Police: Rousonelos had an affair with a church member.

Wife stabs preacher
over affair, police say

The 42-year-old pastor of Faith Assembly of God in St. Petersburg dies after being stabbed in the groin. His 10-year-old son was asleep beside him.

By JANE MEINHARDT, LEANORA MINAI and WAVENEY ANN MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 17, 1999

LARGO -- Lying in bed, Anthony and Carri Rousonelos argued about his infidelity with a church member, his faltering pastor's career and what was left of their life together.

A 10-year-old son sleeping with them, it suddenly grew quiet early Wednesday in the couple's small Largo home.

Mrs. Rousonelos got out of bed and went into the kitchen. She returned with a butcher knife.

Police say she stabbed her 42-year-old husband in the groin as he lay next to their son, Zachary. Blood dripping from the wound, Rousonelos got out of bed, staggered into the kitchen and died.

Responding to a 911 call from Mrs. Rousonelos, police found her husband, pastor of the Faith Assembly of God in St. Petersburg, face-down in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.

Mrs. Rousonelos, 35, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. As Largo police walked her to a police car, she appeared composed but had tears in her eyes. She was being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bail.

"She stood by him, but she was tired of the church and the people there," said Denis Baker, Mrs. Rousonelos' stepfather. "Tony always wanted her to be the model preacher's wife so she was under a lot of pressure. He felt he was better for her than her family."

In addition, Baker said, Mrs. Rousonelos was under medication and recently had a blackout at her job with the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office.

"She was having a lot of trouble with her back and was in a lot of pain all the time," he said. "She was on medication and kind of going in slow motion."

Carri Rousonelos, 35, is walked from the Largo Police Station to a car that will take her to the Pinellas County Jail. [Times photo: Joan Kadel Fenton]

The Rousonelos' twin 10-year-old boys, Zachary and Tim, and their daughter, 13-year-old Sabrina, were temporarily placed with a relatives, according to the state Department of Children and Families. At the time of the stabbing, the other two children were at an aunt's house.

The 911 call at 2:35 a.m. was the first time police had been to the couple's home at 2889 Dryer Ave., where they had lived about 12 years.

Investigators think Rousonelos bled to death but are unsure what, if any, time elapsed between the stabbing and the 911 call. An autopsy will determine the time of death, said Largo police spokesman Mac Williams.

The affair

"The affair has been confirmed," said police spokesman Williams. "She is a member of the church, and his wife did know about it. She found out a while back, but the affair allegedly was broken off in March.

Fred Giovinazzo, a former church elder at Faith Assembly, had heard rumors that Rousonelos was having an affair.

"I had heard that his wife thought he was messing with one of the women in the church," said Giovinazzo, who was a prayer partner with Rousonelos. "And I'm not accepting that that ever happened. I've never seen or heard anything that there was any truth to it."

The pastor and his wife were opposites, Giovinazzo said.

"People would fly off the handle at him and accuse him of not paying enough attention or not being strong enough in his message, and he would smile and say he'll try to do better," Giovinazzo said.

He described Mrs. Rousonelos as more outspoken. It was not uncommon for the couple to get into heated discussions in front of people.

Elna Bozarth, 75, said Mrs. Rousonelos did not enjoy being a preacher's wife because of the strain it placed on the family. Her husband worked a lot, and many of her days were about raising money, holding covered-dish dinners and visiting people.

"I knew Carri," said Bozarth, who attends services at the church. "Bless her heart. I like her. I think she's a beautiful person. I think she had too much pressure.

"I'll be honest with you," Bozarth said. "Most women do feel like stabbing their husbands once is a while. You just don't do it. You pray about it and just don't do it."

Mary Burdick, who doesn't attend Faith Assembly of God but lives nearby, recalled a recent flare-up between the pastor and his wife.

Several weeks ago, Burdick said, a female church member was painting a mural in a house owned by the church. Rousonelos was outside piling materials in his pick-up.

"All of a sudden, this car drove up," said Burdick, who was cleaning her van at the time. "This was the wife and she started hitting him."

