The matriarch of a small religious sect that former members insist is a cult will spend the next two years in jail for her role in the prolonged, deadly beatings of two teenage brothers who tried to leave the group, People confirms.
Traci Irwin, 50, was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty in Oneida County Court in New York to two counts of felony unlawful imprisonment.
Irwin was charged, along with eight other members of the Word of Life Church, with the fatal beating of Lucas Leonard. The 19-year-old was savagely whipped and battered intermittently over a 12-hour period inside the church,...
Traci Irwin, 50, was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty in Oneida County Court in New York to two counts of felony unlawful imprisonment.
Irwin was charged, along with eight other members of the Word of Life Church, with the fatal beating of Lucas Leonard. The 19-year-old was savagely whipped and battered intermittently over a 12-hour period inside the church,...
- 12/7/2016
- by chrisharristimeinc
- PEOPLE.com
The 30-year-old pastor of a small religious group that former members insist is a cult has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault, thus avoiding murder charges in a 2015 attack on two of her church members, People confirms.
Her plea — along with the pleas of three other church members on Friday — comes little more than a year after two teenage brothers were savagely beaten over a dozen hours for what prosecutors said was their plan to defect from the upstate New York congregation.
Under the terms of a deal brokered by prosecutors, Tiffanie Irwin, the leader of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks,...
Her plea — along with the pleas of three other church members on Friday — comes little more than a year after two teenage brothers were savagely beaten over a dozen hours for what prosecutors said was their plan to defect from the upstate New York congregation.
Under the terms of a deal brokered by prosecutors, Tiffanie Irwin, the leader of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks,...
- 10/25/2016
- by chrisharristimeinc
- PEOPLE.com
Sarah Ferguson, who participated in a gang assault last fall that killed her 19-year-old half-brother and severely injured her then-17-year-old half-brother at an upstate New York church, was convicted of manslaughter and assault but was cleared of murder on Tuesday, People confirms. Court officials tell People Ferguson, 33, who pleaded not guilty prior to the bench trial, was also convicted of two counts of gang assault stemming from the Oct. 11, 2015, beatings of her half-brothers Christopher and Lucas Leonard. The violence took place inside the building of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks, New York, which some experts and...
- 7/5/2016
- by Chris Harris, @chrisharrisment
- PEOPLE.com
This week, witnesses and experts have been testifying in the murder trial of Sarah Ferguson, the 33-year-old half-sister of Christopher and Lucas Leonard, the teen brothers who were allegedly beaten for more than a dozen hours inside a secretive upstate New York church in late 2015. Ferguson was arrested last fall along with several other members of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks, New York, after Lucas Leonard, 19, died from wounds he'd sustained in the alleged prolonged attack inside the secluded house of worship. His brother, Christopher, 18, was treated for lacerations and other injuries. Prosecutors have long maintained the alleged Oct.
- 6/30/2016
- by Chris Harris, @chrisharrisment
- PEOPLE.com
Bruce Leonard, the 66-year-old father of the teen brothers who were allegedly beaten for more than a dozen hours inside a secretive upstate New York church in late 2015, took the stand in Oneida County Court on Wednesday, providing a detailed account of the incident that took his 19-year-old son's life. Court officials tell People Leonard described how he and several other members of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks, New York, allegedly brutally pummeled and whipped his two teen sons during a church counseling session. The father, one of the prosecution's star witnesses, sobbed at times as he...
- 6/30/2016
- by Chris Harris, @chrisharrisment
- PEOPLE.com
Former Word of Life Christian Church member Nathan Ames wasn't the least bit surprised to learn of the Oct. 11, 2015, beating death of 19-year-old Lucas Leonard inside the insular congregation in Chadwicks, a small hamlet located just six miles outside of Utica, New York. According to Ames, the Word of Life Christian Church - where nine congregants allegedly kicked, whipped, and punched Lucas and his 17-year-old brother, Christopher, who survived the merciless, 12-hour blitz - had lost its luster, transforming from a place of worship to a house of torment. "There were a lot of good things that had been going on at the church,...
- 5/19/2016
- by Chris Harris, @chrisharrisment
- PEOPLE.com
Last October, in the small upstate New York town of Chadwicks, teenage brothers Lucas and Christopher Leonard approached the leadership of the Word of Life Christian Church to disclose their plans to defect. Some 12 hours later, one of the brothers was dead. The other was hospitalized. According to prosecutors, Lucas and Christopher were allegedly intermittently pummeled, kicked, and whipped by nine of the church's congregants - including their own parents. Investigators say the prolonged beatings were allegedly carried out with fists and electrical cords. They were allegedly prompted by the church pastor's false claims the two teens had sexually assaulted...
- 5/18/2016
- by Chris Harris, @chrisharrisment
- PEOPLE.com
Last October, in the small upstate New York town of Chadwicks, teenage brothers Lucas and Christopher Leonard approached the leadership of the Word of Life Christian Church to disclose their plans to defect. Some 12 hours later, one of the brothers was dead. The other was hospitalized. According to prosecutors, Lucas and Christopher were allegedly intermittently pummeled, kicked, and whipped by nine of the church's congregants - including their own parents. Investigators say the prolonged beatings were allegedly carried out with fists and electrical cords. They were allegedly prompted by the church pastor's false claims the two teens had sexually assaulted...
- 5/18/2016
- by Chris Harris, @chrisharrisment
- PEOPLE.com
Birmingham, Mich. (AP) — Friends, family and fans remembered award-winning crime novelist Elmore Leonard during a funeral service in suburban Detroit that was equal parts laughter and tears. Son Christopher Leonard joked about the "biting sarcasm" that his father had genetically bestowed upon his kids and grandkids. Story: Bryan Greenberg, Stephanie Sigman to Star in Elmore Leonard TV Drama Author, sports writer and friend Mike Lupica said Leonard himself would have appreciated the tone of Saturday's Mass at Holy Name Church in Birmingham. The 87-year-old Leonard died Tuesday in his Bloomfield Township home from complications from a stroke.
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- 8/24/2013
- by The Associated Press
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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