Wisconsin Man Convicted Who Murdered Pastor Over Money for Abortion
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 27, 2008
Milwaukee, WI (LifeNews.com) — The man who murdered a Wisconsin pastor because she refused to fund her step-grandson’s request for his girlfriend to have an abortion was convicted on Friday. Eric Paul Henry, 30, was convicted in Milwaukee County Circuit Court of first-degree intentional homicide.
Henry could face up to life in prison once his sentence is handed down.
Last December, Henry apparently murdered 75-year-old Anne Gordon when she said she wouldn’t give him the money.
According to police, Henry killed Gordon by using duct-tape to seal a plastic bag over her head and binding her hands and feet with the tape so she would be unable to remove it.
Police said Gordon asked God to forgive Henry for what he was doing as he allegedly bound and killed her.
Henry asked Gordon for $300 to pay for his girlfriend’s abortion and she refused him the money
According to an AP report, Judge M. Joseph Donald scheduled a hearing for sentencing in the case for June 19.
The initial criminal report indicated Henry told police another unidentified man forced him to kill Gordon and, during the trial, Henry said he was forced at gunpoint to kill the elderly woman.
Police said they found no evidence that Henry did anything other than act alone in the murder.
Henry told police that he told Gordon the money would be used for a paternity test, not an abortion, but she would not give him the money. Instead, Gordon asked Henry to pray with her about the situation.
Afterwards, Henry left Gordon’s home and later returned to her apartment with another man with the intention of robbing Gordon. As he stayed by the front door, the man went upstairs to steal money from Gordon but came away empty-handed.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, police said Henry told officials that the other man hit Gordon and knocked her to the ground and then asked Henry to tape her body. Police say Henry was the one to duct-tape the bag over Gordon’s head, causing her death.
Gordon was the pastor at St. Anne’s Cathedral Holy Church of Deliverance, located on the northwest side of Milwaukee.
Medical examiners say the elderly black woman died from asphyxiation. She was found on her back, and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said she had rugs from her home covering her body.
Henry is the stepson of Gordon’s son Paul and another son, Ray, spoke with the newspaper about the death of his mother.
"Her personality was very strong. She knew what she wanted, and if you were doing something wrong, she would tell you to straighten up your life, and that you know what the Bible says," he said.
