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2010-02-09

2010-01-19

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:00 AM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Robert Kenton Mathews, Ottawa, and his wife, Jodi Mathews, leave the Franklin County District Court building Tuesday afternoon after jury selection. Mathews is accused of stealing a collection of gold coins worth about $6,305 from an elderly man.

Pastor’s theft trial opens

By COURTNEY SERVAES, Herald Staff Writer

It wasn’t a Sunday church service.

But members of a local church whose pastor is accused of theft gathered Tuesday at the Franklin County District Court for the first day of a three-day jury trial.

Their pastor, Robert Kenton Mathews, Ottawa, who pleaded not guilty to felony theft earlier this year, was there — listening as members of his former church — Westminster Presbyterian — and area law enforcement officers provided testimony to 13 jurors, who were selected Tuesday morning.

Sgt. Bobbie Hawkins, with the Ottawa Police Department, testified she participated in a search warrant of Mathews’ home when she, and other law enforcement officers, located a set of gold coins in Mathews’ vehicle.

Mathews, current pastor of Grace Community Fellowship, is accused of stealing the coins — worth about $6,305 — last year after he and two members of Westminster moved an elderly couple to a retirement home in Ottawa.

The coins were found in Mathews’ possession, inside the tire compartment of a dark-colored Saab vehicle in Mathews’ garage — a vehicle his wife said he often drove, Jeff Hupp, with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, testified during the trial.

Inside the spare tire compartment, officers found a set of gold coins — sealed in a plastic case and set in black velvet material — along with such other items as a map and empty bags, Hupp said.

Mathews’ lawyer, Thomas Bath, told the jury regardless of where the coins were found, his client did not steal them.

“This case is not about a theft,” Bath said. “This case is about three guys being good samaritans that has had disastrous consequences for Kent Mathews and his family.”

The jury trial will continue today at the Franklin County District Court and is expected to last all day.

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Pastor’s theft trial opens

By COURTNEY SERVAES, Herald Staff Writer

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.