NORTH CAROLINA
Associated Press
BY MITCH WEISS AND HOLBROOK MOHR
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man thought he was “going to die” when members of his evangelical church beat and choked him for two hours to expel his “homosexual demons,” he testified Thursday.
Matthew Fenner was the first person to take the stand in the assault and kidnapping trial of Brooke Covington, a 58-year-old minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina.
Fenner, 23, said Covington was the leader in a 2013 beating involving numerous congregants. He said Covington pointed out his sexual orientation, saying, “God said there is something wrong in your life.”
Fenner said he had cancer as a child and had a biopsy one week before he was assaulted.
“I’m frail and in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘is my neck going to break, am I going to die?'” Fenner said.
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