LAKE CHARLES, La., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The wife of a man charged with killing a Louisiana pastor allegedly sent text messages to the pastor before filing a rape charge against him, police said.
Woodrow Karey Jr., 53, of Lake Charles allegedly walked into the Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center Friday evening and shot the Rev. Ronald J. Harris Sr. twice before fleeing the church on foot.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said Karey's wife had filed a rape complaint against Harris Sept. 25, two days before the shooting, CNN reported.
Mancuso said the woman alleged in the complaint that Harris had raped her several months ago, but he declined to release the police report.
The sheriff also said he had not determined whether a rape had occurred, and investigators had not yet begun to investigate the charge, CNN reported
Mancuso said Karey found text messages from his wife to the pastor and believed the two were having sex. Two days after Karey confronted his wife, Mancuso said, the woman filed her rape complaint.
Authorities are examining text messages and phone records between Karey's wife and Harris to determine the nature of the relationship.
After the shooting, Karey called the sheriff's office and surrendered without incident. He was being held in the local corrections center on a second-degree murder charge in lieu of $1 million bail.