Burdick recalled Mrs. Rousonelos screaming:

" "Tony, I'm tired of this!' "

Emerging troubles

"It was kind of a funny thing," said Baker, the stepfather. "Carri wasn't bad or anything, just kind of wild and crazy when she was young. We thought she'd found a good husband.

Crime scene technicians remove possible evidence from the Rousoneloses' home at 2889 Dryer Ave. in Largo on Wednesday. [Times photo: Joan Kadel Fenton]

That changed in the past few months. She told her parents she wanted to move back home to Lansing, Mich., that she and her husband were having problems. Baker said she told a sister about her husband's affair.

"She wanted to leave and come back here because she was tired ofthe church and the people there," Baker said. "He told her if she left, he would lose the church."

A temporary employee at the Pinellas Property Appraiser's Office, Mrs. Rousonelos went home from work Tuesday morning because she was acting strangely.

She was disoriented and did not recognize fellow employees where she had worked since 1998, according to Property Appraiser Jim Smith. Her husband picked her up from work.

Smith said Mrs. Rousonelos blacked out while at work four months ago and had to be treated by paramedics.

"Something was definitely amiss with her (Tuesday)," he said.

Her husband was having difficulties of his own.

In a visit with next-door neighbor Kevin Chepren on Wednesday night, Rousonelos said he had lost his job at the church and needed to find work.

Chepren did not ask Rousonelos for details.

"He was real upset and said he'd lost his job for two years, that he had to go on probation for two years," Chepren said.

The church

Anthony Rousonelos accepted the position of pastor at Faith Assembly of God, 2900 38th St. N in St. Petersburg, five years ago. It has a congregation of about 75 to 80 people. [Times photo: V. Jane Windsor]

"A complaint came to my knowledge (Tuesday)" said the Rev. Terry Raburn, superintendent of the Assemblies of God Peninsular Florida Council

"It had to do with a moral concern," said Raburn, whose district includes all of Florida's Assemblies of God churches, except the Panhandle.

He did not know the details but said the complaint was reported by Cortez Frazier, senior pastor of Suncoast Cathedral Assemblies of God Church in St. Petersburg.

"All I know is that there was a complaint and we were preparing to investigate a complaint, never dreaming that there would be an overnight tragedy," Raburn said.

Raburn dismissed rumors that Rousonelos had been suspended.

"We were in the process of setting up an investigating committee, but at the time of his death, he was pastor of Faith Assembly of God Church and an ordained minister."

Faith Assembly of God, which has a congregation of about 75 to 80 people, was Rousonelos' first church. Before accepting the position five years ago, he had worked in the construction industry and was a wrestling coach.

This Sunday, his congregation will be led by a district representative, said Raburn, who added that a benevolent fund had been set up for the Rousonelos children. No financial help is being offered to Carri Rousonelos.

"We have not made that decision at the moment, but generally, we would not contribute to a defense fund. We should concentrate our assistance on the children."

The Assemblies of God Church, which has 2.5-million members across the United States, is the largest member of the National Association of Evangelicals. Speaking in tongues is an accept-able practice.

The church, with headquarters in Springfield, Mo., has two policy-making bodies. The 15-member executive presbytery, or board of directors, determines what kind of rehabilitation or suspension program a minister undergoes.

However, Assemblies of God churches are autonomous. They own their own property and hire and fire ministers.

Faith Assembly of God was headed by a governing board of four, including Rousonelos. Daniel Van Hoven, a member of the board and a close friend of the minister, sobbed Wednesday as he spoke about him.

"He built the church from seven people to an average attendance of 70 people. Everyone loved him," he said.

"We went scuba diving together. We worked at the church together. We busted the cement and we put in new sewer lines and bathrooms. The man had a heart for people and now he's gone."

The defense

"She was very distraught in the jail," Dillinger said. "She's very emotional. Crying.

Dillinger declined to discuss what she told his investigator but described the killing as "domestic-related and an emotionally charged situation."

Dillinger doubts a first-degree-murder charge will stick.

"Since the biblical times, society has recognized that catching a loved one in an awkward position and reacting violently is different than a cold, calculated murder," he said. "In general, these types of cases are often charged as murder two or manslaughter because of the heightened emotions."

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