Pastor Who Claimed to Have Cure for Cancers Caused by Witchcraft Stabbed to Death at Church
A pastor and father of two who claimed God sent him to the U.S. from Africa to heal people of cancers caused by witchcraft was rammed with a car, then stabbed to death by a man who was dropping his wife off at his church in Windsor Mill, Maryland, on Saturday.
Baltimore County Police said in a release that Pastor Raphael Happy-Ikenwilo, 53, of Rahamis Ministry International Church was stabbed several times by the suspect as Ikenwilo's wife watched helplessly.
"Detectives determined that the suspect dropped off his wife in the parking lot of the location (church) and saw the victim getting out of his car, while the victim's wife was seated in his car. The suspect rammed his car into the victim and the victim's car. The victim's wife was not injured in the collision. The suspect then stabbed the victim numerous times. The suspect drove from the area and afterwards turned himself into authorities at the Howard County Detention Center," the statement said.
The suspect, identified as Daniel Patrick Degoto, 41, surrendered himself to police. He was later charged with first-degree murder after the pastor who came to the U.S. from Africa in 2012, died hours later at a local hospital. Ikenwilo's wife, Jennifer, was not harmed.
"That's a terrible and horrible thing," Frank House, another pastor who lives near the crime scene, told Fox Baltimore. "It's just a sad time we're living in right now. The value of life is just not seeming important. We have to see and realize all lives are important."
Police told The Christian Post Monday that they were unable to release a motive for the murder as the case was still being investigated.
In a 2014 Indiegogo campaign, Pastor Happy-Ikenwilo suggested his life and the life of his family was in danger from witch doctors who didn't want him exposing their cancer-causing activities.
"We know about them in Africa, but America has its own set, much more organized, subtle, demonically wicked and dangerous, they follow an organized and planned agenda, meet periodically in the state of North Carolina and prey on innocent victims everywhere in the USA. Because they act from the spiritual realm, many cancers have no pathological reason or explanations," he wrote in the campaign that had raised only $25 of the $6 million goal.
"When these occult workers saw that I have discovered their activities, they warned me not to reveal anything about my discovery to anyone and since then, my life and that of my relatives have been on the verge. Looking for directions, I was asked to fight this evil, to write a book that will contain, the results of my investigations, provide guidelines to those affected, shed more light on the activities of the occult workers. I decided to name it: Fake Cancer in the USA, the Case of Hamlet NC," he explained.
He claims before he was sent to the U.S. by God he was trained by angels as a doctor in spiritual sciences.
"I was initiated to take over my father' seat as the head of the occult cult of our village, but I rejected the position and followed God to oppose my father's ways. I graduated in 2005 from the spiritual realm as a doctor in spiritual sciences. As a minister, I deal with cases of 'Fake Cancer' and others sicknesses from the occult the past 22 years. I'm very well acquainted with the occult realm and their operations and came to the US...to investigate about cancer mandated by the creator of heaven and earth," he wrote.
In his most recent fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 for his ministry in July, Ikenwilo appears with his wife and talks about a mission to heal Africa and the world.