An elderly American missionary stabbed to death in Haiti last week has been remembered as a champion of those in need and a tireless worker for spreading the truth and love of Jesus Christ.
George Knoop, 77, a former Chicago area teacher before becoming a missionary to Haiti, was attacked inside his home in the Haitian capital May 13th. Friends say that Knoop was able to make a cell phone call after the attack but was unable to speak; by the time they reached the home he was dead.
Officials say they have no suspects in the murder. Investigators say the incident was likely a crime of opportunity as a computer was stolen from the home and the murder weapon was a knife that had been in the home.
“I studied the Bible with him and he helped me a lot,” Charles Ronald said at the memorial. “He was generous, helping people, paying for their school, their rents, their food.”
Pastor Larry McCarthy of Moody Church Chicago, who was Knoop’s pastor, said that when the retiree moved to Haiti he sold his home, his TV, his car and his clothes so he could spend everything helping the people of Haiti recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead.
The al-Shabab terrorist organization has stepped up a campaign against Christians with their latest effort focusing on the very public execution of a Christian woman.
Sufia, a Christian woman living in Mogadishu, was inside her home when a group of terrorists stormed inside, drug her into the street, beat her and then shot her point blank while friends, family and neighbors tried to save her.
The terrorists shouted as they were committing the murder that Sufia had been converting Muslims to Christianity. The woman’s family says she was not doing any evangelizing in their community.
The government says this is the third targeted murder of Christians this month by the Islamic terrorist outfit.
According to the watchdog group Open Doors, Somalia is the second most oppressive country for Christians behind North Korea.
The killing comes on the heels of the government driving the terrorist group out of a previous stronghold in the city of Eyn.
A Pennsylvania woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after being sentenced in connection to the killing of her newborn child.
Amanda Hein, 26, had gone to a bar in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania last August to watch a pay-per-view wrestling event with three men. She went into labor and gave birth during the event in the women’s bathroom. She then wrapped the newborn in a plastic bag, placed it in the toilet’s tank, went outside for a cigarette and then returned to watch the wrestling event.
The baby was found the next day when the cleaning crew could not flush the toilet. The county medical examiner says the child was born alive and suffocated in the plastic bag.
She had pleaded guilty to murder as part of a plea deal last month but it was up to a jury to decide if it was pre-meditated first-degree murder or third-degree murder. The jury went with first-degree which called for a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Hein’s defense attorneys claimed that her actions were spur-of-the-moment out of shock because she did not know she was pregnant.
A Utah woman is behind bars and facing multiple murder charges after authorities found the bodies of seven babies within a garage at her former home.
In 2011, Meagan Huntsman, 39, moved out of a home in Pleasant Grove, Utah that was owned by her ex-husband’s parents. Her ex-husband went to the home Saturday to begin to clean up in preparation for moving into the home this summer when he found an infant’s body in the home’s garage.
Six more babies were found packed away in boxes in the garage.
According to reports from investigators, it appears at all of the children were full term and born alive between 1996 and 2006. The babies are currently undergoing DNA testing for paternity but it is believed the ex-husband is the father. Authorities say that he apparently had no idea what his then wife had been doing and is not a person of interest in the case.
Huntsman is facing six counts of murder and authorities have not said why it was six cases and not seven considering that seven babies had been found in the home She also reportedly moved out of the house in 2011 leaving behind her 18-year-old daughter to care for her two remaining teen daughters.
A man with a long record of hatred toward Jews is under arrest after killing three people outside two Jewish facilities in the Kansas City area.
Frazier Glenn Miller, 73, is facing at least three counts of murder after the shootings at a Jewish community center and Jewish retirement center in Overland Park, KS. Miller is a resident of Aurora, Missouri, 190 miles from the site of the shootings and police have not speculated why Miller chose these particular locations.
Two of those killed were a grandfather and his 14-year-old grandson, both of whom were Christians but not Jewish. The two were at the community center so that the grandson could audition for “KC SuperStar”, a singing competition for students.
Miller is a former grand wizard for the KKK and ran for Congress in 2006 and 2010 on platforms of white supremacy that included many anti-Semitic claims.
Police would not confirm a hate crime motive even though Miller was yelling “Heil Hitler” as he was driven off in a police car after his arrest and the start of the Jewish Passover the following day.
A man who calls himself a contract killer reportedly confessed to police of killing at least 40 people.
Jose Manuel Martinez, 51, told investigators that he was an enforcer for a drug cartel and carried out multiple murders at the command of the cartel leaders. Martinez is facing a trial in Alabama on a single murder charge and then a trial in California for at least nine others.
Martinez was arrested last year as he was crossing the border into Arizona.
Errek Jett, district attorney for Lawrence County, Alabama, said that he believes Martinez because he told investigators details that only the killer would be able to know.
Florida officials also say they want to question Martinez in connection with gang related murders in their states.
Police say that the possibility Martinez was the killer came to light during an investigation into a series of home invasion robberies in 2012.
A gunman who was being treated for depression and anxiety and was being tested for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder opened fire with a handgun at Fort Hood in Texas Wednesday, killing 3 people and wounding 16.
Some of the wounded are in very critical condition at area hospitals and it’s possible the death toll could rise.
Spc. Ivan Lopez, 34, committed suicide when a military police officer confronted him.
Lopez opened fire inside one building, climbed in a vehicle and shot at people as he drove to a second building where he shot more victims.
Military officials say that Lopez did not see combat during his time in Iraq. They said that he was a truck driver at the time forces were withdrawing from the country. They insisted that even though he was not in combat, it is still possible he was suffering from PTSD.
Lopez reportedly lost his mother in November and he was having trouble dealing with the loss. He leaves behind a wife and 3-year-old daughter.
A Pennsylvania woman who wrapped her newborn in a piece of plastic and then dumped him in a toilet at a sports bar has pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder.
The plea of 27-year-old Amanda Hein of Allentown entered the plea during a pre-trial hearing. The general plea means that a jury will decide in a trial next month if the charge should be first degree murder, which would carry a life prison term, or third degree murder which would jail her for 20 to 40 years.
Hein acknowledged that she had been taking medication for severe depression at the time of the killing but that she was aware what she was doing at the time.
The body of the child was found in a toilet at Starters Pub at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in August and the coroner determined the boy was alive when he was placed in the plastic and the toilet.
Prosecutors had initially planned to seek the death penalty but decided her mental health issues made it very unlikely that she would be sentenced to death.
The Taliban continues their campaign against women and children after four gunmen shot and killed at least two children in their latest terror attack.
Four members of the Islamic terrorist group walked into a restaurant at a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, pulled out pistols and began shooting diners in the head. Women and children appeared to be especially targeted by the terrorists.
Security officials were stunned the terrorists made their way into the Serena hotel, which is known for having some of the strongest security in Kabul. They discovered after searching the bodies of the terrorists that they had concealed the weapons inside their shoes.
The attack is part of a stepped up terror campaign ahead of April 5th elections in Afghanistan.
“Our people, if they decide to attack any place, can do it,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement claiming responsibility for the murders.
A group of Muslims attacked Christian farmers near Kano, Nigeria on Sunday, killing more than 100 and injuring dozens more.
The attackers also destroyed all the property of the Christian farmers, burning their homes to the ground.
The admission of the deaths by the government was complicated by the additional news this was the second straight week of Christian farmers being slaughtered by Muslim groups.
Chenshyi village chief Nehu Moses told journalists that gunmen slaughtered the church’s pastor, his wife and then gunned down their children. After that, they ransacked through the area killing at least 50 in his village.
Local government acting chairman Daniel Anyip told Time that at least three villages were destroyed during the assault.
