Murder victim was anti-gay preacher

The man stabbed at a Perth party 12 days ago was an anti-gay former preacher at a Hamilton evangelical church.

Phillip Arthur Ranga, 35, of Ngaruawahia, is in custody charged with murdering 52-year-old Richard Andrew Watson at a party in the Perth suburb of Embleton on April 20. Ranga has made three court appearances and, through his lawyer Terry Dobson, said he plans to defend the charges.

Times investigations have revealed that Mr Watson preached a fiery evangelical gospel at Hamilton church The Potter's House for about a decade.

In 1996 Mr Watson was leader of The Potter's House, the Hamilton division of worldwide religious group Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM) with parishes in more than 100 countries. Mr Watson drew condemnation from the Hamilton gay community when he screened the film Gay Rights Special Rights: Inside the Homosexual Agenda at the church's London St base. Gay rights activists protested and Mr Watson's teachings were deemed un-Christian by some other local church groups.

The church's current minister Pastor Scott McGrath confirmed Mr Watson had been the leader of the Hamilton parish from the late 1980s until about 1998.

"He helped me. He was a very strong leader, and very evangelical. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for him, and Jesus Christ obviously."

Mr Watson left Hamilton amid what Mr McGrath said were problems within his parish.

"I'm not sure about what happened to him along the way."

Mr McGrath was informed of Mr Watson's death by Australian-based members of the church.

"Everyone in our church knows what's happened. People are sad about it. It's a horrible way to end a life - 52, that's pretty young."

Mr McGrath said Mr Watson had "definitely" not been involved with Potter's House or CFM since he left Hamilton. "There was some falling out," he said. "There were issues I really don't know a whole lot about."

Mr McGrath believed some members of the Ranga family had been involved in the church.

A friend of Ranga's is understood to be in a relationship with one of Mr Watson's daughters. Mr McGrath could not confirm the relationship, but two of Mr Watson's former parishioners who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity said they believed the victim and the accused knew each other.

However, West Australian Police Detective Sergeant Alan Millar had no reason to believe the two men knew each other before the party. He said Mr Watson and Ranga both knew the man celebrating his 21st.

Mr Millar will visit New Zealand this month to investigate. He will be visiting the West Auckland suburb of Kelston to interview two women who attended the party and knew Mr Watson's daughter.

"They've seen a few things and heard a few things; I want to have a chat to them," Mr Millar said.

One former parishioner said Mr Watson was a charismatic leader, who "had a strong mind, and liked to put his opinion out". Under Mr Watson's ministry, parishioners could not associate with members of their families outside Potter's House, or other churches' members. "Our lives weren't our own," she said. She left the church around the same time as Mr Watson because "it was quite disturbing, to the point of a cult."

Ranga will reappear in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates' Court on June 25.

- © Fairfax NZ News