani area, District Mirpurkhas, on Tuesday.

The temple where this gruesome incident took place is located on the first floor of Tekamdas Meghwar’s house in Bhemomal Colony at Mirwah Gorchani Town.

Tekamdas Meghwar first slaughtered his three daughters Parwati, 6, Rena, 4 and one-year-old Aarti with a sharp-edged weapon, and then...

NIGERIA: Appeals for calm after sectarian slaughter

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:45:00 +0100

JOS, Nigeria (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Washington led calls for restraint on Monday after the slaughter of more than 500 Christians in Nigeria, as survivors told how the killers chopped down their victims.

Funerals took place for victims of the three-hour orgy of violence on Sunday in three Christian villages close to the northern city of Jos, blamed on members of the mainly Muslim Fulani ethnic group.

While troops were deployed to the villages to prevent new attacks, security forces d...

CALIFORNIA: Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz Killed Daughter With "Religious Whips" for ...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0100

CHICO, Calif. (CBS/KOVR) Three years ago, Kevin Schatz and his wife Elizabeth did something so noble, a local television station featured them; the pair decided to adopt three children from Liberia. Now, they're accused of killing one of the children because she mispronounced a word.

Prosecutors say that the California couple used quarter-inch plastic tubing to beat their seven-year-old adopted daughter to death.

Apparently, they got the idea from a fundamentalist Christian group, which promot...

CALIFORNIA: Fundamentalist Christians ‘spanked’ daughter to death

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:50:43 +0100

OROVILLE -- A fundamentalist religious philosophy that espouses corporal punishment to "train" children to be more obedient to their parents and God is now being investigated in connection with the death of a young Paradise girl and serious injuries to her sister.biblical discipline, murder,

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey confirmed Thursday that other children in the home who have been interviewed told investigators "this philosophy was espoused by their parents."

Ramsey ...

TEXAS: Ex-mistress says Baptist minister admitted killing wife

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:21:00 +0100

WACO, Texas – The state rested its case Tuesday in the murder trial of a Texas minister whose ex-mistress testified that he drugged his wife, handcuffed her to the bed under the guise of spicing up their marriage, then smothered her with a pillow until she died.

Vanessa Bulls said Matt Baker, then a Baptist preacher, had talked about killing his wife and making it look like a suicide. His wife, Kari Baker, had previously attempted suicide, Bulls said.

Bulls said she never reported his plans o...

NIGERIA: Violence between Christians, Muslims erupts again; 27 killed in earlier fights

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:55:00 +0100

JOS, Nigeria - Religious violence between Christians and Muslims erupted again Tuesday in Nigeria, as security forces issued a 24-hour curfew for the city of Jos where rioters have burned homes and killed at least 27 people.

Security forces ordered everyone to remain indoors after police and soldiers' efforts to contain the violence with roadblocks and searches apparently failed. An Associated Press reporter could see smoke rising from the north side of Jos and hear the sounds of gunshots echo...