Before many of us settle into the first Monday of 2016, I need to take a few lines and recap what has been a year full of surprises. Of course, there will be events I don’t mention that were important to others. If you feel so compelled, comment and share with us your signature events of 2015.
On January 22, 2015, the Daily Courier reported the reindictment of the five defendants in the Matthew Fenner Case. This reindictment came after the new District Attorney for Rutherford County, Ted Bell, expressed his concern over the processes surrounding the first round of indictments in December 2014, during the tenure of District Attorney, Brad Greenway. See the post- “Word of Faith Fellowship members re-indicted- Daily Courier”
The five Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) members who were indicted include Brooke McFadden Covington, Justin Covington, Sarah Anderson, Robert Lewis Walker, Jr. and Adam Bartley. The charges include second degree kidnapping and simple assault for all five with an additional charge of assault inflicting physical injury by strangulation against Sarah Anderson. These charges stem from the events of January 27, 2013 inside the sanctuary of WOFF. The story of the indictments was picked up nationally and internationally after the first round of indictments in December 2014. Again, bringing attention to the unsafe practices of WOFF.
In February 2015, many mourned the passing of Dr. Amos T. “Pat” Pagter. Later in that month, attorneys for the WOFF five filed a change of venue request which later would be answered by a motion for change of venire; suggesting the jurors for the trial be from Bumcombe County. To date, these motions have not been ruled on.
April 2, 2015; the five WOFF defendants made their first appearance in court all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. They waived their right to court appointed representation and chose Tomblin, Farmer and Morris as their counsel. No shock here. As an interesting side note, WOFF put up land for the secured bonds for all five defendants. This fact later noted in court docs as a conflict of interest, which as of yet, has not been rectified. WOFF Defendants First Appearance- 4+1
Later in April, the Jewish community in Cocoa Florida pulled their support for the WOFF Holocaust Museum display. This traveling show still occurred, but the rift between the local organizer, Ron Shelton, and David Pelzman continues as a result.
Jewish Leaders Pull Support for WOFF/WFCS Holocaust Museum in Florida
Controversy over support of WOFF Holocaust Museum continues (video)
At the end of April, we read “RcCatalyst.com Reports Surprise Arrest of Jerry Cooper”. Led by Tomblin, Farmer and Morris; Robert Lewis Walker, Jr. and Sarah Covington Anderson filed a civil case against Jerry Cooper for libel claiming his comments on December 14, 2014 of “True story” on Facebook in reply to an AP story picked up by WRAL caused Robert to lose his job and Sarah unmeasured financial damages. As required, there was a mediation session held and the requested damages rose from $50,000 to $100,000. Obviously, no settlement reached. As Jerry Cooper was leaving the courthouse, he was arrested on outstanding warrants which included cyber-stalking and telephone harassment. The warrants were from 2013 and issued with Jane Whaley, victim/plaintiff. Josh Farmer was the attorney for Jane overseeing the arrest. Court documents revealed Andra Prince as the WOFF Facebook troller.
Jerry made bond and faced a civil case and criminal charges. Before the end of 2015, he would get his days in court for both cases.
May 29th brought the most memorable time I have experienced in witnessing WOFF court drama. As plaintiff, Jane Whaley was called to testify in the trial of Jerry Cooper on the charges she filed of telephone harassment and cyber stalking (via text messages). The blog post reporting the antics and doings in the courtroom that day received almost as much traffic in a few days as the blog receives in a month! Inquiring minds wanted to know how Jane could testify and yet the charges be dropped. From the post, Jerry Cooper- Not Guilty- Jane Whaley Testifies,
“During the questioning by Ditz, he had to constantly implore Jane to NOT ramble on and add to and basically preach her answer only to be shushed by Ditz’s constant admonitions, Ma’am, ma’am, ma’am…?
Paul said, “I ask the questions and you only answer the questions, do you understand?”
Paul’s frustration with being probably the first person in Jane’s world to exercise any control over her mouth –proved intense. Finally, the very patient Judge Redwing confirmed Ditz’s instructions. Sadly, Jane still found it hard to stay restrained and not ramble on and on explaining herself as if her remarks alone were needed to convict Jerry. Any humor in these exchanges quickly expired as Jane’s own glaring lack of self-awareness killed any credibility she attempted to show. Finally, she was among folks impervious to her aura.”
Friends, May 29th was a day to remember. That day, Jane did herself no favors be testifying. Judge Redwing concluded the State of North Carolina had not proved their case by the greater weight of evidence. Jerry was not guilty.
In July, we held a car wash as a fundraiser for the Faith Freedom Fund. That was a fun time.
Car Wash – Thank you to all who helped in any way!
At the end of July, by a guest post, we learned how much Jane hates Google Plus®.
Google plus® night…. at WOFF – Guest Post
During August, we experienced an explosion of activity surrounding the Matthew Fenner case. By the end of August, it became known that Adam Bartley had been offered a plea deal. Judge Pope also issued an ORDER of Disqualification against Joshua Farmer, Mark Morris and all associates of Tomblin, Farmer and Morris barring them from representing any of the five defendants in the case. Adam Bartley and Robert Lewis Walker, Jr. did employ different attorneys. Josh Farmer enlisted the help of outside counsel to avert the results and finally he appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals to review the decision by Judge Pope. We learned that Bartley, in a hand written note, refused the plea deal without proper counsel. Below I list links to posts which reflect the major events of August 2015.
