Minister’s Death Was a Homicide, Coroner Finds

An autopsy has determined that a Los Angeles minister thought to have died of natural causes in a Pasadena home was shot to death, authorities said Thursday.

The badly decomposed body of the Rev. Earle Bernard Neal, 49, was found Sunday by two of his South-Central Los Angeles parishioners who were concerned about him after he failed to show up at his church, said Pasadena police spokeswoman Janet Pope. The last time Neal was seen alive was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Pope said.

“At first we thought he had died of natural causes because the body was so badly decomposed, but the county coroner declared it a homicide,” she said.

Coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier said an autopsy revealed that Neal was the victim of multiple gunshot wounds.

Pope said the victim’s car, a white 1987 Lincoln Town Car, was missing from his Cedar Street home, along with his keys. But she said burglary was ruled out as a motive because Neal was wearing a ring when his body was discovered, and his wallet also was found in the home.