Woman gets life for killing in church

DOYLESTOWN, Pa., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia-area woman was sentenced to life in prison Friday for shooting another parishioner because she was jealous of the woman.

Mary Jane Fonder, 66, once again denied killing Rhonda Smith, 39, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. She denied resenting the attention that Smith was getting.

"I'm sorry, so very sorry this poor woman was murdered," Fonder told Judge Rea Boylan. "But in the name of God ... I did not kill Rhonda Smith."

Smith was shot in the office of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, where she was working. Fonder was convicted of first-degree murder Oct. 31 and faced an automatic life sentence with no parole.

First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis called Fonder a "sociopath." He refused to comment on an ongoing investigation into the fate of her father, who was 83 when he disappeared from the home they shared in Kintnersville in 1993.

Smith's parents read letters she had written them during the hearing. The Rev. Gregory Shreaves called them "models of grace" and said Fonder remains a member of his flock.