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International News Title: Amish community reaches out to the killers wife and children [God of the Bible in true life form] With tears in her eyes, Mrs Roberts sat in the back of one of the 34 black horse-drawn carriages that were part of the funeral cortege behind Naomi's horse-drawn hearse. On the way from the church to the hilltop cemetary, the procession passed Mrs Roberts' home where her husband, Charles, loaded up his guns before heading for the little village school on Monday. As usual in times of crisis, the deeply-religious villagers of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, turned inwards for support yesterday with prayers before, during and after each of the three ceremonies. Like the other three children who were buried - the oldest, Marian Fisher, 13; and sisters Mary Liz Miller, eight, and Lena Miller, seven - Naomi was laid to rest in a simple wooden casket, narrow at the head and feet and wider in the middle. All the children were dressed in a traditional white burial gown with a cape and a white prayer-covering on the head. Each ceremony was attended by around 500 mourners. Services were also held throughout the day for non-Amish mourners at a church in the nearby town of Correyville. The funeral of a fifth girl, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, is being held on Friday. As Marian Fisher was buried yesterday, it was revealed that she had bravely begged Roberts to kill her, but release the other children he held at gunpoint. Leroy Zook, had seven close rleatives in the school when Roberts broke in: his wife, two daughters - one of them the teacher - two daughters-in-law, and two baby grandchildren. All escaped unharmed. Standing in the drive of his family farm, Mr Zook, wearing braces and a straw hat with a black paper band around the brim, said: `The oldest girl there, Marian, she said, "Shoot me, and leave the others alone." But he ignored her.' Mr Zook was among the many Amish villagers who also rallied behind Mrs Roberts and her three children. Within hours of the shootings, it emerged yesterday that a neighbour knocked on the Roberts family's door to pray for them and extend forgiveness. Another neighbour, Daniel Esh, a 57-year-old Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were inside the school during the attack, said: `I hope they stay around here. They'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support.' Community leaders said that Mrs Roberts and her children may even receive money from a fund established to help victims and their families.
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