Murderer-Minister Returning To State

CHESTER, Ill.

A convicted murderer turned minister is getting a second chance at parole.

The Rev. Edmund Lopes was released this morning from Menard Correctional Center, the warden's office said. He has told authorities he'll return to Eastern Washington. That's where he relocated and joined a group of breakaway Southern Baptists after jumping parole in 1983.

Lopes, 57, fled Illinois after serving part of a sentence for slaying his wife in 1970 and stabbing a girlfriend. He had been released from prison after serving 12 years of a 50- to 99-year sentence. But he violated parole terms by fleeing to Washington.

Lopes remained a fugitive until last December, when a reporter for the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick inadvertently alerted Illinois authorities while researching a story on the minister.

Lopes was arrested and returned to Illinois to serve a three-month sentence at Menard for the parole violation.

The Washington Department of Corrections has agreed to supervise Lopes' new parole, said Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Nic Howell.