<p>DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa man was convicted Tuesday of fatally beating a pastor outside of his church.</p>
<p>Joshua Pendleton, 37, was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in the October 2019 killing of the Rev. Allen Henderson in Fort Dodge, a city of about 25,000 roughly 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Des Moines. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 18 and faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.</p>
<p>Police said Pendleton, who lived near the St. Paul Lutheran Church, attacked Henderson after the 64-year-old pastor tried to stop him from entering the building. Henderson was later <a href="https://apnews.com/article/0d96cba2b55148b08f015d859a8aad1f">found unresponsive</a> outside.</p>
<p>The trial was delayed after Pendleton was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trials-iowa-us-news-fort-dodge-ia-state-wire-61abb4bd8807059d7fd096e5e19952d9">found to be not competent </a> to stand trial in February 2020. Authorities and his family said Pendleton is schizophrenic. </p>
<p>According to court documents, Pendleton told police he heard a girl screaming in the church and thought Henderson was assaulting her.</p>
<p>Last June, Pendleton was ordered to stand trial after a psychiatrist at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville deemed him “restored to competency,” The Des Moines Register <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trials-iowa-us-news-fort-dodge-ia-state-wire-61abb4bd8807059d7fd096e5e19952d9">reported.</a></p>
<p>Pendleton’s trial was moved from Webster County to Davenport because of the extensive publicity surrounding the case.</p>
