A former member of an Attleboro, Mass., religious sect returned to the stand Thursday morning in the murder trial of Jacques Robidioux.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson said that Robidoux is charged with first-degree murder. In court, the jury heard the prosecution witness describe how he allegedly isolated the group from modern society.
Much of the murder trial hinges on the group's alleged message from God -- a message that Robidoux followed and one that the state contends makes him responsible for his son's starvation death.
Former sect member Dennis Mingo said that once the group was sent out into the woods and that some of the messages were harmful and bizarre.
"He was a few windows from being completed with the job, but God told him that was it and to put away the squeegee. The reason why I submitted to the teachings of the group was out of fear," Mingo said. "I could see my wife becoming more and more entrenched into these beliefs and her connection with this group and that it would separate the family."
Robidoux listened as his brother-in-law said that his heart was not into throwing out his glasses, Social Security card and closing all bank accounts. But when Mingo's wife, Michelle, announced in June 1998 that she and the children were leaving for the group, he followed along.
"That God was leading them out somewhere, they called it the wilderness,"
They headed north to the woods of Maine leaving behind all money and valuables. They believed that God would provide. They did not take food, diapers or put gas in the car. As one car ran out of gas, family members would pile into the next vehicle in the caravan. The children were famished,
"(The children) were tired before going to sleep that night. Some of the children were vomiting,"
Mingo said that although the trip to Maine was a failure because God did not provide, the group looked at it as a preparation for something much bigger.
Robidoux's mother, father and other sect members also took the stand Thursday, but they took the Fifth Amendment.