wfn.org | Pastor hostage of ex-FBI agent

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3036 notes).

Note 3036 by UMNS on June 26, 1996 at 16:20 Eastern (2763 characters).

SEARCH:   hostage, pastor, Clever, FBI, Manassas

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Contact:  Joretta Purdue                          322(10-71){3036}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           June 26, 1996

Virginia pastor held hostage
at church by ex-FBI agent

                         by Brenda Capen*

     MANASSAS, Va. (UMNS) -- In an ordeal that left him shaken and
bruised but otherwise unhurt, the Rev. A. J. Edwin Clever, pastor
of Prince of Peace Church here, said he is glad to be alive after
being held hostage in the church he serves approximately 25 miles
southwest of Washington.
     A distraught former FBI agent, Eugene Bennett, 41, arrived at
Prince of Peace Church about 10 p.m., Sunday, June 23. Inside the
building Clever, who had been persuaded to come to the church, was
confronted by Bennett, wearing a ski mask and wielding a gun.
     Bennett asked Clever if he wanted to live. Clever said, "I
was thinking to myself, 'This can't be happening. This has to be a
joke.'"
     Bennett handcuffed the pastor, chained him to a chair, put a
bag over his head, and threatened him with a device he said was a
bomb. Clever then was forced to call Bennett's estranged wife,
Marguerite. The pastor was told he would be killed if he did not
convince Mrs. Bennett, a member of Prince of Peace, to come to the
church.
     Clever made the call and said he attempted to convey that
something was amiss by using facts and names that did not fit.
Mrs. Bennett, also a former FBI agent now working as a police
officer at a community college, got the message and arrived with a
gun.
     An angry confrontation ensued in the church vestibule. Mrs.
Bennett retreated to the office where Clever was shackled. She
fired a single shot in Mr. Bennett's direction and he fled.
     Mrs. Bennett freed Clever then dialed 911. In the meantime,
Mr. Bennett went home and called police to complain that his wife
had taken a shot at him. When the police arrived at Mr. Bennett's
house, he refused to come outside for about four hours before
surrendering. Mr. Bennett was arrested on firearms and kidnapping
charges and is being held without bond at a Prince William County
jail.
     Clever said he prayed during his ordeal. "You feel so
helpless," he said. "All I could do was pray that everything would
come out all right."
                               # # #
     * Capen is the associate editor of the Virginia United
Methodist Advocate published in Richmond, Va.

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