Man Charged with Murder Says Scientology Made Him Do It
By David Gee, February 7, 2019

A man accused of bludgeoning his sister-in-law and her boyfriend to death with a hatchet says he did it because of Scientology, but the religious group is already pushing back.

Kenneth Wayne Thompson, who allegedly killed two people and burned a house down to destroy the evidence, may get the death penalty for the violent murders. But he’s arguing that the sentence would be too extreme, especially since he was inspired by Scientology.

… Thompson is not arguing that Scientology turned him violent in March 2012. But he is saying his belief in the religion of Scientology helps explain his actions. In particular, he says, his devotion to Scientology’s tenets led him on a 24-hour plus drive from his home in rural Missouri to the eventual murder scene in Arizona.

Prosecutors say the marathon drive helps show Thompson committed the crimes with premeditation, an element of the first-degree murder convictions they are seeking. On each, the state of Arizona will ask for the death penalty.

Thompson’s attorneys will argue to the jury that the act was rational, if understood through the lens of Scientology. Thompson felt he needed to rescue a child, a nephew to his wife, because the boy’s spiritual well-being was at risk.

Neither the boy nor his sister were in the house at the time of the killings.

This is obviously sad, though it’s an interesting legal maneuver. By explaining his actions using Scientology, Thompson effectively put the group in the spotlight and made it part of the case. I reached out to a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology, Karin Pouw, and she told me that the Arizona Republic article “creates a false and misleading impression about Scientology and its beliefs.”