Davenport, Ia (AP) — A 37-year-old Iowa man has been convicted of fatally beating a pastor outside of his church.
Joshua Pendleton was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder and robbery in the October 2019 killing of the Rev. Allen Henderson in Fort Dodge, about 70 miles north of Des Moines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18 and faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Police said Pendleton attacked Henderson after the 64-year-old pastor tried to stop him from entering the St. Paul Lutheran Church. According to court documents, Pendleton told police he heard a girl screaming in the church and thought Henderson was assaulting her.
Pendleton’s family has said he is schizophrenic.
