Beaten To Death

[indago]

From The Associated Press 14 October 2015:
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Bruce and Deborah Leonard have been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Lucas Leonard. Four other members of the Word of Life Church in New Hartford also have been charged in connection with the man's death.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHURCH_KILLING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-14-07-02-12)

Those Christians...

tsk, tsk, tsk...

[fj1200]

There's nothing Christian about that.

[LongTermGuy]

​`These are sick people....with issues

[indago]

From The New York Times 15 October 2015:
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The pastor of a secretive church in central New York was holding a meeting to address concerns that a teenage congregant wanted to defect when other church members began to beat the teenager in an attack that eventually stretched over 10 hours, a prosecutor said on Thursday. The congregant, Lucas Leonard, 19, later died, and his younger brother, Christopher Leonard, 17, remained hospitalized on Thursday with serious injuries inflicted during the beating, which, the authorities said, started after Sunday services and lasted until early on Monday. The teenagers’ parents were charged with manslaughter in the death, and a half sister was charged with assault.

...The teenagers were punched and kicked in their stomachs, genitals, backs and thighs.
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article (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/nyregion/brothers-beating-at-upstate-new-york-church.html?ref=todayspaper)

[indago]

Journalist Mary Esch wrote for The Associated Press 17 October 2015:
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Former members of the upstate New York church where two teens were viciously beaten paint a picture of a once vibrant and joyous house of worship that declined into a place of fear and intimidation under new leadership.

"When I first arrived, it was warm and welcoming. It was encouraging. It was helpful," said Chadwick Handville, a massage therapist in Phoenix, Arizona, who left the Word of Life Christian Church in June 2000 after 10 years that included a stint as a worship leader and trustee. Things went downhill after founder Jerry Irwin returned from some time away and reclaimed his position as pastor, Handville said.

"What was off the wall was his attitude toward others," Handville said. "It wasn't happy. He accused every male of lusting after his wife."

Handville said Irwin's preaching was filled with personal attacks on parishioners, whom he forced to work long hours renovating the Irwin family's apartment on the third floor of the former school building that houses the church in New Hartford, which is 100 miles west of Albany.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHURCH_KILLING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-17-19-56-07)

[indago]

From The New York Times 19 October 2015:
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A 17-year-old boy who was brutally beaten inside a church alongside his older brother was released from the hospital and planned to testify at a hearing against at least one of his attackers, the authorities said on Monday. ...Christopher Leonard was released from the hospital over the weekend and is now under the supervision of Oneida County Child Protective Services, the New Hartford police said.

He is expected to testify against his 33-year-old half sister, Sarah Ferguson, at a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday. She is charged with assault and remains in custody.

The victims’ parents, Bruce T. Leonard, 65, and Deborah Leonard, 59, face the most serious charge, manslaughter, and were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Three other church members are also charged with assault. They are Joseph Irwin, 26, David Morey, 26, and Mr. Morey’s 54-year-old mother, Linda Morey.
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article (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/nyregion/brother-who-survived-beating-at-new-york-church-to-testify-against-relative.html?ref=todayspaper)

[Noir]

I'm sure they'll convince themselves their god thought what they did was right / will forgive them for their wrongs.
Murdering cultists.

[Gunny]

I'm sure they'll convince themselves their god thought what they did was right / will forgive them for their wrongs.
Murdering cultists.

Says the clown who is always apologizing for Muslims.