| Family Murders and Tortures by Jehovah's Witnesses |
| Written by Randall Watters |
| Saturday, 21 March 2009 11:12 |
Kostelniuk chronicled the murders of his two children and ex-wife in his book Wolves Among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community http://www.freeminds.org/life-stories/former-publishers/the-witness-murders.html Man Strangles Wife, Calls Elder to Confess http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl011909tpstrangle.d6a7c0c.html Man strangles wife, calls pastor to confess, LA - Jan 19, 2009 Ortega is the member of a local Jehovah Witness congregation, police said. Ortega and his wife, San Juana Isabel Ortega, 32, argued throughout the early ... Monday, January 19, 2009 - Matthew Pleasant - Houma Courier HOUMA – After strangling his wife during a Sunday morning argument while their young children slept nearby, a 47-year-old welder called his pastor to confess the slaying, according to police. Rodolfo Ortega, 320 Coach Court, Houma, is charged with second-degree murder. At 10 a.m., police arrived at Ortega’s trailer after receiving a call from Ortega’s pastor, said Houma Police Lt. Jude McElroy. Ortega is the member of a local Jehovah Witness congregation, police said. Ortega and his wife, San Juana Isabel Ortega, 32, argued throughout the early morning without waking their four children, who were sleeping, McElroy said. New details in murder of 12-year-old girl 3/15/08 It was all in the name of God By JOHN COLES - March 21, 2007 AN evil foster mother was yesterday convicted of horrifically abusing three children — to raise them “in accordance with her faith”. Fanatical Jehovah’s Witness Eunice Spry, 62, believed the two girls and a boy were possessed by the Devil and wanted to “purify” them. She beat them with sticks and metal bars, forced them to drink bleach and eat their own vomit and faeces, and starved them naked in a locked room for a month. She also kicked them, pushed sticks down their throats, strangled them, forced their hands on a hot cooker and rubbed their faces with sandpaper, a court was told. The kids were banned from listening to pop or wearing trendy clothes — and were punished if found with sweets or music mags. One punishment saw the trio, identified only as Victims A, B and C, forced to stay totally still for long periods. If they moved they would be beaten as a further deterrent. The abuse went undetected for almost 20 years as Spry pulled the youngsters out of school and taught them at her two rat-infested homes in Tewkesbury, Gloucs. Council inspectors also failed to spot the horror despite regularly visiting to check on the kids’ education. But it finally came to light in December 2004, when Victim A — one of the two girls — ran away from home. Victim B and Victim C, the boy, made statements to police and Spry, estranged from her second husband, was arrested in February 2005. Doctors called the kids’ injuries “extraordinary”. They also had depression. Both girls had attempted suicide. Spry, described as chilling and cold, denied abusing the three and said she was only trying to bring them up according to her faith. She told a jury at Bristol Crown Court:
“I sweated blood for those children. I went to great lengths to protect them from immorality. “From a Christian point of view we expect our children to be obedient. As it says in the Bible, ‘Children, be obedient to your parents and make the Lord proud’.” But after a five-week trial, jurors convicted her of 24 counts of abuse between 1986 and 2005 — plus two of intimidating witnesses. Judge Simon Darwall-Smith remanded Spry in custody pending reports before she is sentenced next month. Her three victims — now young adults — went to live with Spry as youngsters with social services approval. But Victim A said they were treated as “slaves”, rarely allowed out and told to lie about their bruises . She said: “We were beaten, starved, drowned in the bath and kicked down the stairs. “Mum had an array of sticks, and would beat us with them and kick us till we were collapsing with pain. “If we screamed she’d push the sticks down our throats.” Victim A said the family’s homes were infested with rats and the children would often sleep on the floor. At one point she said Spry made her wear a sign on her back at her local Jehovah’s Witnesses church, reading: “This child is evil. Do not look at her or talk to her.” The girl said her earliest memory was of Spry making her eat dog food and, when she was sick, eat the vomit. Victim B said Spry had a system of punishments for lying — heavily prohibited by Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said: “She’d pour washing-up liquid down our throats and say, ‘Don’t throw up or you’ll have more’. We were told not to speak to anyone. She believed other people were worldly as they didn’t believe in her religion.” Victim C said: “I can only describe mother’s punishment methods as torture.” Last night the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board said lessons had to be learned from the case. A spokesman said: “These children were seen by many different professionals, but few were a consistent presence. Information was not shared.