Canvass – church members
YCSD investigators interviewed the members of the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit church who arrived for the sunrise service on Sunday, April 21, 2019.
The interviews summarized are some of the most typical or relevant to the investigation and are representative of all interviews conducted.
Clemens
Brenda Clemens
Occasional church visitor
Ms. Clemens said she had no idea who could do such a thing to or why. She said a better man than Pastor Martinson could not be found. "He spends so much time with the less fortunate, the widowed, the children without fathers, and he still finds time to counsel and visit his flock."
Clemens said she has lived alone since 2015 when her husband succumbed to prostate cancer. She said that even though she wasn't a church member, Pastor Martinson still brought a bag of groceries to her door every Thursday afternoon.
Clemens said she attended church occasionally but wasn't planning to go to sunrise services that morning because she wanted to sleep in. She says that she woke up around 5:30 a.m. "I thought since I was awake, I might as well go to church."
Clemens suggested investigators talk with the church secretary, Fay Nutt, because "she always seems to know everything about everyone."