More than three years after being pulled out of line by Homeland Security at Nashville International Airport while waiting to board a flight to Germany and being told he was wanted for murder, former Southern Baptist minister Richard Shahan can have his passport back.
Richard Shahan
Court records filed April 17 indicate the Jefferson County circuit clerk must return the passport taken as a condition of bond after the former children’s and family minister at First Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., was arrested on New Year’s Day 2014 in connection with the stabbing death of his wife, Karen, at the couple’s home the previous July, according to the Birmingham News.
Shahan’s murder charge was dismissed April 10 after the Alabama Attorney General’s Office acknowledged there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute. Because there is no statute of limitation for murder, the case could be reopened if new evidence emerges.
Shahan resigned his position at First Baptist Church effective Dec. 31, 2013, saying he had decided to work three years overseas as a missionary, primarily in Kazakhstan. He had previously been detained and questioned about his wife’s murder but not charged with the crime. Police said Shahan was trying to skip the country ahead of prosecution and planned never to return.
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