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses said the faith did not condone abuse. A spokesman said: “We don’t tolerate physical cruelty.” Baby Found Dead In Yard - Slaying Result Of Possible Religious Sacrifice from here: April 28, 2006 A 9-month-old boy who was found dead in a neighborhood on Detroit's eastside Friday morning, may have been killed as a form of religious sacrifice. According to police, Raphael Thomas and his live-in girlfriend, Betty Jenkins, were involved in a Bible study in their Detroit home when Thomas and his girlfriend began to argue. The two exchanged words and Thomas grabbed hold of a can of red spray paint and wrote the word "revelations" on the walls throughout the home. He tossed his Bible outside along with other items that may be linked to a Jehovah Witness, according to police. Thomas then grabbed his son and left the home, Local 4 reported. Jenkins phoned police, but help didn't come in time. Thomas was found walking along Gratiot Avenue in Detroit stabbing himself. He inflicted more than 30 knife wounds on his body, according to police. The baby was not with Thomas, but was found dead a short time after in the back yard of a home. Police said the baby had been mutilated from the inside out. Thomas told police he freed his baby from the evils of the earth, leading investigators to believe the slaying of the baby was a form of religious sacrifice. The man was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital and treated with nearly 200 stitches. He remains in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. Police said they didn't receive the 911 call until about 2:20 a.m., but a neighbor of the family said he phoned police at 10:30 p.m. The child's mother is not in custody and not involved in the death of the baby. The father is facing charges of murder. Police continue to investigate, and the issue of the 911 call remains uncertain. Previous Story: • April 28, 2006: Infant Found Dead In Yard On East Side
Questions hover at funeral for man accused of burning girlfriend By Rochelle E.B. Gilken Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 30, 2006 RIVIERA BEACH — The man they called "Big L" lived for 49 years as a nice, quiet, easygoing guy. A truck driver with a big family, he was laid to rest in a silver casket Saturday in a distinguished suit and hat, his graying beard neatly trimmed. This is how about 200 people remembered Lester Parson. At a Jehovah's Witnesses ceremony in the gymnasium at John F. Kennedy Middle School, they sat in bleachers and chairs in front of a casket under a basketball net. They paid respects to a man who they said didn't get into trouble, didn't drink or smoke or talk much. The son of a carpenter, he was a 1974 Suncoast High School graduate who loved trucks and drove one for the Serta mattress company. A man who suddenly snapped — then died with charges of attempted murder and arson on his mind. On April 4, the man with no criminal record, with no history of violence, was suddenly accused of doing something cruel. Parson visited his girlfriend as she worked an overnight shift at a Mobil gas station in Riviera Beach. He bought some gas and doused Tanya Hughey, 38, with it. He lit a match. On April 22 he was in the Palm Beach County Jail infirmary with severe burns on his hands and arms from the attack. He developed a blood clot that traveled from his leg to his lungs, and he died. Hughey is still alive, with third-degree burns over 90 percent of her body. Parson — a son, brother and friend — died despite his relatively minor injuries. "Life is uncertain," said Walter Embry, who delivered the service at Parson's funeral, "because you never know what's going to happen to you the next day." In the funeral program, Parson was memorialized with a trucker's poem: Come on and join our convoy BIG "L" In the more than six years that Parson dated Hughey, their families grew close. Hughey's siblings and younger children planned to attend Parson's funeral — not out of hate, but out of respect for Parson's mother and family and even Hughey. "That is what Tanya would want if she was here," said her brother, Andre Cohen, of Riviera Beach. But none of them made it. Hughey's kidneys failed Friday night and she was put on dialysis. The last of her siblings flew in from Chicago to say goodbye. She was still holding on Saturday night. "I didn't want to leave my sister," Cohen said. "I want to spend every minute I can with her while she's still here." Cohen said he would've wanted the chance to ask Parson why he did it. He wanted to tell him that his sister didn't deserve what happened to her. After the burial at Royal Palm Memorial Gardens in West Palm Beach, Embry said: "The only thing I can dwell on is what he was. There are some questions you can never answer." Girl's brother testifies father fatally beat her By Jeff Coen Tribune staff reporter - April 26, 2006 Testifying against his father, Leon Slack whipped a piece of electrical cord across a bed frame in the courtroom. The cord, he said, was like the one his father used to beat Slack's sister to death. Jurors watched as Slack repeatedly slapped the cord, demonstrating how he said his father struck his sister more than 100 times after she was tied to the same frame in November 2001. Laree Slack had screamed out, her brother said, but their father, Larry Slack, stuck a towel in her mouth to muffle her. Leon Slack, now 21, testified in Cook County Criminal Court on the first day of Larry Slack's trial in the murder of 12-year-old Laree. Leon Slack said his father routinely beat him and his five brothers and sisters with electrical cords. "You felt it not only in your back, but in the front of your chest," Slack said. He then described the force his father used--like "you were hammering a nail into wood." Larry Slack and his wife, Constance, were charged in the case after paramedics responded to a 911 call from the house in the 7900 block of South Brandon Avenue, Chicago.
