Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Oklahoma Pastor Was Found Nude, Stabbed Behind Altar, Source Says

(CNN) -- A 61-year-old pastor who was killed in a rural Oklahoma church was found lying behind the altar with her arms outstretched, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

It was one of the latest details to emerge in the killing of Carol Daniels, whose nude body was found in the Christ Holy Sanctified Church in Anadarko, Oklahoma, in a crime scene the district attorney described as "horrific."

Her clothes were taken from the scene, and a dissolving agent had been sprayed around her body, the source said.

An FBI profiler was brought in during the weekend to assist investigators, Steve Neuman, a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said Monday. Authorities also have increased to $15,000 a reward for information.

Daniels, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was found inside the church August 23. She died from "multiple sharp-force injuries," according to a preliminary autopsy report obtained by CNN. Sharp-force injuries mean cuts or stab wounds.

Diagrams in the autopsy notes show Daniels suffered injuries to the side and back of her neck, her back and her left breast. She also suffered wounds to her hands, a typical spot for defensive wounds resulting from attempts to ward off an attack.

In addition, the autopsy notes say a portion of Daniels' hair appeared singed or burned. The medical examiner classified her death as a homicide.

Daniels' son, Alvin Daniels, told CNN that she traveled many Sundays to Anadarko, about 50 miles southwest of her home, to the church "in case people came to worship."

District Attorney Bret Burns has called the crime scene the worst he'd seen in 17 years as a prosecutor but gave no further explanation. Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for Oklahoma's State Bureau of Investigation, said last week the body was "staged" after the killing, but declined to elaborate.

Meanwhile, Neuman said, video surveillance from a convenience store near the church is being analyzed, a process that started Friday. He declined to comment on the condition of Daniels' body when found.

Alvin Daniels told HLN's "Nancy Grace" that his mother was "always joking with us and always taking care of us, even giving her last dollar, even if she didn't have it."

He said she took precautions at the church. "She was very cautious for the most part, and she would usually leave the door open in case people came to worship," he said.

The death has unnerved religious leaders in Anadarko, said Ted Mercer, pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship, which is about three blocks from the church were Daniels' body was found.

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