Congregant charged in pastor's death

WHITELAND, Ind., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A congregant of an Indiana Baptist Church in Whiteland was arrested in the choking death of his 72-year-old pastor.

Tom Jones, an attorney for David Cooper, 40, concedes his client fatally choked Pastor William McElroy Sunday, the Indianapolis Star reported. McElroy died Tuesday morning in Community Hospital South of injuries sustained during the weekend attack.

"The facts are indisputable," Jones said.

Jones said Cooper had been struggling with a recent divorce, his mother's death and various financial troubles and had recently stopped taking medications related to a mental disorder.