| Richard Rossi | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 2, 1963 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Occupation | Multi-medium artist, minister |
| Years active | 1970-present |
| Spouse | Sherrie Rossi (1984-present; 2 children) |
Richard Rossi (b. March 2, 1963, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American filmmaker, actor, producer, musician, church planter, and healing evangelist. His 1995 trial for the attempted murder of his wife, who recanted her original identification of Rossi as her attacker and espoused his innocence, ended in a mistrial and was front-page news in Pittsburgh[1] and widely covered by syndicated television news programs; Rossi eventually pled no contest to a lesser charge.[2][3][4]
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Rossi was the son of Richard Rossi Sr., a professional jazz guitarist in West View, Pennsylvania, and the boy followed in his footsteps, playing the guitar on stage at age 7.[4] As a child, Rossi was fascinated with Pittsburgh-based faith healer Kathryn Kuhlman.[5] After one of his father's hospitalizations for manic depression, Rossi landed in a surrogate family led by an evangelist who immersed him in Pentecostal preaching and outreach.[5] After a drug overdose,[4] he became a born-again Christian, and toured as a rock and roll preacher, usually in tandem with songwriting partner Johnny Walker, playing gospel rock. He was featured on The 700 Club and in the CBS documentary Teen's Songs Turn Youth to God. His music from this period was released on the album New Wine. Rossi would sing his religious songs in secular nightclubs.[5][6]
Rossi moved to Lynchburg, Virginia at age 18 to study at Liberty University, where he earned a Bachelors and Master's degree in Biblical Studies. He married his classmate Sherrie Lynn Plaugher on May 11, 1984. In his senior year, he started his first church, "The Fellowship."
His second church, created with partner Jack Sims, was called "Matthew's Party", the name taken from the biblical story about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners at the home of Matthew, the gospel writer. In 1986, Rossi started First Love, a charismatic church. He rented movie theaters and showed films as an evangelistic outreach. Dramatic faith healings allegedly occurred. The healing services grew from 200 to 2000. Rossi filmed the healings and produced a Fox TV documentary on faith healing and exorcism.[5][6]
In 1988, Rossi tried and failed to change both the name of The Church of the Three Rivers and its affiliation.[2] He then joined the Assemblies of God the next year and led the Cranberry church, but left in 1991, saying that his ministry was too radical for the Assemblies; church officials said he left owing several thousand dollars for the church building.[2]
In September 1991, Rossi began broadcasting his nightly radio show Rich Rossi Live on Pittsburgh's WPIT-FM.[7] Rossi appeared on the Jerry Springer Show in 1994 to discuss faith healing, exorcism, and ESP.[8]
On June 24, 1994, Rossi's wife, Sherrie Lynn, was found near death in a coma on the side of a Pennsylvania road; she had a crushed skull and was left covered in blood; her injuries were so severe that she needed to wear a helmet.[2][3][9][10] Her rescuers thought she had been in a traffic accident, and called for an ambulance.[11] Ninety minutes later, at 8:05 p.m., Richard Rossi called police, and claimed that men killed his wife and shot at him twice.[11] But when police came to interview him, his story changed, first claiming that a man that looked like him got into the passenger side of the car, then that the man who looked like him attacked from the driver's side.[11] Rossi had a cellular phone available, but said he pursued the assailant instead of dialing for help because he was a "good runner."[11] Rossi also changed his story on where the assailants approached from, first saying they were in a white car, then that they "came out of the woods out of nowhere."[11] Police testified that Rossi told them a "satanic cult" was trying to frame him; Rossi denies this.[11][12][13] Rossi was wearing only a pair of tan shorts when police interviewed him; Rossi claimed that he lost his shirt running through the woods, but did not explain why he was barefoot.[11]
