CHENNAI: A Tiruvallur Principal District and Sessions Court on Tuesday sentenced a 27-year-old man to life imprisonment for murdering a senior priest inside a Pentecostal church six years ago.
According to a release, Principal District and Sessions Judge J Juliet Pushpa awarded life imprisonment and imposed a fine of `10,000 on the accused, C Moses. The court also sentenced him to three years’ rigorous imprisonment for criminal intimidation and directed that both sentences run concurrently.
The victim, J Enos of Pattabiram, a retired employee of Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Avadi, was serving as a priest at a church in Vallalar Nagar.
The incident came to light when a church worker arrived to make arrangements for prayer and switched on the lights inside the prayer hall. He found Enos lying in a pool of blood and raised an alarm. Enos was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared dead. Pattabiram police were alerted.
Suspicion later fell on Moses, Enos’ subordinate at the church, who went missing after the incident. Police subsequently received information that Moses was attending a prayer meeting at a church in Irumbuliyur and arrested him.
During interrogation, police found that Moses had a murder case pending against him in Sathyavedu, Andhra Pradesh. He had allegedly stabbed Enos following a reprimand and fled the scene. Police said the knife used in the crime was one he carried for decorating prayer halls.