TOLEDO (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest charged in the 1980 strangling and stabbing of a nun whose body was found covered by an altar cloth in a hospital chapel always was a suspect in the killing, police said.
Police never could gather enough evidence, though, until they reopened the case about five months ago.
On Friday, police arrested the Rev. Gerald Robinson, who performed the funeral for the 71-year-old nun. Police Chief Mike Navarre would only say that ''new technology'' led them back to Robinson, 66, who was charged with murder. Navarre would not talk about evidence or a motive.
Robinson and Sister Margaret Ann Pahl worked together at Toledo's Mercy Hospital where he was the chaplain. Pahl was strangled before she was stabbed about 30 times on April 5, 1980. Her body was found surrounded by lit candles with her arms folded across her chest in the chapel where she was the caretaker.
It was described by some investigators as a ''ritualistic'' killing.
''It is about the most outrageous thing I can think of,'' said Ray Vetter, a retired deputy police chief who investigated the killing. ''It was even more galling that we didn't make an arrest. It must have aged me 10 years.''
Police never suspected robbery as a motive because they found Pahl's purse and several gold crucifixes near her body. No fingerprints or footprints were found. Investigators determined that the killer used a small knife. There was some evidence but not enough to get a conviction against anyone, Vetter said. Robinson, whose office was steps from the chapel, remained a primary suspect because he was near the chapel at the time of the killing, Vetter said. ''He was a suspect, but he wasn't the only suspect,'' Vetter said on Saturday
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1811386
Police never could gather enough evidence, though, until they reopened the case about five months ago.
On Friday, police arrested the Rev. Gerald Robinson, who performed the funeral for the 71-year-old nun. Police Chief Mike Navarre would only say that ''new technology'' led them back to Robinson, 66, who was charged with murder. Navarre would not talk about evidence or a motive.
Robinson and Sister Margaret Ann Pahl worked together at Toledo's Mercy Hospital where he was the chaplain. Pahl was strangled before she was stabbed about 30 times on April 5, 1980. Her body was found surrounded by lit candles with her arms folded across her chest in the chapel where she was the caretaker.
It was described by some investigators as a ''ritualistic'' killing.
''It is about the most outrageous thing I can think of,'' said Ray Vetter, a retired deputy police chief who investigated the killing. ''It was even more galling that we didn't make an arrest. It must have aged me 10 years.''
Police never suspected robbery as a motive because they found Pahl's purse and several gold crucifixes near her body. No fingerprints or footprints were found. Investigators determined that the killer used a small knife. There was some evidence but not enough to get a conviction against anyone, Vetter said. Robinson, whose office was steps from the chapel, remained a primary suspect because he was near the chapel at the time of the killing, Vetter said. ''He was a suspect, but he wasn't the only suspect,'' Vetter said on Saturday
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1811386