Wis. man testifies he expected God to heal child

by Rabbit 8 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090730/ap_on_re_us/us_prayer_death

    Wis. man testifies he expected God to heal child

    By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer Robert Imrie, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 30, 7:45 pm ET

    WAUSAU, Wis. – A central Wisconsin man charged with killing his daughter by praying instead of taking her to a doctor read from the Bible while testifying Thursday that he couldn't seek medical help without disobeying God.

    "I can't do that because Biblically, I cannot find that is the way people are healed," Dale Neumann told the jury. "If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God. I am not believing what he said he would do."

    God promises in the Bible to heal, Neumann said: "For that to take place in our lives, we have to live on God's instruction."

    Neumann, 47, is charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the March 23, 2003, death of his 11-year-old daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes . Prosecutors say he should have taken the girl to a hospital because she couldn't walk, talk, eat or speak.

    Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family's rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed.

    *Rabbit's Note: My JW mom died on the bed in a high tech Texas hospital as people surrounded her and prayed. Jehovah Smiled, because she wouldn't take life saving blood.

    Her father was the last person to testify in his trial. Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday morning.

    Neumann, who once studied to be a Pentecostal minister, preached to the jury about his faith in God's healing powers and cried out like he was talking to the Lord. He said he has been a born-again Christian since 1982.

    He said the Holy Spirit once instructed him to burn two books in his library and he did, ending 10 years of back pain a chiropractor had treated unsuccessfully.

    "It was a spiritual cause of a physical ailment," Neumann said.

    He testified he thought Madeline had the flu or perhaps a fever but never expected her die. He thought she was in a deep sleep but not unconscious, even though her breathing was labored.

    At one point in his nearly four hours of testimony, Neumann cried and nearly whispered to the jury.

    "Who am I to predict death when death is an appointed time for all of us?" he asked.

    Doctors testified earlier in the trial that Madeline would have had a good chance of surviving if she received medical treatment, including insulin and fluids, before she stopped breathing.

    Earlier Thursday, a woman who prayed with the Neumanns and helped give Madeline a sponge bath hours before she died testified she thought the girl had the flu.

    "She looked a little pale. I could see that she was weak," Lynn Wilde told the jury. "She would respond when we would call her name. She would make noises. She moved her head."

    Wilde, a loyal member of Neumann's Bible study group , testified for the defense as Neumann's attorney tried to show the father didn't know how ill his daughter was. Wilde said the five adults and three other children at the home prayed and took communion in an effort to heal the girl. She went home and took a nap, expecting the Neumanns to call later and say Madeline was fine and walking again.

    "I believe in the power of prayer ," Wilde testified.

    The girl died about two hours later. Someone called 911 when she stopped breathing.

    Neumann's wife, Leilani, testified earlier that she noticed her daughter had been weaker and drank a lot of water — some early symptoms of diabetes — about two weeks before she died. Leilani Neumann was convicted of second-degree reckless homicide this spring and faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced Oct. 6.

    Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Hang all religious fanatics ! I've had enough !

  • wobble
    wobble

    Dear Rabbit,

    Thanks for posting this,I am at present preparing a letter to send to the Medical Ethics Committee (in U.K) regarding the right to refuse treatment and how to assess the competence of someone to refuse,the patient may have the mental ability to understand,but holding beliefs like this guy surely stop them from making a rational decision.

    Could you post the results of the case if you have time ?

    I am so sorry that you suffered the loss of your Mom, if we can strengthen the doctors position perhaps others may be spared the pain and suffering you have endured,my heartfelt sympathy is yours.

    Love and thanks,

    Wobble

  • Caedes
    Caedes

    He should be in prison for that sort of child abuse.

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit

    I'm curious , too, about how this case will be decided. I know it'll be appealed and -- I hope -- I hope --that it will go to the Supreme Court and somehow affect other religious cults immoral beliefs.

    Most especially, of course, the JW's.

    And, thank you, Wobble. With all the real, unanticipated, uncontrollable dangers to our lives -- it's just so immoral and plain stupid to die over so-called "sacred words", surrounded by real human healers -- doctors. As opposed to the secretive, invisible ones.

    Rabbit

  • mkr32208
    mkr32208

    He should be shot out of a cannon into the sun, if god wants him to live he will save him...

  • wobble
    wobble

    That sounds a bit like my way of giving money to god, I get all my money and throw it up into the air,towards heaven,what God wants he takes,and what comes down is mine.

    love

    wobble

    p.s this is a serious case,and will illustrate how religious belief can be sometimes FATAL !

  • Heaven
    Heaven

    Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family's rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed.

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit

    Here's the father's just reward: Guilty. Unfortunately, my mother's killers get away scot free -- hiding behind "Freedom of Religion", in their Ivory Watch Towers.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090802/ap_on_re_us/us_prayer_death/print

    Wis. jury: Father guilty in prayer death case

    By ROBERT IMRIE, Associated Press Writer Robert Imrie, Associated Press Writer 3 mins ago

    WAUSAU, Wis. – A central Wisconsin man accused of killing his 11-year-old daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care was found guilty Saturday of second-degree reckless homicide.

    Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted in the March 23, 2008, death of his daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes . Prosecutors contended he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she couldn't walk, talk, eat or drink. Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family's rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called 911 when she stopped breathing.

    Sitting straight in his chair, Neumann stared at the jury as the verdict in a nearly empty courtroom was read. He declined comment as he left the courthouse.

    Defense attorney Jay Kronenwetter said the verdict would be appealed. He declined further comment.

    Prosecutors also declined comment, citing a gag order.

    Leilani Neumann, 41, was convicted on the same charge in the spring. Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard set Oct. 6 for sentencing for both parents, who face up to 25 years in prison.

    Their case is believed to be the first in Wisconsin involving faith healing in which someone died and another person was charged with a homicide.

    Last month, an Oregon jury convicted a man of misdemeanor criminal mistreatment for relying on prayer instead of seeking medical care for his 15-month-old daughter who died of pneumonia and a blood infection in March 2008. Both of the girl's parents were acquitted of a more serious manslaughter charge.

    Neumann's jury — six men and six women — deliberated about 15 hours over two days before convicting him. At one point, jurors asked the judge whether Neumann's belief in faith healing made him "not liable" for not taking his daughter to the hospital even if he knew she wasn't feeling well.

    Neumann, who once studied to be a Pentecostal minister, testified Thursday that he believed God would heal his daughter and he never expected her to die. God promises in the Bible to heal, he said.

    "If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God," Neumann testified. "I am not believing what he said he would do."

    The father testified that he thought Madeline had the flu or a fever, and several relatives and family friends said they also did not realize how sick she was.

    Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson told jurors in closing arguments Friday that Neumann was "overwhelmed by pride" in his interpretation of the Bible and selfishly let Madeline die as a test of faith.

    Neumann knew he should have taken his daughter to a doctor and minimized her illness when speaking with investigators, Jacobson said, calling Neumann no different than a drunken driver who remarks he only had a couple of beers.

    Doctors testified that Madeline would have had a good chance of survival if she had received medical care, including insulin and fluids, before she stopped breathing.

    Kronenwetter told the jury that Neumann sincerely believed praying would heal his daughter and he did nothing criminally wrong.

    "Dale Neumann was doing what he thought would work for his daughter," Kronenwetter said. "He was administering faith healing. He thought it was working."

    Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

  • Rabbit

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