“It seems the new owners have deleted just about every thread about religion so I had to start a new one for this.

Minister, wife accused in extortion plot

Police claim Washington Township couple threatened to kill unless they were paid.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007
By Julie O'Connor And Maura McDermott
The Star-Ledger

Police said the instructions in the letter were chillingly clear: Deliver $20,000 cash to a hiding place in Schooley's Mountain County Park in Morris County, or you or your child -- or both -- will be killed.

A Washington Township youth minister and his wife sent that letter to a Mount Olive resident, along with a pouch in which to deliver the cash, authorities said Monday. The letter was received July 13.

The letter-writers threatened to kill the parent and child if they contacted police, and claimed to be members of a group of professional extortionists, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi.

The alleged plotters, David and Faith Evans, were arrested Friday after they collected the cash. The married couple had brought their two sons -- an infant and an 8-year-old -- along for the errand, according to the arrest affidavit.

They were charged with theft by extortion, conspiracy and first-degree use of a person 17 years of age or younger to commit theft by extortion, Bianchi said.

Prosecutor: Cowardly plot

The victims "lived through a week of terror as they waited for this cruel plot to play out," according to Mount Olive police Chief Michael Spitzer.

The prosecutor declined to say Monday whether the targets of the plot knew the suspects.

Bianchi called the plotters "cowardly." He said investigators are looking into the couple's claim they belong to a network of extortionists, although he knew of no similar incidents.

"This seems like a real unique case," Bianchi said.

David Evans is director of youth ministry at Long Valley Presbyterian Church, according to the church's voicemail system.

The couple were out meeting with their lawyer Monday afternoon, according to a woman who answered the door at the well-kept, gray three-story house where the couple lived.

David and Faith Evans live in a Washington Township house owned by the church as housing for youth ministers, according to the church's pastor, the Rev. J. Aaron Nagel.

"The church has a great deal of trust in Mr. David Evans and we believe that the matter will be resolved," Nagel said in a statement.

The youth minister at Trinity United Methodist Church in Hackettstown, where Faith Evans' father, Frank Fowler, is senior pastor, said he believes in the family's innocence.

"I work with Dr. Fowler, and I know Faith Evans and I believe the Evans-Fowler family to be 1,000 percent innocent," said the minister, Don Gebhard.

Friday deadline

According to the prosecutor, in their single-page, computer-printed letter, the couple ordered their victim to leave the cash-stuffed pouch in the hollow of a tree near two rocks marked with yellow-painted trail markers.

The deadline was Friday, seven days after the letter was delivered, Bianchi said.

A pouch similar to the one sent to the victim -- stuffed with marked bills -- was delivered to the specified location about 1 p.m. that day, Bianchi said.

Nearly three and a half hours later, David and Faith Evans showed up with their two sons and retrieved the money, authorities said.

All the while, the couple were being watched by Mount Olive and Washington Township police, the Morris County Park Police, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, the Morris County Sheriff's Office and the United States Secret Service, according to the prosecutor.

The group was immediately stopped by police, and investigators recovered the marked currency from David Evans, authorities said.

The pair was released from the Morris County Jail on Saturday after each posted a bond to cover their $100,000 bail, authorities said.”

“Anger management instructor charged with domestic battery

GARY, Ind. (AP) - An anger management instructor was charged with domestic battery after his wife accused him of grabbing and beating her during an argument, police said.

The Rev. Robert Nichols, 49, has taught anger management classes for defendants in Gary City Court for several years, but his contract was voided while the misdemeanor charge against him is pending, said City Court Judge Deidre Monroe.

"It's our policy that anyone working in the court system can't have criminal charges," Monroe said Monday.

Nichols was arrested early Thursday after the couple's young daughter called police to report the fight, police said.

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2007/07/24/statenews.nw-290812.sto”

“DANG......all I can say is, 'I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition."”

“Ramblin' Rev Suspected In Mad Lantic Brawl In Pennsylvania Woods

Schuylkill Haven, Pa. -What started out as a torch-lit pagan celebration along the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania last weekend turned into a pitched battle between the forces of good and evil.

Wild-eyed wood sprites and tree worshipers were engaged in an wine-soaked feast and dance fest in what some described as a heathen gathering when the Ramblin' Rev showed up.

The Rev attempted to smite the wicked with John Brown-like fury but was eventually subdued when plied with spirits and food.

The Rev himself then joined the revelers as they capered about the dancing flames amid tiki torches emitting animalistic grunts and shouts and wails.

An ungodly good time was had by all and nobody died.
last edited: 7/26/07 5:48:31 AM”