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Youth pastor charged with murder in fight outside Las Vegas bar

maquiscat

maquiscat

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Youth pastor charged with murder in fight outside Las Vegas bar - Los Angeles Times

A California youth pastor has been charged with murder after a man he allegedly put in a coma during a violent confrontation in a Las Vegas parking lot died.

Robert Lynn Cox was arrested by Manteca, Calif., police on a murder warrant issued by Nevada prosecutors after 55-year-old Link Ellingson died in December after months of being in a coma, the Modesto Bee reported.




Cox, 35, was initially booked in San Joaquin County jail but has since posted bail and is reportedly scheduled to appear in a Nevada courtroom Friday to answer the charges.

The fact that Cox was charged nearly a year after the incident outside the Four Kegs pub in Las Vegas, about a 15-minute drive from the strip, stunned the local community and his family.


On a message posted on the Place of Refuge church website in Manteca, Pastor Mike Dillman asks for parishioners’ support and gives Cox’s side of the story.


“A very large man assaulted Rob and two of our interns,” the message read. “Rob used his weight to push the man back causing him to fall and he hit his head on the concrete.”

The church portrays Ellingson as the aggressor in the June 13 incident, claiming that as Cox and his group left Four Kegs, they were confronted by Ellingson in the parking lot. That's where Ellingson allegedly said he was going to “kill” Cox and began punching people in the group before the youth pastor pushed Ellingson down, the Bee reported.


Cox broke a finger in the incident and two interns suffered concussions and were taken to a local hospital, according to the church statement.

Cox initially told police he punched Ellingson in the face but then later clarified that he pushed Ellingson and both men fell to the ground, the Bee reported.


Ellingson slipped into a coma from his head injury and died six months later. The county coroner concluded his death was a homicide, but the church claims prosecutors in Las Vegas told Cox and his family that they believed the incident to be self-defense.


Instead, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Cox without warning and listed him as a fugitive, the Modesto Bee reported. He was arrested at his church last week while his children were at a dental appointment.


“It was really hard to explain to my children, what happened, because, you know, their dad was just gone,” Cox told Fox40. “They went to the dentist, and their dad got arrested at the church, and that’s all.”


He said he had plenty of “sleepless nights” in jail but wasn’t mad at prosecutors. He was simply confused that he was charged and regarded as a fugitive.


“As you can imagine, we are all in a state of disbelief and covet your prayers and support at this time,” the church message says.
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I can see bringing Cox up on charges, but murder? Seriously? How in the bloody blazes could this have be premeditated. Manslaughter at worse and more likely justifiable manslaughter. And to list him as a fugitive was just the worse move that they could make I think.
 
Seems ridiculous on the face of it. At WORST, this is voluntary manslaughter based on available info... but more likely self-defense.
 
maquiscat said:
I can see bringing Cox up on charges, but murder? Seriously? How in the bloody blazes could this have be premeditated. Manslaughter at worse and more likely justifiable manslaughter. And to list him as a fugitive was just the worse move that they could make I think.
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If he ain't rich, he'll face the full, bloated force of our prison system. We do imprison more people per capita than any other nation in the world.
 
Ikari said:
If he ain't rich, he'll face the full, bloated force of our prison system. We do imprison more people per capita than any other nation in the world.
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He won't need to be rich. Guarentee that there will be several churches and Christian organizations raising money for this guy's defense fund. Additionally, The fact that he's been charged with something way beyond what it could be according to his and the interns' accounts, and they they treated him like a fugitive before even giving him the chance to come in, I have no doubt that his attorney will being working on a massive wrongful something or other suit. I can't think of the proper term ATM. Working in hot attics tends to fry one's brain. ;)
 
With the limited description provided, the charges seem massively excessive to what appeared to be defense of self and others, and was clearly not premeditated by any stretch of the imagination... unless the aggressor, who ended up being the victim, was lying in wait to assault the group.

Just not seeing murder here, no way, no how.
 
my godd.l cant believe in myself.l saw such a dream last night.but pastor or priest was the victim in my dream.:shock:
 
Perhaps the police had reason not to believe his "I pushed him and he fell down and died!" story. The coroner apparently said it was homicide, if there were multiple blunt force impacts it might imply repeatedly bashing the guys skull into the concrete.
 
How dare he defend himself and his friends. WTF is a "youth pastor" doing in a bar anyway. Looks like he is going to get a whole new parish to preach to. Numbered inmates.
 
maquiscat said:
I can see bringing Cox up on charges, but murder? Seriously? How in the bloody blazes could this have be premeditated. Manslaughter at worse and more likely justifiable manslaughter. And to list him as a fugitive was just the worse move that they could make I think.
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The story makes no reference to a police statement that Cox was assaulted. His claim of self defense will be evaluated by a judge/jury. I agree that a fugitive description is off the mark unless he refused a summons to appear.

