On March 17, 2015, the couple raised a wooden stick against the victim. They testified to having beaten her for roughly seven hours between 5:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., planting some 50-70 strikes on her palms, the back of her calves and thighs. The stick snapped amid the violent beating.

An autopsy carried out by the National Forensic Services determined the victim died of hypovolemic shock.

The victim’s body was discovered 11 months after her death in February in a mummified state inside a small room in the pastor’s house, covered by a thin blanket.

The couple told the police they believed she would be resurrected with sufficient prayers.

Up to the day of his crime, the pastor had worked as an adjunct professor at a theology university after receiving overseas education in Germany.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)