“Both brothers were continually subjected to physical punishment over the course of several hours in the hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness,” Michael Inserra, chief of the New Hartford Police, said. Lucas Leonard, the older brother, died on Monday afternoon. He was finally transported to the hospital. Sarah Ferguson, 33, the victims’ sister, and fellow church members Linda Morey, 54, David Morey, 26, and Joseph Irwin, 26, were arrested on charges of assault in the second degree. The Word of Life Church describes itself on the front of its parish simply as a Christian church. New Hartford police and the New York State Police said they launched a joint investigation after being notified about the suspicious death.
