Posted on 06/08/2014 8:26:26 AM PDT by Morgana
A California youth pastor has been charged with murder after a fight with a Las Vegas man last year ultimately led to his death.
Robert Cox of Manteca, California was just passing through Sin City last June when he stopped for a late dinner with his church group en route to Texas.
There he encountered 55-year-old Link Ellingson. A scuffle broke out in which Cox pushed Ellingson over, causing him to hit his head.
After a six-month coma, Ellingson died from brain hemorrhaging. Now, police are holding the beloved pastor responsible for his death even as members of his family and congregation maintain he was acting in self defense.
Cox, a pastor at The Place of Refuge church, was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on Tuesday on murder and fugitive from justice charges.
He's awaiting extradition to Nevada. An autopsy report said blunt head trauma from the fight was a significant contributing factor.
Cox was on a ministry trip to Texas with his wife and some church interns when they stopped at the Four Kegs pub on June 13, 2013. Group members said they were in the parking lot when Ellingson approached, threatened them and assaulted them.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Incredibly misleading headline. Sounds like he killed his own father.
The whole thing is incredibly misleading till you watch the video.
He was 55 and a father? Wow. So descriptive.
This MIGHT be manslaughter, at most. And it seems like he may be able to make a good case for self-defense. He’s got a ton of witnesses on his side.
I’m thinking the dead guy must have been dead drunk. Why would you start messing with a whole group of people like that? A church group!
Well, he got dead for his troubles, so let that be a lesson.
Finally, after five are assaulted, the youth pastor grabs him around the waist and they both fall to the ground where the big brute hits his head. He stumbles away and goes unconscious.
Months later, he dies and they are charging the youth pastor with murder?
There are plenty of witnesses...but the moment of their falling to the ground is not on the surveillance video.
I hope this pastor prevails and sues the living daylights out of the prosecutors, the town, etc., etc.
From the reading, and the testimony of the people who were there...this is a travesty.
I think what jeffhead thinks.
I agree with Jeff Head.
Hard to believe any jury will convict, but why is the jerk DA putting the pastor through this grief?
Prolly not much difference between the drunk’s sentiments and the DA’s.
M4L
The obit doesn’t say if he was a mean and crazy drunk.
Maybe he had a brain tumor. But, regardless, if the facts of the matter are as they appear to be, he was an unprovoked aggressor—and bore the consequences.
If this is true it may well not be a crime at all.The defense should be checking the dead guy's entire background.Presumably a toxicology screen was done on the dead guy and possibly the accused as well.Background (of both) and toxicology (of both) would be of great interest to me.Depending on what credible evidence the defense might present I think that I,as a juror,could go with "justifiable self defense".
Although I certainly could be wrong the first thing that came to mind when I saw his photo was “steroids”.Anyone else?
‘Link was uplifted by new ideas and was excited by lifes possibilities, traits that made him an exceptional worker. His primary occupation was Senior Marketing Director. He was employed for several years with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, and On Demand Sedan.’
This was a connected guy and you don't mess with connected guys.
Who do you think was taking steroids?
My thought is booze and anger at God which led him to threaten the group.
Why does the phrase “Ministry trip in Las Vegas” sound as if the guy was trying to sell air conditioners in h*ll?
I think you’ve nailed it. Even if he did punch the guy, which isn’t believable, it was still self defense. I hope he owns Manteca when all is said and done.
I find it hard to have a charitable opinion of the DA’s motives.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.