A Virginia minister was badly beaten and his wife killed by two masked intruders during a robbery and home invasion-turned-arson.
John Alford — a pastor at Sanford Memorial Baptist Church in Brodnax, Virginia — and his wife, Nancy, arrived at their Littlefield, North Carolina home on Friday at about 9am, to find masked intruders inside, according to authorities.
One of the intruders forced Nancy, 76, a Sunday school teacher, to exit the house and then drove her to the bank, where he then made her withdraw about $1,000 from the ATM, police told WNCN.
Nancy Alford, 76, was killed in a home invasion-turned-arson attack. Her husband, John, was badly beaten, but managed to escape from the home while the house was on fire
Upon their return to the Alfords’ home, the intruders then beat up John, tying husband and wife together before setting the house on fire and leaving the scene.
John was able to escape from the burning house. Neighbors who found him had to forcibly prevent him from going back inside to attempt to rescue Nancy.
‘He was all swollen up. He was bleeding from his nose,’ Shelley Thompson told WRAL.
Police were alerted to the scene about an hour and a half after the home invasion began.
Nancy and John arrived home on Friday morning and were surprised by masked intruders. They forced Nancy to withdraw money from an ATM, before beating John up and tying them together. They then set the house on fire, before stealing the couple’s car
The Alfords’ home, which they lived in for 40 years, was completely destroyed in the fire
John was airlifted to a hospital for treatment, but Nancy died in the blaze, which burned their home to the ground.
John was said to be in stable condition on Sunday, but would need skin grafts due to the second-degree burns, sustained in the fire, church officials told WRAL.
Police said the Alfords’ grey 2010 Mercedes-Benz was stolen by the intruders. It has not yet been located.
Descriptions of the suspects have not been released yet.
Nancy had taught Sunday school for the past 17 years and the couple was said to have lived in the home for 40 years.