Richard Rossi
Encyclopedia
Richard Rossi 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 and widely covered by syndicated television news programs; Rossi eventually pled no contest to a lesser charge.
, and the boy followed in his footsteps, playing the guitar on stage at age 7.
. 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. After a drug overdose, 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.
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.
In 1988, Rossi tried and failed to change both the name of The Church of the Three Rivers and its affiliation. 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.
In September 1991, Rossi began broadcasting his nightly radio
show Rich Rossi Live on Pittsburgh's WPIT-FM
. Rossi appeared on the Jerry Springer Show in 1994 to discuss faith healing, exorcism, and ESP.
Ms. Rossi twice testified that her husband attacked her and left her for dead. 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. (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.) 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.
Prosecutors charged Rossi with attempted murder over his wife's objection, and won a court ruling admitting her earlier testimony at trial. The parties argued whether the blood-soaked interior of Rossi's car was consistent with Sherrie's claim. The secretary of Rossi's church testified that Rossi asked him shortly after the incident to forge an alibi
. 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.
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. 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.
Domestic violence
workers criticized the short sentence. The Rossis renewed their wedding vows after his release. 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."
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. 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.
While charges were pending and Rossi served his sentence, membership in his church dropped from 300 to 12.
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.
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.
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.
He started Eternal Grace, a movement of Hollywood house church
es 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. Rossi's wife Sherrie worked with puppets in their children's ministry.
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.
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.
Between acting gigs that included guest appearances on JAG
and Gilmore Girls
, Rossi appeared as a contestant on Merv Griffin's Crosswords
. In addition, Rossi finished his first novel
, Stick Man, and began working on a film about baseball great Roberto Clemente
http://seamheads.com/?p=15464, planning a "bicoastal" return to Pittsburgh.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, church planter, and healing evangelist. His 1995 trial for the attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
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 and widely covered by syndicated television news programs; Rossi eventually pled no contest to a lesser charge.
Early years
Rossi was the son of Richard Rossi Sr., a professional jazz guitarist in West View, PennsylvaniaWest View, Pennsylvania
West View is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, just north of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 6,771 at the 2010 census.-Geography and climate:West View is located at ....
, and the boy followed in his footsteps, playing the guitar on stage at age 7.
Kathryn Kuhlman
Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was an American faith healer and evangelist.-Early life:Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was born in Concordia, Missouri, to German-American parents...
. 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. After a drug overdose, he became a
born-again Christian, and toured as a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
, usually in tandem with songwriting partner Johnny Walker, playing gospel rock. He was featured on The 700 Club
The 700 Club
The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...
and in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
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.
Pennsylvania ministries
Rossi moved to Lynchburg, VirginiaLynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
at age 18 to study at Liberty University
Liberty University
Liberty University is a private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty's annual enrollment is around 72,000 students, 12,000 of whom are residential students and 60,000+ studying through Liberty University Online...
, 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.
In 1988, Rossi tried and failed to change both the name of The Church of the Three Rivers and its affiliation. He then joined the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
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.
In September 1991, Rossi began broadcasting his nightly radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show Rich Rossi Live on Pittsburgh's WPIT-FM
WPIT
WPIT is a hybrid conservative talk/religious radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is licensed to Pennsylvania Media Associates, Inc which is wholly owned by Salem Communications Holding Corporation which is in turn owned by Salem Communications Corporation...
. Rossi appeared on the Jerry Springer Show in 1994 to discuss faith healing, exorcism, and ESP.
Attempted murder charge
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. Her rescuers thought she had been in a traffic accident, and called for an ambulance. Ninety minutes later, at 8:05 p.m., Richard Rossi called police, and claimed that men killed his wife and shot at him twice. 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. Rossi had a cellular phone available, but said he pursued the assailant instead of dialing for help because he was a "good runner." 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." Police testified that Rossi told them a "satanic cult" was trying to frame him; Rossi denies this. 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.Ms. Rossi twice testified that her husband attacked her and left her for dead. 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. (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.) 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.
Prosecutors charged Rossi with attempted murder over his wife's objection, and won a court ruling admitting her earlier testimony at trial. The parties argued whether the blood-soaked interior of Rossi's car was consistent with Sherrie's claim. The secretary of Rossi's church testified that Rossi asked him shortly after the incident to forge an alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
. 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.
A five-day trial ended in a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
, with the vote 9-3 in favor of conviction after six and a half hours of deliberation. Before retrial, Rossi pled
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
no contest to a count of second-degree aggravated assault, and received a four-to-eight month sentence in Butler County
Butler County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 174,083 people, 65,862 households, and 46,827 families residing in the county. The population density was 221 people per square mile . There were 69,868 housing units at an average density of 89 per square mile...
Jail plus four years probation and required domestic-violence counseling; he served 96 days.
Domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
workers criticized the short sentence. The Rossis renewed their wedding vows after his release. Rossi wrote a letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
apologizing and saying "I repent of the sins I have committed and, with God's help, do not plan to repeat them."
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
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
; the suit was dismissed by a federal court. 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.
While charges were pending and Rossi served his sentence, membership in his church dropped from 300 to 12.
California
After completing his probation, Rossi relocated to HollywoodHollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
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.
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.
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
Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry is a satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926 and published by Harcourt in March 1927.-Background:Lewis did research for the novel by observing the work of various preachers in Kansas City in his so-called "Sunday School" meetings on Wednesdays. He first worked with William L...
, in which he wrote, produced, and starred.
He started Eternal Grace, a movement of Hollywood house church
House church
House church, or "home church", is used to describe an independent assembly of Christians who gather in a home. Sometimes this occurs because the group is small, and a home is the most appropriate place to gather, as in the beginning phase of the British New Church Movement...
es for actors and celebrities who had difficulty attending public services due to paparazzi
Paparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
, and also for AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
victims and others not welcome to attend other churches. He was protested by followers of Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
from Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
of Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, who decried his lenient attitude toward homosexuals. Rossi's wife Sherrie worked with puppets in their children's ministry.
In 2001, Rossi wrote and directed Saving Sister Aimee, a short documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
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.
In 2005, Rossi revisited Sister Aimee's story in the low-budget feature biopic Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson (film)
Aimee Semple McPherson is a feature length dramatic biopic about evangelist "Sister" Aimee Semple McPherson.The cast includes Mimi Michaels, Rance Howard, and Kiera Chaplin. Richard Rossi wrote, directed and also acted in the film. Rossi shot the film with a $300 consumer camcorder...
, featuring Mimi Michaels
Mimi Michaels
- Early life :Michaels was born in Great Neck, Nassau County, New York. She left to attend the famed LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City, which she calls "The best decision of my life!" After graduating, on the high school dean's advice, rather than accepting a place at the...
in the lead and Rance Howard
Rance Howard
Rance Howard is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Life and career:Howard was born Harold Rance Beckenholdt in Oklahoma, the son of Ethel Cleo and Engel Beckenholdt, a farmer. He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor. He married Jean Speegle Howard...
as the preacher's father.
Between acting gigs that included guest appearances on JAG
JAG (TV series)
JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
and Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
, Rossi appeared as a contestant on Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Merv Griffin's Crosswords is an American game show based on crossword puzzles. The show was created by its namesake, Merv Griffin, who died shortly after beginning production on the series...
. In addition, Rossi finished his first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Stick Man, and began working on a film about baseball great Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
http://seamheads.com/?p=15464, planning a "bicoastal" return to Pittsburgh.