RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Rio de Janeiro hospital says that an American pastor is recovering from an attack by a mentally disturbed homeless man.

The Copa D'Or Hospital says in a statement that Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native Renee Murdoch is beginning to show "signs of neurological recovery. Her condition is stable yet serious."

The 44-year-old Murdoch is a pastor of the Rio de Janeiro-based Light to the Nations, an interdenominational Christian church that she and her husband Philip founded 12 years ago.

Police say the homeless man attacked Murdoch while she was jogging in the upscale neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca and beat her repeatedly with a piece of wood.

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