On February 3rd, Jeff and Marci Beagley were convicted in the negligent homicide of their son Neil. The Beagley’s are members of a faith healing church in Oregon known as the “Followers of Christ.” After years of neglect of what experts considered an easily treatable birth defect, Neil’s heart was enlarged, and his liver had failed. His prostate was so enlarged a pediatric urologist examining the body thought at first that the prostate was part of the wall of Neil’s enlarged bladder. Unable to urinate, Neil was killed by the toxins his body could no longer expel. Juror’s felt that it was a “gross deviation” from reasonable behavior for his parents to only anoint him with oil and pray instead of taking him to a doctor.
An earlier decision by Judge Steven Maurer about allowable evidence may have determined the outcome of the case. Defense attorneys had tried to suppress statements made by the Beagleys following the faith healing death of Neil’s 18-month-old niece Ava Worthington. In police interviews, the Beagleys had expressed their beliefs about the place of medicine in the lives of the faithful. Neil’s brother-in-law was later convicted of a misdemeanor in the baby’s medical neglect death. In a major victory for the prosecution in the Beagley case, Maurer allowed the evidence.
At least one juror felt that Worthington’s death should have, but did not, serve as sufficient warning for Jeff and Marci Beagley that faith healing could be deadly in the absence of medical treatment. The Beagleys were among the dozens of people who gathered to let Ava Worthington die of an easily treatable infection just three months before Neil died.
Defense attorneys had earlier tried to dismiss jurors who were familiar with the case, one of whom compared the Followers of Christ Church to the People’s Temple, a notorious cult whose members killed themselves and each other in Jonestown, Guyana. Judge Maurer allowed the jurors to take part in the trial, saying that it is not unusual to ask jurors to set aside their opinions in court proceedings.
(If you find these articles interesting, please consider subscribing to email notification of future articles by clicking the link near the top of the page.)
Comments