Half-sister of rapist on run says he is innocent amid claims his partner was ... trends now
The half-sister of a rapist on the run with his aristocrat partner and their newborn baby has claimed he was 'wrongly convicted' in the US, amid allegations the young mother was 'brainwashed' by a charismatic Nigerian cult leader.
Mark Gordon, who was convicted on four counts of sexual battery when he was just 14 after holding a neighbour hostage at knifepoint for four-and-a-half hours, spent 20 years in prison in the US.
His half-sister Karen Satchell made a direct appeal for him to get in touch on Sunday night, saying he is being 'publicly persecuted'.
It came as a friend of partner Constance Marten, 35, claimed on Sunday that she was previously 'brainwashed' by Nigerian cult leader T B Joshua.
Ms Constance Marten (pictured) was left traumatised by a charismatic Nigerian evangelical church leader, a friend has revealed
Ms Marten and her partner Mark Gordon have been missing since January 5 after their car broke down and caught fire on the M61. The pair were seen leaving the motorway on foot with their newborn
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Ms Satchell said: 'I think it is terrible what they are doing to him.
'He has done 20 years of persecution in a jail and now he is being persecuted publicly when he is just trying to start his life all over again. They are making it like Mark has kidnapped her and taken her off and that is not the way.'
Ms Satchell, who claims her brother was wrongly convicted in America, added: 'I know my brother.
'If I could say one thing to him it would be, "Mark, reach out to one of us, reach out to me and let me know what is going on, I will do whatever I can to help".'
Ms Marten is understood to have spent around six months living in Nigeria and working for the controversial pastor T B Joshua, becoming one of his so-called 'disciples' at around the time she went to university.
A family friend said that Ms Marten, whose family used to own the £100m Crichel House estate set in 5,000 acres in Dorset, appeared 'traumatised' on her return to the UK.
The friend, who we are not naming at her request, said she believed that Ms Marten had now fallen under the influence of her partner Mark Gordon, 49, who served 20 years in a US jail for the rape and kidnap of a young woman during a knifepoint burglary in 1989.
She added that Ms Marten became almost fully estranged from her family after they found out about Gordon's background as a sex offender and tried in vain to warn her away from him.
The prophecies and teachings of Joshua who died aged 57 in June 2021 have attracted tens of thousands of followers including sports stars and top politicians from Africa and Latin America.
The pastor who was described as 'the prophet' was known for his repeated claims that his prayers could help heal the sick through the 'supernatural power of God bringing health to the human flesh'.
Constance Marten - pictured again at the 2013 party - has been missing for two weeks
Constance Marten, pictured on the right, at Mist Mag party in 2013 with two other women
Ms Marten, nicknamed Toots by friends, is believed to have joined Joshua after attending an evangelical-style course, exploring Christian beliefs in London.
Her friend said: 'She ended up becoming one of his disciples in Nigeria. I believe she got brainwashed while she was over there. The experience traumatised her.
'She was not the same person when she came back. She always used to be wild, but also happy, kind and buoyant. She was darker when she came back and she found things more difficult.
'She never told us what really happened. T B Joshua was a God-like figure. It was scary, and I believe it changed her. It was a huge part of her life.
'Toots used to travel a lot from a young age but when she returned from Nigeria, there were strained relations with her family.
'She was still exuberant in everything, but she found relationships very hard. It was like she came back totally f***ed. She was more rebellious. She thought she had recovered, but it was difficult for her.'
The friend, who has known her since childhood, said that Ms Marten planned on doing 'a television expose' of Joshua and his techniques after she joined international English news channel Al Jazeera as a senior researcher in 2012.
Ms Marten's LinkedIn profile describing her work with Al Jazeera, also suggests this was the case: 'Pitched an idea for a documentary about a religious cult in Nigeria.
'Tracked down former members of the sect, in the UK, Nigeria, Ghana and S. Africa, in order to gather