Cox initially told police he punched Ellingson in the face but then later clarified that he pushed Ellingson and both men fell to the ground, the Bee reported.

Ellingson slipped into a coma from his head injury and died six months later. The county coroner concluded his death was a homicide, but the church claims prosecutors in Las Vegas told Cox and his family that they believed the incident to be self-defense.
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By his own admission, Cox stated that he knocked/pushed the "victim" to the ground (later ruled the cause of death), a (larger?) 35 year old and two (younger?) interns will get to explain how they were all assaulted by a 55 year old in the parking lot. Self defense, even for a broken finger (prior to the fall?), may be hard to sell to a jury. Cox seems to have the advantage of two (friendly?) witnesses so I would imagine that the prosecutor may have other witnesses/evidence in order to bring that charge.
 
This felony murder fugitive is lucky a SWAT team didn't flash-bang his kids to death in the process of serving a no-knock 3 a.m. warrant.

Had the police decided to go that route it would certainly have made more sense, on paper, than a similar warrant service on the home of a low-level drug dealer with no known history of violence.
 
What ever happened to turn the other cheek? Or being the bigger man and just walking away?
 
Deuce said:
Perhaps the police had reason not to believe his "I pushed him and he fell down and died!" story. The coroner apparently said it was homicide, if there were multiple blunt force impacts it might imply repeatedly bashing the guys skull into the concrete.
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Or maybe they do what they always do which is over charge, scare the crap out of him with a threat of life inprison, so they can get a plea on a lesser charge guilty or not.
 
Mason66 said:
Or maybe they do what they always do which is over charge, scare the crap out of him with a threat of life inprison, so they can get a plea on a lesser charge guilty or not.
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And retrieve a huge fine.
 
maquiscat said:
I can see bringing Cox up on charges, but murder? Seriously? How in the bloody blazes could this have be premeditated. Manslaughter at worse and more likely justifiable manslaughter. And to list him as a fugitive was just the worse move that they could make I think.
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Especially in light of the fact that it appears to have been self-defense, if the quoted excerpt is accurate. This makes no sense to me.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
By his own admission, Cox stated that he knocked/pushed the "victim" to the ground (later ruled the cause of death), a (larger?) 35 year old and two (younger?) interns will get to explain how they were all assaulted by a 55 year old in the parking lot. Self defense, even for a broken finger (prior to the fall?), may be hard to sell to a jury. Cox seems to have the advantage of two (friendly?) witnesses so I would imagine that the prosecutor may have other witnesses/evidence in order to bring that charge.
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Based on other articles I've found on this issue it would seem that Cox initially told police on the scene that that he punched Ellingson in the face with his left (injured) hand.

Later, Cox provided a written account of the incident in which all details were the same, except that in the written statement he made no mention of punching Ellingson but instead changed his claim to reflect that he grabbed Ellingson during a struggle, wrapped his arms around the larger man, and the two fell down at which point Cox's finger was injured (broken) and Ellingson was rendered unconscious.

However, investigators have video of parts of the altercation and in the video Ellingson is seen falling down as a result of *something* but Cox does not fall with him and does not have his arms wrapped around Ellingson at the time. Ellingson remains on the ground unconscious until he is taken away by medical personnel.

So it would seem that Cox gave conflicting accounts of the incident that do not square with physical evidence in the possession of the prosecutor and that at least some "witnesses" to the altercation (Cox's wife for sure, perhaps others) provided statements that match Cox's written statement but also are at odds with the physical evidence.

What happened in Vegas? California pastor faces murder charge after bar scuffle | Fox News

Obviously there's no way to say at this point what's true and what isn't but at best, at the moment, I'd say that Cox, if nothing else, is a victim of the phenomenon of the "cover-up" biting him in the ass whereas the actual "crime" may not have.
 
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Ikari said:
If he ain't rich, he'll face the full, bloated force of our prison system. We do imprison more people per capita than any other nation in the world.
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Or, if the judge is a Libbo.
 
Mason66 said:
Well yes that is the most important part for them.
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Always is. The cost of long term probation, classes, community service, servicing the law suit, bail. Nevada is set to make thousands off this guy.
Oh, and he better hope his interns are ready to go to trial for him. Friends usually become scarce once trouble starts. And if there were any time in his life were he was prone to getting into fights or history of a temper. He is screwed.
 
Wow. This is quite the stretch from what the witnesses described.

"A warrant for Cox’ arrest on murder was issued, and a criminal complaint was formally filed on May 9 stated that Cox “willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, with premedication and deliberation, and with malice aforethought, killed Link Ellingson, a human being, by punching the said Link Ellingson in the face.”

Manteca pastor released on bond

Edit: The spelling error is all theirs...
 
lizzie said:
Especially in light of the fact that it appears to have been self-defense, if the quoted excerpt is accurate. This makes no sense to me.
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If you take the defendant's word at face value, you're right.
 
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