Joe Combs
Joe Combs
Compiled by Lewis Loflin
Update November 2024: Evangeline Combs, now 70, was denied parole in a hearing last week after serving nearly 25 years of her 65-year sentence. The Tennessee Board of Parole, following a recommendation from member Gay Gregson, finalized the denial, setting her next parole review for December 2029. Former pastor Joe Combs died in prison in 2015, having served part of his 114-year sentence. The victim, originally Esther Combs and now Elsa Garcia, testified against parole, still bearing the trauma of 19 years of abuse. Sullivan County officials, including District Attorney Barry Staubus, opposed early release, citing the case’s severity. Evangeline claims ignorance of the abuse, a claim widely doubted, including by me.
The Preacher Combs Trial saw Baptist preacher Joe Combs and his wife Evangeline sentenced to a combined 179 years for the rape, torture, and kidnapping of Elsa Garcia. This case exposes the dangers of unregulated private adoptions, a failing social welfare system, and the misuse of homeschooling to isolate children. Above all, it reveals a community’s apathy—only police intervention after Elsa’s 1997 suicide attempt brought justice. Credit belongs to the Sullivan County police and jury, undeterred by Combs’ status.
Oddly, critics like Jack Kestner and myself faced backlash for speaking out, while public outrage toward Combs remained muted. I met Elsa years ago but avoided this topic. Her current whereabouts are unknown, and I hope she’s found peace.
In 1998, ex-pastor Joe Combs, 50, and his wife Evangeline "Vangie" Combs, 49, were charged in a multi-count indictment for abusing Esther Combs (now Elsa Garcia) over 19 years. Released on $250,000 bonds each—Joe’s secured by friends, family, and a bonding company—they faced allegations of beating, torturing, and raping her. The couple took her from an Indiana children’s home in 1978 but never legally adopted her. After her 1997 suicide attempt, hospital staff found layered scars across her body, prompting a police investigation. Kingsport Times-News, May 13, 1999
A medical report noted "numerous scars involving scalp, face, neck, trunk, and extremities," some suggestive of burns, and multiple poorly healed broken bones. A churchgoer recalled Esther’s broken teeth and timid service to the family, hinting at her fear. Kingsport Times-News, February 17, 2000
Witnesses, including four medical professionals and a social worker, described Esther’s scars as the worst they’d seen, dismissing family claims of clumsiness. On February 18, 1997, she arrived at the hospital after ingesting antifreeze. Dr. Jennifer Stiefel noted overlapping scars—burns and cuts—across her emaciated body. Kingsport Times-News, March 3, 2000
Esther testified tremblingly on March 7, 2000, recounting a 1996 choking with a rope by Joe until she passed out, and Evangeline twisting her skin off with pliers at 16, calling the scars "marks of the beast." At 11, Evangeline cut her wrist with a can lid as punishment, and beatings with a metal bat left her arm impaired. AP, March 7, 2000
She described a failed escape attempt from Emmanuel Baptist Church, where Joe pastored since 1989. After trashing the nursery to fake a kidnapping, she reached a children’s home, only to be retrieved and beaten with a hose. In 1997, she drank antifreeze, hoping to die. Kingsport Times-News, March 9, 2000
Joe’s colleague Galen Oakes II testified that Joe saw Esther’s servitude as divine, training her to serve without formal education until age 12. Witnesses noted her scarred legs at 8, yet Bristol school records showed no trace of her. Kingsport Times-News, March 10, 2000
On April 25, 2000, Joe Combs, 51, received 114 years for especially aggravated kidnapping (22 years), aggravated assault (5 years), aggravated perjury (2 years), aggravated rape (22 years), and seven rape counts (10 years each), with some terms concurrent. Evangeline, 50, got 65 years for especially aggravated kidnapping (22 years) and four counts of aggravated child abuse (10 and 11 years), all consecutive. A medical examiner confirmed Elsa’s 410 scars. Appeals were filed. Kingsport Times-News, April 25, 2000
The Combs case topped regional crime stories in 2000. Arrested in November 1998 after Detective Debbie Richmond-McCauley’s investigation, the couple’s 31-day trial—the longest in Sullivan County history—revealed a 20-year nightmare. Esther’s suicide attempt in 1997 sparked scrutiny, leading to charges after she confided in relatives in Georgia. She testified to daily abuse, including rape and beatings with bats and hoses, while serving as the family slave. Kingsport Times-News, 2000
What Esther Combs faced defies all understanding—Jack Kestner struggled to write about the trial’s horrors. Comparing Esther’s 20-year torment to Christ’s crucifixion, he condemned the couple’s joint brutality under a church facade. Joe quoted scripture during rapes, while Evangeline’s "marks of the beast" scarred her. Kestner questioned their motives—power, depravity?—and their refusal to confess. Dr. Gretel Harlan’s testimony on 410 scars swayed the jury. Kestner praised Richmond-McCauley and DA Greeley Wells, pondering broader blame and the case’s societal echoes.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me draft and refine this article. The final edits and perspective are my own.