Prosecutors have said the couple were strict Jehovah's Witnesses who practiced corporal punishment. Constance Slack has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is expected to testify against her husband, who faces the same charge. On Tuesday, Assistant State's Atty. Meg Blade told jurors the facts of the case are so horrible that justice demands a guilty verdict. Assistant Public Defender Denise Streff urged the panel not to let sympathy sway them. Larry Slack did not intend to kill his daughter, Streff said. The couple loved their children but did whip them as a form of discipline, just as their own parents had, Streff said. Larry Slack worked as a Chicago Transit Authority machinist and Constance Slack worked as a nurse. "It got out of hand," Streff said of the discipline. "It absolutely got out of hand." UPDATE on Slack: - Jury convicts dad of whipping girl to death April 28, 2006 - BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter After flogging his 12-year-old daughter to death with an electrical cable, a somber Larry Slack told investigators he was disgusted with what he'd done. On that point at least, a Cook County jury appeared to agree with the man prosecutors called a "sick and sadistic" tyrant. In less than three hours of deliberating Thursday, the jury convicted Slack, 46, of first-degree murder in the death of Laree Slack on Nov. 11, 2001, at the family's South Side home. "When they showed the autopsy pictures of [Laree's] body after she was dissected, that was enough to really turn your stomach," said juror Tom Sullivan. Slack, sitting with his elbows on the table in front of him and his fingers interlocked, bowed his head when the verdict was read but otherwise displayed no emotion. The jury also found Slack guilty of aggravated battery to a child in the beating of Laree's younger brother, Lester Slack. During closing arguments, prosecutors told jurors that Larry Slack was someone who would inflict pain on a whim and was eager to beat Laree Slack the night she died. "The penalty for crossing this guy -- no matter for what silly thing -- was torture," Cook County assistant state's attorney Ted Lagerwall told the jury. When he beat Laree -- who was tied to a bare metal futon frame and gagged -- he did so "over and over and over again," Lagerwall said. The beating started because Laree and her five siblings had been unable to find a lost credit card. The beating continued because Larry Slack was furious that Laree wouldn't take the beating quietly, prosecutors say. "Ladies and gentleman, that isn't discipline," Lagerwall said. "That isn't corporal punishment. That's murder." Denise Streff, one of Slack's attorneys, argued that what her client had done was wrong, but he isn't a "sadistic killer." "Mr. Slack did not intend to kill his daughter," Streff said. "He knew it was bad . . . but he had no idea Laree wasn't going to get up and be OK." Faces 20 years to life in prison She reminded jurors that Slack was so upset when he realized he'd killed his daughter that he tried to commit suicide. In his videotaped statement to prosecutors played in court Thursday, the corpulent Slack said, "I bought [a knife] for the purposes of killing myself. I hid it under the fat folds of my stomach." But prosecutors asked jurors not to be distracted by the suicide attempt, calling it self-serving. Cook County assistant state's attorney Rick Cenar told jurors they only had to find Slack intended to inflict "great bodily harm" to convict him of first-degree murder. "This was a crime involving torture," Cenar said. "This was a house of pain. This was a house of torture. The king of pain is right over there." Sentencing is set for June 1. He faces 20 years to life in prison, Cenar said.
