Jennifer Hudson

Witness testifies that Kansas commune leader had predicted death of alleged murder victim

WICHITA, Kan.

— When it was Patricia Hughes' turn to die in 2003 — as the commune's leader and so-called seer predicted weeks earlier — the young mother kissed her 2-year-old daughter goodbye and reassured another child she would come back from the dead, a witness testified Wednesday.The young woman, who was 12 years old at the time, took the stand at the preliminary hearing for Daniel U. Perez, 52, for first-degree premeditated murder. The Associated Press is not identifying her because she is an alleged rape victim."I remember being teary-eyed because I didn't want Trish to die," she testified.Law enforcement officials have refused to say what led them to charge Perez, 52, with killing Hughes. Police first believed Hughes, 26, drowned while trying to rescue her daughter from swimming a pool at the commune's Valley Center compound.The young woman told the court Wednesday that Hughes helped unfurl the pool vacuum so it would look like Hughes' death was accidental."Then I gave Trish a h...

Read More ›