Murder JW Style (True Crime)

by Tahoe 16 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • Tahoe
    Tahoe

    A home remodeling job in England that went wildly wrong:

    A builder who bludgeoned his client to death with a hammer in a row over her new extension has been jailed for at least 15 years for murder.

    Peter Norgrove killed Sharon Gordon at her home on 20 July last year.

    Her daughter Rhian Brown said Norgrove acted like a "wolf in sheep's clothing" after earning her trust at the church they attended in Dudley.

    Wolverhampton Crown Court heard he led the Jehovah's Witness service the same night he killed Mrs Gordon.

    He repeatedly lied to her about the work he was doing, which took 15 months instead of six weeks.



    "He didn't have the experience to be doing the work he was doing," Miss Brown said.

    "He took full payment for the extension in advance, which we believe to be more than £30,000."


    Mrs Gordon fitted a video doorbell to her home to prove that Norgrove had been lying about the times he was claiming to carry out work.

    "He drove my Mom mad with stress and anxiety - she noted everything down," said Miss Brown.


    "She had notebooks, receipts, everything, because of how bad this man's workmanship was."


    The court heard Norgrove became furious when quizzed by his client and hit her eight times in the head with a lump hammer.

    "The level of violence was horrendous," Miss Brown said. "We couldn't believe what we were hearing.

    "'What do you mean she's dead?' I thought.

    "My son was saying 'where is my nanny?' He was due to sleep over there that weekend."



    Norgrove, 43, of Bromford Road, Sedgley, claimed to police he had left the property the previous day, but bloodstained items were found in a wheelie bin at a family address and a lump hammer discovered in his mother-in-law's shed.

    Miss Brown said her mother was introduced to Norgrove at the Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Dudley but after being recommended to her, it emerged he was a newly-qualified bricklayer.

    "This man deceived a lot of people," she said.

    "He had the security net of being of this faith and hid who he really was.



    "It doesn't matter what community you are in, you can have bad individuals.

    "I use the phrase 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' and that's exactly what he's been able to do."


    Mrs Gordon's sister Hilary, who lives in Australia, said in a victim impact statement her death had left "darkness and an indescribable pain".

    "It's affected our sense of family, and robbed us of our future," she added.


    Builder Peter Norgrove jailed for killing client in extension row

  • Biahi
    Biahi

    What a tragedy, he was a dishonest JW who took this woman’s money, didn’t do the work, and counted on her to never complain or take him to court, because you aren’t supposed to “take a brother to court .” I guess she was just supposed to suck it up like a good little JW, and take no action.

  • LongHairGal
    LongHairGal

    TAHOE:

    Very sad. I am so Glad I never had business dealings with JWs. I heard a few horror stories.

    When I say business dealings I’m not just referring to home improvements - but offers to get you to ‘invest’ as well. So glad I never got involved. The quoted “Wolf in sheep’s clothing” is a very apt description of some types preying upon gullible people there who, sadly, buy into what I feel is a phony ‘brotherhood’.

  • NotFormer
    NotFormer

    I imagine contracting with an elder, especially if you are a lowly congregant, is fraught with peril. The unwritten, unspoken rule that you don't actually have any legal recourse if things go pear-shaped must be always be at the back of one's mind in those situations.

    As to the murder, let's not get distracted by the JW aspect of it. These cases happen from time to time but prove nothing except anecdotally. Such things can happen in any situation involving an unequal power dynamic.

    It's upsetting to see anyone murdered (or otherwise abused) by someone they thought they could trust.

  • Obrien
    Obrien

    A tragedy indeed, and did the pressure of losing face in the congregation contribute to his mental instability? He obviously held a position of authority as he had a role in the Thursday evening meeting, but another account states it was a peripheral role, leading the zoom part of the meeting for those who were attending remotely. Would that be given to a Ministerial Servant, if they still have such roles?

  • Balaamsass2
    Balaamsass2

    Yikes!! That poor woman!

    We have given lots of work over the years to down-and-out JWs. About 75% of the time it didn't go well, and it became obvious why they were down and out in the first place. Lots of mental illness. :)

    Now that we are no longer JWs we don't get hit up as much, and it is so much easier to say no thank you.

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    What a terrible and unforgiveable Crime, by a prominent J.W ! The tendency to "trust our brothers", as we were told to do, has caused a huge number of problems, and exacerbated the CSA problem of course.

    I was speaking with an Elder the other day, about one of his fellow Elders, a lovely guy, who always tried to employ J.W's in his business, he was ripped off by a few of these, others gave poor service to the Company, how many times have we seen this ?

    The first Elder advised the guy who ran the Company in question " Do not employ a J.W, unless they really are the best applicant for the job". Wise words.

  • stan livedeath
    stan livedeath

    for info

    Back in the late 60s i used to work in the Dudley area--got to know it quite well.

    Some years later--after i was no longer in the cult--there was an assembly hall in Dudley.

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot

    Honestly, I think the Org itself is partly to blame, too.

    Keep alienating or discarding more and more decent members with increasingly authoritarian and draconian policies…

    …and eventually, all you’re gonna be left with are monsters.

  • FedUpJW
    FedUpJW

    @Biahi I had that happen to me years ago when I contracted with a "brother" to build a new house for me. Contract called for a 60 day completion to qualify for the home loan I had applied for. I lost the lower interest loan. When I sold the place and moved three years later the damned place STILL wasn't complete, and the eldurrs in that congregation threatened me with getting DF'd if I took him to court. He was sued by several non-JW home buyers, and lost every time. He was more crooked than a corkscrew. Looking back I should have sued him to Hell and back, and forgot the hamster wheel then instead of later.

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