Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 165
Up to a dozen prayer sessions over a three-week period, according to the boy‘s mother,
included forcing Terrence to the floor and pinning him down with Hemphill ―holding his head
down, with his knee pinned across Terrence‘s chest to keep him from moving.‖ The
exorcism also reportedly included ―singing, praying, and a laying on of hands while the
preacher pleaded into the struggling boy‘s ear for the demons to leave.‖ Terrence‘s mother
joined the church only months before her son‘s death. She had hoped a higher power could
help where medication had failed.
The defense argued, with the support of expert witnesses, that the boy might have
overdosed on the anti-psychotic drugs he was taking, and did not suffocate as a result of
the preacher restraining him, as prosecution medical testimony claimed.
Pastor Hemphill‘s brother testified that God has the power to take life away, and with
reference to his brother‘s pressing his body against the boy‘s during the exorcism, he said:
―If I lay down on somebody and he passes away? God took him, I didn‘t.‖ (Derrick Nunnally,
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Internet, 7/5/04, 7/8/04 Lisa Sweetingham, CNN News, Court
TV, Internet, 7/9/04)
Helge Fossmo/Bride of Christ
Pastor Accused of Manipulating Woman to Murder
Pentecostal minister Helge Fossmo, 32, is on trial accused of systematically manipulating
and brainwashing the family nanny, Sara Svensson, 27, also on trial, forcing her to take
part in sex rituals in order to drive the devil away, and finally getting her to kill his wife for
him. Svensson has also confessed to attempting to kill Daniel Linde, with whose wife
Fossmo was allegedly having an affair.
Fossmo is reportedly the high priest of a cult, in the village of Knutby, controlled by Asa
Waldau, 36, who calls herself the Bride of Christ. Many members of the group, which
apparently dominates the village, are young software specialists who believe Waldau is in
constant conversation with God and has the right to exercise absolute power over them.
Aftonbladet reports the nanny says she was tested the way Abraham was when God
commanded him to kill Isaac she committed the murder to show her fear of God. It is
thought that the pastor, who controlled the nanny through e-mail and anonymous telephone
messages, wanted to avoid a divorce but still get free of his wife. Police say the pastor was
also behind the death of his first wife. The prosecutor says: ―He made her [Svensson]
believe she was doing it on assignment from God. She thought she would come closer to
God by carrying out these deeds.‖ (The Local, Sweden, Internet, 5/7/04 Elin Blank, The
Times, UK, cited in The Australian, Internet, 5/19/04)
Pushed to Believe She Was “Bride of Christ”
Asa Waldau, a prominent member of a congregation in Knutby, Sweden, whose minister is
on trial for conspiring to murder his own wife, says that the defendant, Pastor Helge
Fossmo, ―wanted to elevate me. He pushed me to live as the ‗Bride of Christ‘ to exert his
power. He tricked me, and this year I have gradually come to question this picture of
myself.‖
Fossmo is accused of influencing the family nanny, Sara Svensson, to kill his wife as well as
the husband of a woman with whom he was apparently having an affair. Fossmo is also
suspected of killing his first wife, who died last year in an apparent bathroom fall. Waldau
says Fossmo told her he had dreamed seven times that his wife would die in the bathtub.
(The Local, Sweden, Internet, 6/4/04)
Up to a dozen prayer sessions over a three-week period, according to the boy‘s mother,
included forcing Terrence to the floor and pinning him down with Hemphill ―holding his head
down, with his knee pinned across Terrence‘s chest to keep him from moving.‖ The
exorcism also reportedly included ―singing, praying, and a laying on of hands while the
preacher pleaded into the struggling boy‘s ear for the demons to leave.‖ Terrence‘s mother
joined the church only months before her son‘s death. She had hoped a higher power could
help where medication had failed.
The defense argued, with the support of expert witnesses, that the boy might have
overdosed on the anti-psychotic drugs he was taking, and did not suffocate as a result of
the preacher restraining him, as prosecution medical testimony claimed.
Pastor Hemphill‘s brother testified that God has the power to take life away, and with
reference to his brother‘s pressing his body against the boy‘s during the exorcism, he said:
―If I lay down on somebody and he passes away? God took him, I didn‘t.‖ (Derrick Nunnally,
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Internet, 7/5/04, 7/8/04 Lisa Sweetingham, CNN News, Court
TV, Internet, 7/9/04)
Helge Fossmo/Bride of Christ
Pastor Accused of Manipulating Woman to Murder
Pentecostal minister Helge Fossmo, 32, is on trial accused of systematically manipulating
and brainwashing the family nanny, Sara Svensson, 27, also on trial, forcing her to take
part in sex rituals in order to drive the devil away, and finally getting her to kill his wife for
him. Svensson has also confessed to attempting to kill Daniel Linde, with whose wife
Fossmo was allegedly having an affair.
Fossmo is reportedly the high priest of a cult, in the village of Knutby, controlled by Asa
Waldau, 36, who calls herself the Bride of Christ. Many members of the group, which
apparently dominates the village, are young software specialists who believe Waldau is in
constant conversation with God and has the right to exercise absolute power over them.
Aftonbladet reports the nanny says she was tested the way Abraham was when God
commanded him to kill Isaac she committed the murder to show her fear of God. It is
thought that the pastor, who controlled the nanny through e-mail and anonymous telephone
messages, wanted to avoid a divorce but still get free of his wife. Police say the pastor was
also behind the death of his first wife. The prosecutor says: ―He made her [Svensson]
believe she was doing it on assignment from God. She thought she would come closer to
God by carrying out these deeds.‖ (The Local, Sweden, Internet, 5/7/04 Elin Blank, The
Times, UK, cited in The Australian, Internet, 5/19/04)
Pushed to Believe She Was “Bride of Christ”
Asa Waldau, a prominent member of a congregation in Knutby, Sweden, whose minister is
on trial for conspiring to murder his own wife, says that the defendant, Pastor Helge
Fossmo, ―wanted to elevate me. He pushed me to live as the ‗Bride of Christ‘ to exert his
power. He tricked me, and this year I have gradually come to question this picture of
myself.‖
Fossmo is accused of influencing the family nanny, Sara Svensson, to kill his wife as well as
the husband of a woman with whom he was apparently having an affair. Fossmo is also
suspected of killing his first wife, who died last year in an apparent bathroom fall. Waldau
says Fossmo told her he had dreamed seven times that his wife would die in the bathtub.
(The Local, Sweden, Internet, 6/4/04)
