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St. Louis Church in Kidnapping Case Had Cult-Like Conditions, Prosecutor Says | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2024

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click to enlarge COURTESY SLMPD From left, Grace Kipendo, Pasi Heri and Mmunga Fungamali all face charges related to the kidnapping of a unnamed female.

A bizarre kidnapping case that allegedly occurred this past weekend in south St. Louis got a lot stranger this afternoon at a bond hearing for one of the defendants.

Over the weekend, police were called to Minnesota Avenue in the Patch neighborhood after a woman was found bound by ropes and bleeding from the head. She later told police she had been confined against her will in a room at the nearby Mount of Olives Ministry church. Three men were charged with felony kidnapping and assault.

This afternoon, at a bond hearing for one of those men, 28-year-old Grace Kipendo, Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Faerber described cult-like conditions at Mount of Olives Ministry.

Faerebr said in court he’d be reaching out to federal prosecutors regarding the case.

He said that officers at the scene reported that members of the church referred to women as “angels” and there was a “white room” where there were women referred to as “good angels” and wore white veils.

“Officers tried to lift their veils to check on their well-being and the women started screaming,” Faerber told Judge Heather Hays, in arguing that Kipendo should remain in the City Justice Center without bond.

Faerber quoted one of the officers at the scene who said, “If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

According to the police probable cause statement, the victim said that she was kept locked in a room where she was beaten and given only water. After police arrived, the victim led officers to a different room, one that wasn’t the “white room,” which had had its door knob broken off and, inside, a bucket being used as a makeshift toilet.

Police were called because the victim was “crying out to passersby who were not members of the church,” according to Faerber.

In addition to Kipendo, two other men — Pasi Heri, 32, of Dutchtown, and Mmunga Fungamali, 25, who just arrived a few days ago to the United States from Canada – have also been charged with felony kidnapping and assault.

Kipendo’s attorney Chris Combs said that the victim in question is indeed a victim, but that police have arrested the wrong men, in part due to a language barrier between many of the people involved and the police.

Mount of Olives Ministry conducts services in Swahili and most of its parishioners are African. Combs said the church has been active since at least 2018 and has never before had an incident.

“No one is denying there is a victim in this case,” he said, but argued that Kipendo didn’t hit the victim. “Grace was there to translate between the victim’s mother and the officers. He can’t believe he’s gotten wrapped up in this.”

Kipendo is active duty U.S. military and until last year was serving in Germany. He is originally from the Congo and became a U.S. citizen in 2010.

Combs added, “There are some serious issues in this case that are going to come to light,” and those issues have to do with the language barrier between the police and others involved. click to enlarge RYAN KRULL Mount of Olives Ministry is located in St. Louis’ Patch neighborhood.

The sister and mother of the victim were in court to support Kipendo, Fungamali and Heri. So were about a dozen other church members. Combs said that the victim in the case had been brought from Kansas City to St. Louis for mental health treatment before her ordeal.

Combs also questioned why Fungamali, who arrived in the U.S. from Canada for a 30-day fast at the church, would immediately commit a kidnapping upon arrival.

As for Faerber, he said that the victim’s family put her in the church for what they termed “healing.”

Faerber added that even though the victim is supposedly in protective custody at an undisclosed hospital, some church members figured out what hospital she was at and began calling there, trying to speak to her. One of these callers identified himself as a “DA” for the city, though notably St. Louis has circuit attorneys, not district attorneys.

Judge Hays acknowledged there were “many conflicting facts” in the case and ruled that Kipendo should remain held without bond.

Heri’s and Fungamali’s bond hearings were continued until March 4 so that a Swahili interpreter could be present.

This morning, an RFT reporter went to the Mount of Olives Ministry and talked to its pastor, Danny Stephen, in the parking lot. Stephen said that someone had slapped the victim but that it wasn’t any of the three men arrested.

“Why are you holding these three people, innocent people,” he says.

Stephen was present in the courtroom this afternoon along with other parishioners, none of whom spoke to the media.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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