Pastor pleads not guilty to murder
Mon Dec 11, 11:12 PM ET
MODESTO, Calif. - A former pastor accused of killing an elderly friend
to get at his trust fund pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree
murder, attempted murder and embezzlement Monday.
Howard Douglas Porter, 55, is being held without bail in the Stanislaus
County jail, said Deputy District Attorney John Goold.
Porter was arrested two weeks ago at a U.S-Mexico border checkpoint.
Investigators said he caused two car accidents, the latter killing
85-year-old Frank Craig, in a scheme to inherit the retired farmer's
trust fund.
Craig had asked Porter to help him build an agriculture-themed museum
with his $4 million estate, and by 1999, the Hickman Community Church
pastor had control of Craig's finances, Craig family members said. The
trust was changed to replace Craig's two sisters with Porter as the
successor trustee and the church as the new heir, they said.
Investigators said they believe Porter first tried to kill Craig in
2002 when he veered his truck off a rural road and struck an oak tree.
The crash crippled Craig, but did not initially raise suspicions.
In April 2004, Porter plunged his pickup truck into an irrigation
canal, and the farmer drowned. Porter, who walked away from both
wrecks, gave the eulogy at Craig's funeral.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_on_re_us/pastor_murder_plot_2
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