AL - Karen Shahan, 53, murdered, Homewood, 23 July 2013 #2

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Alabama pastor's wife and member of church choir is found brutally murdered on couch in family home. (Daily Mail)

• Karen Louise Shahan, 52, was found dead at 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday after she failed to show up to work
• Victim is married to Reverend Richard Shahan of First Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama
• Shahan's husband was away visiting the couple's son when the grandmother was killed
• Police have not divulged how Shahan died but said it was clear she had been murdered
• No suspects identified; unknown whether the slaying was a 'random burglary gone bad' or something more sinister

The story, with pictures, at the link.

Timeline/Media thread: AL - Pastor, Richard Shahan, ARRESTED for Brutal slaying of wife Karen Shahan - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
 
Marking my spot for easy future access to this newest thread..

Thanks to everyone posting all the updates, and new articles as this case continues to develop and unfold..

Thread #2-- Let's hope that this thread will see justice actually moving forward in being served on behalf of Karen!

**Please forgive the limitations that come w/my posting via mobile ATM**
 
If anyone wants to know the person or character of Richard or Karen I will fully answer to the best of my ability.

Pastorpk,

If you would be willing to tell us more, I would greatly appreciate it. Part of it, of course, is that I am trying to work through this on a personal level. It's been a number of years since my family knew him and his family, so the question for me has been - What changed? The Richard we knew would not have done such a thing. The question is heightened by the reaction of the interim pastor at FBC after Richard's arrest. He knew Richard years ago, and worked with him a number of months at FBC. Surely he would have seen some change? I will add I would not expect the changes to be in his public ministry - but they should have been evident to someone, somewhere, in his more private interactions.

Having close family in the ministry, I am somewhat familiar with patterns of behavior seen in pastors who burn out or fail due to their own behavior. I'm also familiar with the most common things pastors choose to do to help prevent these things.

I was hesitant to bring this up, but finally did because there have been several things that don't fit this pattern seen in most pastors who engage in serious wrongdoing. There's not been a lot reported, so of course the pattern may be there...or maybe it's not. At any rate, I think character issues may end up being pretty important.

Here are the 3 things I thought did not fit the pattern.
1) The fact that he is close to you. Pastors who burn out or engage in wrongdoing often don't have any close friends. Pastors who wish to prevent problems make sure to cultivate and nourish a few close friendships.
2) The fact that he regularly took off time after VBS each year. Building downtime into a schedule is important to prevent burn-out. I think actions taken to help prevent burnout are pertinent, because there is a correlation between pastoral burn-out and wrong behavior.
3) The MSM article in which Karen's friend was interviewed.
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/243518...-pastors-wife-speaks-out-after-pastors-arrest

"She adored Richard, she loved him very much," Nix said of Karen Shahan.
"She spoke highly of him, she spoke often of him. She spoke about his missions. They were very much in church, she loved to talk about Jesus and what He did and what He does and how great it is to work with children. That was her life," explained Nix.

The typical thing which happens when a pastor's marriage is under stress is that both of them stop talking to others about their spouse and marriage.

I just keep thinking - with something as heinous as murder, whether it happened in a fit of anger or was premeditated, there must have been an indication somewhere in his life that something was going wrong. That much anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred, etc. can't possibly stay completely hidden, then the first visible action be murder.

So, here are my questions?

1) What character qualities did you see in Richard's life? Did you see anything that made you think he was letting some of the negative character qualities take hold in his life?

2) Do you know if he had a consistent quiet time and prayer life outside of sermon preparation?

3) Besides the time off after VBS, did he build any other margin into his life? Can you tell us what those habits were?

4) Did he place priority on his marriage (such as scheduling regular get-aways or dates)? Did you see any change in this area? Did he talk about her with you; if so, what was his attitude towards her?

5) When we knew him, Richard was very aware of the importance of boundaries - both to protect from temptation and wrongdoing, and to protect from false accusations. He lived by them at that time. Do you know if he currently had a set of personal boundaries? Can you tell us what they were or if he was starting to have trouble maintaining them?

6) Besides yourself, did he have any other close friendships? Were you (or any of the others) able to ask him the "tough" questions of whether he was being consistent with his quiet time, and if he was maintaining margin and boundaries in his life? If you did ask a "tough" question, what was his attitude? (humility? anger? gratitude? arrogance? other?)

If you choose to answer this, thank you.
 
