A devout Christian who killed a man and injured his wife in a frenzied axe attack after they told him they were atheists was jailed for 18 years in Australia yesterday.
Drifter Ashley John Appoo, 40, pleaded guilty in the Queensland state Supreme Court to manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm.
The court heard Appoo was hitchhiking in November 2001 when John Leslie McDonald and his wife Alois picked him up and took him home for lunch.
He ended up staying two days at the couple's home in rural Queensland before Alois told him she and her husband were atheists.
Appoo began punching the woman, then turned on her husband when he tried to intervene.
The court was told Appoo then went outside, seized an axe and began attacking the couple, hitting John McDonald in the head and leg.
McDonald died from his injuries and his wife sustained fractures to her jaw, ribs and ankle and an axe wound to her leg.
Defense lawyers said Appoo had suffered from violent rages and a personality disorder since 1995 when he was hit on the head with a didgeridoo -- a long, tubular Aboriginal musical instrument.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency on Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions. It is the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. In December last year, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April. Police said that smuggled cellphones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers,
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also