Long Awaited Murder Trial Of Joshua Pendelton Opens Today

The long awaited murder trial of the man accused of killing a pastor here in Fort Dodge is set to begin today (Monday). Fort Dodge resident, Joshua Pendelton is charged with 1st degree murder in connection to the death of Rev. Al Henderson. Pendelton is accused of beating Henderson to death outside of the St. Paul Lutheran Church in October 2019.

The trial has been moved to Davenport after a change of venue was granted. A judge granted the change of venue due to the high profile nature of the case. The judge stated that the media coverage would make it extremely difficult to find a jury in Webster County that had not been already influenced

Pendelton’s trial has been delayed after proceedings were suspended for much of 2020, while he was was under mental evaluation and originally ruled to be mentally incompetent.