2hfv33l.jpg

Karen Shahan

Image: http://media.al.com/spotnews/photo/13140653-large.jpg
 
Bringing this over from the last thread and quoting myself.


CountryGirl thanks for the continued updates. I am trying to patiently wait for more details on the murder before I say anything more. I just wish LE would hurry up. lol

One question, since the murder of Karen happened in Homewood and RS is in the Jefferson County jail, with whom does the murder jurisdiction fall under?
 
Pastorpk,

If you would be willing to tell us more, I would greatly appreciate it. Part of it, of course, is that I am trying to work through this on a personal level. It's been a number of years since my family knew him and his family, so the question for me has been - What changed? The Richard we knew would not have done such a thing. The question is heightened by the reaction of the interim pastor at FBC after Richard's arrest. He knew Richard years ago, and worked with him a number of months at FBC. Surely he would have seen some change? I will add I would not expect the changes to be in his public ministry - but they should have been evident to someone, somewhere, in his more private interactions.

Having close family in the ministry, I am somewhat familiar with patterns of behavior seen in pastors who burn out or fail due to their own behavior. I'm also familiar with the most common things pastors choose to do to help prevent these things.

I was hesitant to bring this up, but finally did because there have been several things that don't fit this pattern seen in most pastors who engage in serious wrongdoing. There's not been a lot reported, so of course the pattern may be there...or maybe it's not. At any rate, I think character issues may end up being pretty important.

Here are the 3 things I thought did not fit the pattern.
1) The fact that he is close to you. Pastors who burn out or engage in wrongdoing often don't have any close friends. Pastors who wish to prevent problems make sure to cultivate and nourish a few close friendships.
2) The fact that he regularly took off time after VBS each year. Building downtime into a schedule is important to prevent burn-out. I think actions taken to help prevent burnout are pertinent, because there is a correlation between pastoral burn-out and wrong behavior.
3) The MSM article in which Karen's friend was interviewed.
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/243518...-pastors-wife-speaks-out-after-pastors-arrest

"She adored Richard, she loved him very much," Nix said of Karen Shahan.
"She spoke highly of him, she spoke often of him. She spoke about his missions. They were very much in church, she loved to talk about Jesus and what He did and what He does and how great it is to work with children. That was her life," explained Nix.

The typical thing which happens when a pastor's marriage is under stress is that both of them stop talking to others about their spouse and marriage.

I just keep thinking - with something as heinous as murder, whether it happened in a fit of anger or was premeditated, there must have been an indication somewhere in his life that something was going wrong. That much anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred, etc. can't possibly stay completely hidden, then the first visible action be murder.

So, here are my questions?

1) What character qualities did you see in Richard's life? Did you see anything that made you think he was letting some of the negative character qualities take hold in his life?

2) Do you know if he had a consistent quiet time and prayer life outside of sermon preparation?

3) Besides the time off after VBS, did he build any other margin into his life? Can you tell us what those habits were?

4) Did he place priority on his marriage (such as scheduling regular get-aways or dates)? Did you see any change in this area? Did he talk about her with you; if so, what was his attitude towards her?

5) When we knew him, Richard was very aware of the importance of boundaries - both to protect from temptation and wrongdoing, and to protect from false accusations. He lived by them at that time. Do you know if he currently had a set of personal boundaries? Can you tell us what they were or if he was starting to have trouble maintaining them?

6) Besides yourself, did he have any other close friendships? Were you (or any of the others) able to ask him the "tough" questions of whether he was being consistent with his quiet time, and if he was maintaining margin and boundaries in his life? If you did ask a "tough" question, what was his attitude? (humility? anger? gratitude? arrogance? other?)

If you choose to answer this, thank you.

Excellent questions. Will be interesting to see the answers.

That said, a simple crime of passion can't be ruled out. And we never really know what goes on behind closed doors - no matter the image that's presented to those outside the home and relationship.

There are a couple of other recent cases I've been following where the families of the people involved are completely stunned and disbelieving of what has been revealed. It's understandable - no one wants to believe someone they love is capable of murder or that they were living a secret life.

<modsnip>
 
Pastorpk,

If you would be willing to tell us more, I would greatly appreciate it. Part of it, of course, is that I am trying to work through this on a personal level. It's been a number of years since my family knew him and his family, so the question for me has been - What changed? The Richard we knew would not have done such a thing. The question is heightened by the reaction of the interim pastor at FBC after Richard's arrest. He knew Richard years ago, and worked with him a number of months at FBC. Surely he would have seen some change? I will add I would not expect the changes to be in his public ministry - but they should have been evident to someone, somewhere, in his more private interactions.

