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Iowa man convicted in 2019 fatal beating of pastor

A 37-year-old Iowa man has been convicted of fatally beating a pastor outside of his church.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this undated booking photo provided by the Webster County Jail in Fort Dodge, Iowa, is Joshua Pendleton. Pendleton was found guilty Tuesday, April, 27, 2021, of beating a pastor to death outside a central Iowa church. Pendleton, was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in the death of the Rev. Allen Henderson, 64, on Oct. 2, 2019, who was found unresponsive outside the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge, where he was senior pastor. (Webster County Jail via AP, File)

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A 37-year-old Iowa man has been convicted of fatally beating a pastor outside of his church.

Joshua Pendleton was convicted Tuesday, April 27 of first-degree murder and robbery in the October 2019 killing of the Rev. Allen Henderson in Fort Dodge, about 70 miles north of Des Moines.

RELATED: Iowa pastor beaten to death and robbed outside of his church

He is scheduled to be sentenced June 18 and faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Police said Pendleton attacked Henderson after the 64-year-old pastor tried to stop him from entering the St. Paul Lutheran Church.

According to court documents, Pendleton told police he heard a girl screaming in the church and thought Henderson was assaulting her.

Pendleton's family has said he is schizophrenic.