DURHAM, N.C. — The leader of a North Carolina religious cult on Monday pleaded guilty to murdering a 28-year-old woman and a four-year-old boy who he thought was gay.
Peter Lucas Moses, 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28, reported WRAL-TV.
Prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty against Moses, but they agreed to a sentence of life in prison without parole if he cooperates with investigators and testifies against other members of the sect. He will be sentenced after their trials.
The case dates to October 2010, when — according to prosecutors — Moses became concerned that Jadon had touched one of his sons inappropriately, and they said that he took Jadon to the garage and shot him.
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Moses also allegedly ordered that McKoy be killed two months later when he learned she couldn’t have children and wanted to leave the group. Prosecutors said she was forced back inside the house as she tried to run away and was later killed in a bathroom.
Three women, including Jadon’s mother, Vania Rae Sisk, 25, — who counted themselves as Moses’ “wives or common-law wives” and called him “Lord” — are also charged in connection with the two slayings.