Ms. Rossi twice testified that her husband attacked her and left her for dead.[2][9][14] Sherrie Lynn received an order of protection from a court. But in October 1994, Sherrie withdrew her accusation; a state court judge refused her request to void the order of protection.[9][12][14] (Press accounts claimed that Ms. Rossi stated that her attacker might have been a demon in human form, but the Rossis deny she said this.)[9][12][13] Sherrie's stepbrother, Mark Plaugher, accused the Rossi family of pressuring her to change her story; her father said she had been "brainwashed," and Sherrie's stepfather, Phil Plaugher, said that church members pressured Sherrie by telling her that it was a sin to testify against one's husband.[15][16]
Prosecutors charged Rossi with attempted murder over his wife's objection, and won a court ruling admitting her earlier testimony at trial.[11] The parties argued whether the blood-soaked interior of Rossi's car was consistent with Sherrie's claim.[1] The secretary of Rossi's church testified that Rossi asked him shortly after the incident to forge an alibi.[17] The defense called two witnesses, a church member and Rossi's mother, for a total of a half hour of testimony; Rossi himself did not testify.[18]
A five-day trial ended in a hung jury, with the vote 9-3 in favor of conviction after six and a half hours of deliberation.[1][15] Before retrial, Rossi pled no contest to a count of second-degree aggravated assault, and received a four-to-eight month sentence in Butler County Jail plus four years probation and required domestic-violence counseling; he served 96 days.[15][19][20] Domestic violence workers criticized the short sentence.[21][22] The Rossis renewed their wedding vows after his release.[19] Rossi wrote a letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette apologizing and saying "I repent of the sins I have committed and, with God's help, do not plan to repeat them."[23]
Sherrie Rossi, who had campaigned for her husband's exoneration, sued state and county officials for abridging her civil rights when courts refused to lift a bond restriction forbidding her husband to contact her while he was out on bail; the suit was dismissed by a federal court.[14][20][24] In 1996, Sherrie self-published Assault of Justice: The Richard Rossi Mystery, defending her husband and proclaiming his innocence, and claiming that charges were retaliation for exposing police corruption and a Satanic cult. A press release alleged Rossi was innocent based on physical evidence and the testimony of eyewitnesses.[13][25]
While charges were pending and Rossi served his sentence, membership in his church dropped from 300 to 12.[20]
After completing his probation,[2] Rossi relocated to Hollywood with his wife and two children in 1997. He returned to preaching, serving as a pastor and church consultant, and moved into acting and filmmaking to explore his interest in creative and cutting-edge expressions of ministry.[5]
His tenure as pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church was interrupted when parishioners discovered his attempted murder charges and alleged that he had misused church money; litigation ensued, and the parties settled out of court.[2][10][26]
Rossi's first Hollywood role was in the 1998 short film Jesus 2000. In 1998, he appeared on stage in his own adaptation of Elmer Gantry, in which he wrote, produced, and starred.[6]
He started Eternal Grace, a movement of Hollywood house churches for actors and celebrities who had difficulty attending public services due to paparazzi, and also for AIDS victims and others not welcome to attend other churches. He was protested by followers of Fred Phelps from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, who decried his lenient attitude toward homosexuals.[2] Rossi's wife Sherrie worked with puppets in their children's ministry.[2]
In 2001, Rossi wrote and directed Saving Sister Aimee, a short documentary film about 1920's evangelist Aimee McPherson. Though some considered it a sensationalized depiction, it won the Angel Award from the Southern California Motion Picture Council for best documentary.[4] In 2005, Rossi revisited Sister Aimee's story in the low-budget feature biopic Aimee Semple McPherson, featuring Mimi Michaels in the lead and Rance Howard as the preacher's father.[2]
Between acting gigs that included guest appearances on JAG and Gilmore Girls, Rossi appeared as a contestant on Merv Griffin's Crosswords.[7] In addition, Rossi finished his first novel, Stick Man, and began working on a film about baseball great Roberto Clemente[1], planning a "bicoastal" return to Pittsburgh.