Alabama pastor indicted in wife’s killing
A former Baptist pastor has been indicted in his wife’s slaying in suburban Birmingham.
Court records show 53-year-old Richard Shahan is charged with murder in the killing of wife Karen Shahan.
Grand jurors returned the charge in August, but court documents were made public just this week.
The indictment says the woman’s throat was cut and she was stabbed. She was found dead in their home in Homewood in July 2013.
Shahan is a former children’s minister at First Baptist Church of Birmingham. Prosecutors suspect Shahan wanted to leave the United States to marry another man.
He was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, while boarding a flight to Germany.
Shahan hasn’t entered a plea, but defense attorneys have denied he was trying to flee the country.
Shahan is free on bond. (Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