Plea Offered to Defendant Adam Bartley in Matthew Fenner Case- rccatalyst.com
WOFFGATE-Stunning Developments in Rutherford County
DISQUALIFICATION!!!
Summary of Events for the Matthew Fenner Case
September 15, 2015; Josh Farmer filed an appeal of the ORDER of Disqualification with the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The Court agreed to review the case and that is where we stand. Once the Court rules on Judge Pope’s ORDER, the proceedings on various pretrial motions can move forward. There is no set date for the decision from the Court.
On September 21st, I released “Locked in- My Imprisoned Years in a Destructive Cult.” The book is available on Amazon.com in print and Kindle. It is also available locally at Great Expectations and More in Rutherfordton and The Book Shelf in Tryon, NC. WLOS covered the book as well as the Daily Courier. The response from readers has been overall very positive. A portion of each sale is donated to the ongoing work of the Faith Freedom Fund. During 2015, the Faith Freedom Fund helped more survivors than previous years.
(As of December 2015, the count is approximately fifty members have stopped attending WOFF in the last eighteen months. There is no indication this trend will slow down. Continued support of the Faith Freedom Fund is needed so we can move forward helping survivors.)
October brought another hearing in the Jerry Cooper civil case. Mark Morris’ efforts to secure the phone records of Matthew Fenner were quashed. Attorney Paul Ditz labels civil case a backdoor effort to obtain information about the criminal case against the WOFF five.
Judge Tommy Davis- Who is Matthew Fenner?
October 12th, at Cleveland Community College, I sat among several WOFF leadership as we listened to opening remarks by Karel Reynolds on the Nuremburg Trials. U.S. District Judge Redinger delivered a speech about the trials. It was my first time being so close to so many I respected and admired in years past. Their reception of me was cold. Why?
Judge Reidinger Delivers Irony- Who Heard It?
Also, during October, the nation was awakened to the death and destruction which resulted from a counseling session inside a small church in New York. The session, which lasted several hours, was held at the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks, NY. Lucas Leonard died as a result of the beating and his brother, Christopher, was hospitalized because of the injuries he suffered. Authorities learned the two youths expressed a desire to leave the church which prompted the session.
Nine church members including the pastor of the church and the father of the deceased, Bruce Leonard, await trial on charges including murder and gang assault. The mother, Deborah Leonard, has accepted a plea deal and will serve a total of seven years in exchange for her testimony against the other defendants. All of the others have been offered plea deals which they will either accept or decline in the next few days. Local city officials have shut down the church posting a notice barring occupancy. See here.
Pastor among eight defendants indicted in fatal beating
December 5th, Great Expectations and More hosted a book signing for me. I read from “Locked in” and then opened the floor for questions. There were several pointed questions from a standing room only crowd. Thank you, to all the family and friends who attended. I made some new friends and that is always enjoyable. Thank you, Mary for withstanding the efforts to discourage you from hosting the event.
Finally, before the end of the year, we were treated to a dismissal of the civil case against Jerry Cooper. On December 21st, Judge Tommy Davis dismissed the case and stopped the pending deposition of Matthew Fenner by Josh Farmer scheduled for December 30th. Thank you, Paul Ditz for again providing victorious counsel in this case.
Update: Robert Lewis Walker, Jr., Sarah Anderson vs. Jerry Cooper
Walker, Anderson vs. Jerry Cooper (f/k/a Jerry Butcher) – Case Dismissed
What does 2016 hold? Well, hopefully, the case of State vs. Covington will come out of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the prosecution of the WOFF five will move forward to a conclusion which at this point is hard to predict. Another thing for certain, more WOFF members will find the courage to leave. Faith Freedom Fund will help more survivors in their transition to their next place in life. Additionally, I have two more books in the making. The first is the sequel to “Locked in.” The working title for this one is “Locked out.” The next book is a narrative of my journey of personal discovery and expression found in writing the blog, the first book and investigating the doings behind WOFF.
January 16, 2016, the next book signing for “Locked in” is scheduled in Tryon, NC. The Book Shelf will supply the books and host the event which will be next door to their location, at the Coffeehouse. We will start at 2:00PM gathering in the casual relaxed atmosphere at 90 N. Trade St. I will begin with a reading from “Locked in,” and then take questions. I spent yesterday talking with a few folks there and the interest surrounding WOFF-life is definite. The questions were many and my answers only led to more questions. Fun.
We don’t know all of what 2016 holds. Right now, the hopes and expectations of many folks for changes in Rutherford County can be felt and heard in conversations.
Follow this blog on Twitter- @religiouscults and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/johnhuddleauthor
Thank you, for taking time to visit and read this blog. Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Jane told me and Josh confirmed it.
Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.
Look on the right side of any post for the option to subscribe by email for notifications or RSS feeds notifying of new postings. It is a great feature. Also, find more posts by selecting “Categories”.
Guest posts reflect the opinions of the writers. Their opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of John Huddle or any other persons affiliated with this blog.
Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, for posts written by John Huddle, any information about WOFF is from his memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be.
Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 557.