Man slaughters family - Update April 13, 2006 from : http://www.ogrish.com/archives/man_slaughters_family_update_Apr_13_2006.html loy Leon Kings was, apparently, a well liked and respected man in his local community. A devout Jehovah's Witness, he was a regular churchgoer and apparently a loving husband and father. There were no obvious signs to the outside world that something appeared to be going wrong with Mr Kings. After awaking early one Thursday morning he read from his bible, took a knife, and set about trying to murder his family. His first victim, 8 year old Lucia, dies from having her throat cut. As she lay bleeding to death he then went after his wife, also named Lucia, whom he repeatedly stabbed. He then cut the throats of his remaining two daughters, 5 year old Dana and 6 year old Light. Light survived the attack but is, as of this writing, still under critical care for severe neck wounds. Following his rampage Mr Kings turned the knife on himself, sawing into his throat. However, he suffered only minor damage to the skin and subcutaneous layers . The frantic Mr Kings had to be heavily tranquilised by doctors before they could treat his self inflicted injuries. Investigators have been trying to piece together why Mr Kings would suddenly attempt to murder his whole family. Under interrogation Mr Kings would only reply with religious verse about Satan and how he wanted to “Take his family to paradise”. Eloy Leon Kings ________________________________________ http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-canambrose0203.artfeb03,0,7510368.story?coll=hc-headlines-local Injured Woman's Husband Arraigned By TOM PULEO Courant Staff Writer February 3 2006 CANTON -- Joseph V. Ambrose smashed his wife's face and skull with a pipe early Monday and told her she was "going to die tonight" before he left her outside a hospital and drove away, court records released Thursday state. But the police report offers no reason Ambrose - a self-employed carpenter and elder in the Canton congregation of the Jehovah's Witnesses - attacked his wife inside their rented home. She is recovering from her injuries. He was arraigned Thursday on attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree kidnapping charges and held with bail set at $750,000. He was ordered to have no contact with his wife or their four children should he make bail. He is due back in Superior Court in Hartford on Feb. 16. Court records state that the couple had separated, but still was living at 93 Old Canton Road and sleeping in different bedrooms. Ambrose, 55, lured his wife out of her room early Monday by telling her she had a phone call, then pummeled her, leaving multiple lacerations on her face and head, the report states. Robin Ambrose, 41, remains at Hartford Hospital and the couple's two youngest children who were living at home are now in state custody, authorities said. Ambrose eluded police for more than a day but was captured Tuesday morning, walking near the Canton-New Hartford line and carrying a loaded gun. Robin Ambrose gave police the following account: She remembers her husband striking her hard on the head, saying he had a pipe and was going to "kill her." The next thing she remembers is waking up alone in her minivan outside the house, her blood "everywhere." Robin Ambrose opened the minivan door, triggering the alarm, causing her husband to run out of the house to the van. At this time, Ambrose told his wife she was "going to die but I have to take you away from here." Robin Ambrose asked her husband to take her to the hospital. The next thing she remembers is waking up inside Hartford Hospital, the report says. She doesn't remember walking into the building. In 2003, police went to the Ambrose house during a "physical altercation" between Ambrose and his young son, the police report says. Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant ________________________________________ New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com Jehovah's Witness shoots wife, self Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005 A Bible-thumping Bronx man gunned down his estranged wife and then killed himself after accusing her of straying from their faith and sleeping with another man, police and neighbors said yesterday. The victim's 21-year-old daughter found the bloodbath at 10:30 a.m. yesterday in her mother's Soundview apartment after the woman failed to show up to work as an Avon sales representative, neighbors said. Sharoll Medina, 39, was sprawled on her bed with a gunshot wound to her head. Her estranged husband, Julio Lopez, 45, lay dead nearby with a revolver beside him, police said. "My mother! My mother!" her daughter screamed as she walked out of the Watson Ave. building. Lopez and Medina, both Jehovah's Witnesses, separated about 18 months ago. But Lopez would often show up unannounced at Medina's fifth-floor apartment, neighbors said. She routinely refused to let him inside, but rather than go away he would sleep in his truck. Their fighting got worse when Lopez found out Medina was dating another man - and he later argued with her about it, neighbors said. Rich Schapiro and Alison Gendar http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/361673p-307958c.html Victim's family dresses down murderer By Laurel J. Sweet Saturday, July 16, 2005 - Updated: 09:20 AM EST http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=94081 Thomas Gillespie addresses his sister's murderous husband Kevin Hensley during victim impact statements. (Staff photo by Ted Fitzgerald) A bitter brother-in-law of the mild-mannered monster who pinned his sister face down while he strangled her with a necktie wanted to see Kevin Hensley off to prison in style yesterday. ``I notice you don't have a tie on,'' Thomas Gillespie, his voice crackling with sarcasm, told Hensley, 49, who once attempted suicide. ``You know what? I brought one for you.'' Hensley - who was a tow truck driver for the Boston Transportation Department when he murdered his wife, Nancy Hensley, 45, in their East Boston bedroom Jan. 31, 2002 - had planned to speak at his mandatory sentencing to life behind bars. But crushed by the weight of his family's grief, he backed down. After deliberating only two hours, a jury convicted Hensley of first-degree murder Thursday - the same day his daughter Candace Hensley turned 14. The Hensleys had four children during their 22 years of marriage: daughters Candace and Kerry, 24, and sons Pat, 22, and Kevin, 10. ``They're beautiful kids,'' Maryann Gillespie, the aunt who took them in, told their father in her gut-wrenching good riddance. ``They deserve the best, and we'll have that for them. ``I wish you had come to us for help,'' she told Hensley, whose slain wife was her husband Robert Gillespie's sister. ``We would have been there for you, but there's nothing we can do now.'' Kevin and Na
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