The fate of a religious couple accused of abusing their adopted daughter to death is now in the hands of a jury.
There is a new documentary about the 1985 police bombing of the radical group MOVE in Philadephia.
And Germany police have removed 40 children from two Twelve Tribes communities on suspicion of abuse.
Larry and Carri Williams, accused of abusing their adoptive daughter Hana Williams to death, have taken the stand in their own defense.
Prosecutors says religion plays no role in the case, but once again the controversial parenting book titled “To Train Up a Child” is part of the story.
The trial of a Washington state couple accused of starving their adopted Ethiopian-born daughter and locking her outside in the cold, where she died from exposure is underway.
Prosecutors say the couple tortured Hana Williams and her brother Emanuel under the guise of discipline.
The book To Train Up A Child, by Michael and Debi Pearl, has featured in several murder investigations.
While their influence is not as great as some people think, far too many Christians buy into this couple’s dangerous teachings.
A Paradise couple are scheduled to stand trial in November on murder and torture charges involving two adopted children.
They are accused of causing the death of a 7-year-old adopted girl and serious injuries to her 11-year-old sister during separate “biblical chastisements” with a whip-like instrument in February at the family home.
According to authorities, she was beaten for several hours with a quarter-inch plumbing supply line as her parents took turns holding her down and using the instrument. The blows reportedly cause Rhabdomyolysis, which is a breakdown of muscle tissue which fatally damaged her vital organs.
According to local authorities, Lydia’s “biblical chastisement” leading to her death may have been for mispronouncing a word during a home-school reading lesson.
A preliminary hearing has been set for May 25 to determine if there is enough evidence to try Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz for the alleged murder and torture of two adopted children.
Authorities allege the couple used a quarter-inch plumber’s supply line during a “biblical chastisement” that went too far, resulting in medical complications that caused the death Feb. 5 of 7-year-old Lydia Schatz and left her sister, Zariah, 11, hospitalized with serious injuries.
Because the wife has retained new counsel, a Paradise couple charged with the murder of one adopted daughter and torture of her sister, did not enter pleas to the charges in court Thursday.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have disclosed that a book by a Tennessee-based fundamentalist Christian ministry, espousing “biblical chastisement” with the same quarter-inch plumber’s supply line alleged to have been used in the ridge beatings, was found in the Paradise home of Kevin Schatz, 46, and Elizabeth Schatz, 42.
Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz are expected to enter a plea today. They are accused of killing Lydia Schatz and severely beating their 11-year-old adopted daughter, Zariah Schatz.
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he has a direct connection between the Schatz case and No Greater Joy Ministry, a fundamentalist religious organization founded by Michael and Debi Pearl.
Police found, on the Schatzes’ bed, a 15-inch section of PVC tube, a quarter-inch thick. They believe it to be the murder weapon, as both Lydia and Zariah had “whip-like” marks that matched the length and width of the pipe. It lay beside a children’s book.
The PVC tube may seem like a strange punishment tool, but for those familiar with the teachings of Christian fundamentalists and authors Michael and Debi Pearl, it is nothing new.