Man accused of killing Iowa pastor pleads not guilty

This undated booking photo provided by the Webster County Jail in Fort Dodge, Iowa shows Joshua Pendleton. Pendleton has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he beat Rev. Allen Henderson to death outside a central Iowa church on Oct. 2, 2019. Webster County court records say Pendleton entered pleas Monday, Oct. 21 to charges of robbery and first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10. (Webster County Jail via AP) This undated booking photo provided by the Webster County Jail in Fort Dodge, Iowa shows Joshua Pendleton. Pendleton has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he beat Rev. Allen Henderson to death outside a central Iowa church on Oct. 2, 2019. Webster County court records say Pendleton entered pleas Monday, Oct. 21 to charges of robbery and first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10. 

A man has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he beat a pastor to death outside a central Iowa church. Webster County court records say 36-year-old Joshua Pendleton entered pleas Monday to charges of robbery and first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10. Officers sent to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge on Oct. 2 found the Rev. Allen Henderson lying unresponsive outside. Henderson was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police say security footage shows a man who officers identified as Pendleton trying to get into the building. Police say Pendleton later acknowledged to investigators that he had fought with a man at the church. The 64-year-old Henderson was the senior pastor at St. Paul and had served as a chaplain to area first responders.