Story Archive

Raging Revelationist

Patrick Zane Thompson, 42, of Goodyear, Ariz., was upset with his 17-year-old daughter’s T-shirt. It wasn’t reported what the shirt said, but Thompson believed it “had to do with the devil” and made her take it off so he could burn it. Thompson, who owns Raging Cajun Smoking Barbecue, fired up his meat smoker and burned it there. But he decided that wasn’t enough: he declared to his wife and four children that the Bible commanded him to “make a sacrifice of a male” to appease “the Lord.” He certainly didn’t intend to kill himself, and didn’t like the idea of killing his 6-year-old son. That left the family dog — a male poodle. He told police he grabbed it, broke its neck and strangled it, and tossed it into the smoker, too, so it would burn in “a lake of fire.” Thompson was jailed for animal cruelty, assault, threats, and tampering with evidence. (RC/Arizona Republic, KPHO Phoenix) ...Making sacrifices for your family, making sacrifices of your family — big difference.