TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The body of a nun found strangled and stabbed to death in a hospital chapel appeared to have been displayed in a ritualistic fashion, her arms and legs straight and no sign of blood, two fellow nuns testified Monday at the murder trial of a priest accused of the 1980 killing.
"People don't usually die very straight," said Sister Phyllis Ann Gerold, 68, who was president of Mercy Hospital when Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was killed.
Gerold, testifying at the murder trial of Rev. Gerald Robinson, said she was eating breakfast when she heard screaming from the hospital chapel on the day before Easter. Inside the chapel, she found two or three other Roman Catholic nuns and Pahl's body.
"The horror of it," Gerold told the court Monday when asked her first impression. "It was just such a strange scene. Strange the way her body was laid out, strange the way her clothes were arranged."
Sister Madelyn Marie Gordon, the chapel organist who found the body, said she hurried screaming from the sacristy after realizing that what she first thought was a mannequin used to teach resuscitation was a body.
The body "was in a very strange position. Her legs were together. Her arms were by her side," Gordon said.
Pahl was stabbed 31 times, including nine wounds in the shape of an upside down cross, authorities said.
Prosecutors have said some of the wounds exactly match the diamond-shaped blade of a letter opener found in Robinson's room.
The defense, however, noted Monday that many people had access to the chapel and suggested the wounds could have been caused by something else.
Under cross-examination, Gerold testified that the sisters discovered after the slaying that victim's 2-inch cross pin and watch, as well as a pair of scissors, were missing.
Police have suspected that the nun's death was some kind of ritual slaying because of evidence found in the chapel and because the nun's body was posed.
Using a mannequin in the courtroom, the prosecutor asked Gerold to describe how she found the victim.
He arranged the arms as she explained and asked about the position of the head.
"All I remember is the swelling of the face and there was no blood," she said.
The prosecutor, apologizing, also asked if the victim's genital area was exposed. Gerold responded yes. Asked if the victim's breasts were exposed, she responded: "I don't remember that. It may have been a white cloth over that. I can't remember that."
Investigators say the 71-year-old victim was not sexually assaulted.
Retired police Lt. William Kina, who oversaw the homicide investigation, testified that he and another detective interviewed Robinson 13 days after the killing. The priest at one point said someone confessed to him, but he later admitted he made that up, Kina said.
Investigators reopened the murder case in 2003 after the prosecutor's office received a letter about a woman's claims that she was molested by priests for years as a child. Among the names she mentioned was Robinson. Police were unable to substantiate her allegations of sexual abuse.
Pahl and Robinson had regular contact arranging daily chapel Masses at the hospital where they both worked, Gerold said. Robinson presided at her funeral.
Robinson, now 68 and free on bail, could get life in prison if convicted. The death penalty was not in effect in Ohio at the time of the slaying.
Source
I cannot believe he is out free on bail. That is so funked up.
"People don't usually die very straight," said Sister Phyllis Ann Gerold, 68, who was president of Mercy Hospital when Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was killed.
Gerold, testifying at the murder trial of Rev. Gerald Robinson, said she was eating breakfast when she heard screaming from the hospital chapel on the day before Easter. Inside the chapel, she found two or three other Roman Catholic nuns and Pahl's body.
"The horror of it," Gerold told the court Monday when asked her first impression. "It was just such a strange scene. Strange the way her body was laid out, strange the way her clothes were arranged."
Sister Madelyn Marie Gordon, the chapel organist who found the body, said she hurried screaming from the sacristy after realizing that what she first thought was a mannequin used to teach resuscitation was a body.
The body "was in a very strange position. Her legs were together. Her arms were by her side," Gordon said.
Pahl was stabbed 31 times, including nine wounds in the shape of an upside down cross, authorities said.
Prosecutors have said some of the wounds exactly match the diamond-shaped blade of a letter opener found in Robinson's room.
The defense, however, noted Monday that many people had access to the chapel and suggested the wounds could have been caused by something else.
Under cross-examination, Gerold testified that the sisters discovered after the slaying that victim's 2-inch cross pin and watch, as well as a pair of scissors, were missing.
Police have suspected that the nun's death was some kind of ritual slaying because of evidence found in the chapel and because the nun's body was posed.
Using a mannequin in the courtroom, the prosecutor asked Gerold to describe how she found the victim.
He arranged the arms as she explained and asked about the position of the head.
"All I remember is the swelling of the face and there was no blood," she said.
The prosecutor, apologizing, also asked if the victim's genital area was exposed. Gerold responded yes. Asked if the victim's breasts were exposed, she responded: "I don't remember that. It may have been a white cloth over that. I can't remember that."
Investigators say the 71-year-old victim was not sexually assaulted.
Retired police Lt. William Kina, who oversaw the homicide investigation, testified that he and another detective interviewed Robinson 13 days after the killing. The priest at one point said someone confessed to him, but he later admitted he made that up, Kina said.
Investigators reopened the murder case in 2003 after the prosecutor's office received a letter about a woman's claims that she was molested by priests for years as a child. Among the names she mentioned was Robinson. Police were unable to substantiate her allegations of sexual abuse.
Pahl and Robinson had regular contact arranging daily chapel Masses at the hospital where they both worked, Gerold said. Robinson presided at her funeral.
Robinson, now 68 and free on bail, could get life in prison if convicted. The death penalty was not in effect in Ohio at the time of the slaying.
Source
I cannot believe he is out free on bail. That is so funked up.
