MODESTO -- Farmer Frank Craig rarely set foot in church and would scrimp on daily necessities to save money to build a museum to house his antique farm equipment.

So relatives grew concerned when he gave a country preacher control of his multimillion-dollar trust fund, and they were shocked when the 85-year-old was crippled and then killed in a pair of auto wrecks with the minister behind the wheel.

On Friday, pastor Howard Douglas Porter appeared briefly in Stanislaus County Superior Court on charges of murder and embezzlement more than two years after family members alerted authorities to the unusual relationship and the history of crashes.

Porter, 55, of La Grange, was arrested this week as he crossed into California from Mexico, where he was setting up a ministry. He was held without bail and his arraignment was set for Dec. 11.

He appeared relaxed at the hearing, turning in his red jail jumpsuit to smile at family members, who later declined comment.

Craig had socked thousands of dollars away in a grandfather clock by the time he asked Porter, head of a nondenominational Christian church in the tiny town of Hickman, to take charge of his reported $4 million trust.

The cantankerous farmer felt Porter could help him fulfill his dream of building an agricultural museum.

"He just put all his faith in Doug," said Craig's niece, Marilyn Whitney. "My uncle worked with his grandfather and had tremendous respect for him. I think he transferred that respect and trust onto Doug."

Craig, a lifelong bachelor, valued family, but also had a reputation for being notoriously tight with his money.

"If he needed one battery, he'd refuse to buy a four-pack," said his niece's husband, Henry Whitney.

By the late 1990s, Porter was a respected member of the 450-resident community, about 15 miles east of Modesto. He had earned local praise by building attendance at Hickman Community Church and for coaching champion wrestlers at Hughson High School.

Residents were surprised when Craig's family accused the preacher of befriending the farmer to seize control of his trust. The family said Porter persuaded Craig to remove his sisters as heirs, naming the church as the beneficiary and giving the pastor control.

After Craig was killed, however, suspicions arose and Porter abruptly resigned from the church.

"When you're like that, when you're teaching people to do good, it looks really bad if you mess up," said Jarnail Singh, 43, owner of the Hickman Market.

Investigators said they believe Porter first tried to kill Craig in 2002 when he veered his truck off a rural road and struck an oak tree. The crash crippled Craig, but did not initially raise suspicions.

In April 2004, Porter plunged his pickup truck into an irrigation canal and the farmer drowned.

Porter, who walked away from both wrecks, gave the eulogy at Craig's funeral, further troubling relatives who said Craig thought church was a waste of time.

"He said Frank had found the Lord and had become a converted Christian before he died," said Henry Whitney, a minister who now lives in a Los Angeles suburb. "The only time he went to church was if he wanted to hear music."

Authorities began investigating Porter after the family reported their suspicions, but the criminal case languished as local prosecutors focused on convicting Scott Peterson for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci.

The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit with Porter and his auto insurance company, which settled for $225,000 about a month ago, Marilyn Whitney said.

A civil lawsuit in Stanislaus County Superior Court contesting the trust is pending.

"If we gain financially, then, yeah that would be nice. But our motivation is that Porter is a crook. We just want justice done," Marilyn Whitney said.