Religion Roundup
Defense Begins in Preacher's Murder Trial
The Associated Press
July 4, 2008
MODESTO, Calif. - Defense testimony has started in the case of a California preacher who's charged with murder and embezzlement.
Prosecutors have rested their case against Howard Douglas Porter, who's accused of plunging a pickup truck into an irrigation ditch in April 2004 as part of a plot to kill 85-year-old Frank Craig.
Craig had made the church his beneficiary and Pastor Porter the executor of his estate.
Prosecutors argue that Porter was trying to cover up his plan to pocket money from the estate instead of using it to build an agriculture museum as Craig intended.
Craig had been crippled in a similar, 2002 crash with Porter behind the wheel.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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