Having close family in the ministry, I am somewhat familiar with patterns of behavior seen in pastors who burn out or fail due to their own behavior. I'm also familiar with the most common things pastors choose to do to help prevent these things.

I was hesitant to bring this up, but finally did because there have been several things that don't fit this pattern seen in most pastors who engage in serious wrongdoing. There's not been a lot reported, so of course the pattern may be there...or maybe it's not. At any rate, I think character issues may end up being pretty important.

Here are the 3 things I thought did not fit the pattern.
1) The fact that he is close to you. Pastors who burn out or engage in wrongdoing often don't have any close friends. Pastors who wish to prevent problems make sure to cultivate and nourish a few close friendships.
2) The fact that he regularly took off time after VBS each year. Building downtime into a schedule is important to prevent burn-out. I think actions taken to help prevent burnout are pertinent, because there is a correlation between pastoral burn-out and wrong behavior.
3) The MSM article in which Karen's friend was interviewed.
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/243518...-pastors-wife-speaks-out-after-pastors-arrest

"She adored Richard, she loved him very much," Nix said of Karen Shahan.
"She spoke highly of him, she spoke often of him. She spoke about his missions. They were very much in church, she loved to talk about Jesus and what He did and what He does and how great it is to work with children. That was her life," explained Nix.

The typical thing which happens when a pastor's marriage is under stress is that both of them stop talking to others about their spouse and marriage.

I just keep thinking - with something as heinous as murder, whether it happened in a fit of anger or was premeditated, there must have been an indication somewhere in his life that something was going wrong. That much anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred, etc. can't possibly stay completely hidden, then the first visible action be murder.

So, here are my questions?

1) What character qualities did you see in Richard's life? a Godly man Did you see anything that made you think he was letting some of the negative character qualities take hold in his life?No

2) Do you know if he had a consistent quiet time and prayer life outside of sermon preparation? yes

3) Besides the time off after VBS, did he build any other margin into his life? yes Can you tell us what those habits were?

4) Did he place priority on his marriagealways (such as scheduling regular get-aways or dates)? Did you see any change in this area? Did he talk about her with you;yes if so, what was his attitude towards her?love

5) When we knew him, Richard was very aware of the importance of boundaries - both to protect from temptation and wrongdoing, and to protect from false accusations. He lived by them at that time. Do you know if he currently had a set of personal boundaries? of course Can you tell us what they were or if he was starting to have trouble maintaining them?no

6) Besides yourself, did he have any other close friendships? yes Were you (or any of the others) able to ask him the "tough" questions of whether he was being consistent with his quiet time, and if he was maintaining margin and boundaries in his life? yes If you did ask a "tough" question, what was his attitude? (humility? anger? gratitude? arrogance? other?)

If you choose to answer this, thank you.

Hope this helps!
 
I went to high school with Karen, although I don't remember her other classmates said she was always the kind, helpful, and nicest person. It seems she continued that path, and I hope justice does prevail. I have been following the case and have my own opinion, I just hope the right person goes to jail. I feel bad for their sons and grandchildren and all the people who knew them through church over the years. Such a very sad case!!
 
They have 2 grown sons , correct? What a horrible time this must be for them :(
 
I went to high school with Karen, although I don't remember her other classmates said she was always the kind, helpful, and nicest person. It seems she continued that path, and I hope justice does prevail. I have been following the case and have my own opinion, I just hope the right person goes to jail. I feel bad for their sons and grandchildren and all the people who knew them through church over the years. Such a very sad case!!

Welcome HistoryProfessor. Thank you for posting that information.

:welcome:
 
14066479-large.jpg


Homewood pastor Richard Shahan stabbed and cut wife, affidavit says

After being booked into the jail and undergoing the jail classification process, Shahan's classification status is "violent, general population." However, sheriff's officials said for now he remains held in protective custody for his own safety.

Shahan made a first appearance in a Jefferson County courtroom Thursday where a judge read the charge against Shahan and informed him of his right to a preliminary hearing, during which prosecutors outline their case and a judge determines if there is probable cause to send it to a grand jury. Shahan is being represented by lawyers Wendell Sheffield and John Lentine.
 

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