IL IL - Debbie Fijan, 10, DuPage County, 11 Feb 1966 - #2

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I thought we read somewhere LS and his wife met in college.

Her being older than him does not surprise me.

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the impression Mrs. LS wore the pants in the family?

The more we learn about him, the more he seems.... not sure how to put it, but timid, meek, maybe someone who bottled up his emotions and blew up every so often?

His 'past life'...

His comments regarding Debbie "annoying" him, and perhaps that being because she paid attention to his son. I can't see anyone not thinking a 9 or 10 year old girl in the 1960's wouldn't be googly over a baby and being annoyed by seemingly normal childhood behavior.

Why would a teacher seemingly be annoyed by an intelligent student? Wouldn't most people who chose teaching as a profession be genuinely excited about their childs desire to learn?

Another thought... When LS left the seminary, what direction did he have in his life? Did he know he wanted to teach? or was that a career that kind of fell into his lap because his wife suggested it similiarly to her suggestion he 'watch his time line' carefully with LE (paraphrased based on an LE statement regarding questioning LS).
 
According to the article I had bought, the two met at Quincy College, from which LS graduated in '62 (at which time they married, as I follow the timeline). As MAS was 2 years older, she may have graduated in '60 and began working while LS was still in college. Just conjecture on my part, of course.
 
We know, according to his own statements, that LS was taking direction from the wife in the hours and days following Debbie's murder.
I dont buy for a moment that she accepted his story about finding *advertiser censored* along the road and then keeping it "for the good of the children". According to articles linked, he also had stuff at the parents' farm, so she had to know he was a perv. I think she had him by the...um...neck? and LS knew it too.
 
I think she didn't want her good name put to shame and she certainly did not want to be a single mother of an infant or toddler with a husband and the father of her child in prison.

remember she retired from the NIU law library, possibly as a librarian, so she was either doing what she could to stand by her man, or she truly felt her husband would be railroaded by a not so honest (at least to her belief) law enforcement agency.

of course this is just speculation on my part.

jmo
 
Cubby said:
can you link the article? or at least the title so we can link the ptv snippet?

At 16, LS would have still been in HS. Not away at school anywhere that I can think of... Odd there is no mention of him attending his own brothers wedding.
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The paper is listed as the Daily Herald (Chicago) but the paper is the Roselle Register (3/3/55). The title is "Couple Wed Feb 19 in Elgin Catholic Church".

Yeah, I thought it was weird too that he was not listed...it seemed that everyone else was. I know he was said to have gone to St. Edwards in Elgin for high school. But, a long but here and just thinking outloud...if he got himself into trouble and his family sent him away to go to school. He could have stayed with relatives before entering the seminary in OH. I know when I got into trouble my Mom was always threatening to send me to "girls school" to straighten me out. He ended up leaving the seminarty in OH and going to college. Another question here...why did he leave the seminary? A neighbor of LS said that he taught her son in first grade at St. Lukes in Carol Stream. And then he became a teacher at Benjamin and only taught there for two years.


Same paper, same day, different pg. this was on pg 54. "John Schofield Seeks Road Job in Wayne". JS entered his petition for the road commissioner of Wayne Township in the April 5th election. He listed himself in the independent party.
 
Abbey5 said:
In regards to that article shadowangel, the whole article was not written very well and the wording was terrible. I realize it was written over 30 years ago but wow, I had a hard time reading it at times.

That statement from LS has bothered me also.

I went and looked for any connection between Leonard and LS, JS and JS's father. I went all the way back to 1900 when JS's father was a lodger in a home in Chicago and there was no mention of a Leonard. JS's father listed his father was born in Vermont and his mother in Massachusetts. There might be a connection but I didn't find one.

I read some articles about the Leonard you mentioned.
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You had better luck than I did. I have access to the census but could not find much. 1930 is incomplete at heritage quest I use through my library's web page. I am glad you were able to find more than I did.
 
Abbey5 said:
<snipped>
Yeah, I thought it was weird too that he was not listed...it seemed that everyone else was. I know he was said to have gone to St. Edwards in Elgin for high school. But, a long but here and just thinking outloud...if he got himself into trouble and his family sent him away to go to school. He could have stayed with relatives before entering the seminary in OH. I know when I got into trouble my Mom was always threatening to send me to "girls school" to straighten me out. He ended up leaving the seminarty in OH and going to college. Another question here...why did he leave the seminary? A neighbor of LS said that he taught her son in first grade at St. Lukes in Carol Stream. And then he became a teacher at Benjamin and only taught there for two years.
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I was thinking something along these lines. I recall reading during the priest sex abuse scandals that some of the men entered the priesthood thinking it would contain or eliminate their "inner demons"...when in fact it seems to have facilitated them. Could LS have joined the seminary for that reason? Due to something that occured that led him (possibly with the encouragement of his family) to enter the seminary?

And, once there, he found out that his demons were still with him...
 
I could not find a thing about any accusations against priests at either St. Isidore's or St. Edwards. I need to find a different search choice though, was getting too many hits to sort through.

Abbey, send the names via pm.
 
Abbey5 said:
The paper is listed as the Daily Herald (Chicago) but the paper is the Roselle Register (3/3/55). The title is "Couple Wed Feb 19 in Elgin Catholic Church".

Yeah, I thought it was weird too that he was not listed...it seemed that everyone else was. I know he was said to have gone to St. Edwards in Elgin for high school. But, a long but here and just thinking outloud...if he got himself into trouble and his family sent him away to go to school. He could have stayed with relatives before entering the seminary in OH. I know when I got into trouble my Mom was always threatening to send me to "girls school" to straighten me out. He ended up leaving the seminarty in OH and going to college. Another question here...why did he leave the seminary? A neighbor of LS said that he taught her son in first grade at St. Lukes in Carol Stream. And then he became a teacher at Benjamin and only taught there for two years.


Same paper, same day, different pg. this was on pg 54. "John Schofield Seeks Road Job in Wayne". JS entered his petition for the road commissioner of Wayne Township in the April 5th election. He listed himself in the independent party.
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Thanks.. I'm not finding it listed with google news archives.
Could be something only found on Ancestry, or the Roselle paper is not listed with Google archives, some of the smaller local papers here are not online, not even with small websites for current news.

As for why he left the seminary... I think it is kind of simple staring us in the face, the *advertiser censored*. Perhaps he had what he felt were odd sexual tendencies or urges before he made the decision to enter the priesthood and thought going to seminary school might curb that urge. When he couldn't control it himself, and decided he could not remain celibate as Catholic priests are required to he left, knowing it wasn't for him.


ETA: Remember there was always a lot of 'guilt' associated with Catholics and sex. What was appropriate, what was not. We have no idea what kind of messages he received while growing up Catholic.


jmo
 
This is an abstract from a FL article, 2004, about a priest accused of molestation (no connection to LS or Debbie's case)---

The alleged victim, now 29, contacted the Orlando diocese through his attorney on May 25, alleging that [Richard xxxxxxxx] had taken him on trips to Key West, Chicago, Colorado and Indiana during the seven- year period. On a final trip to Indiana, he allegedly confronted xxxxxxx, who admitted he "had a problem" and offered the teen $800 to keep quiet, according to the letter

Who does the bolded statement remind you of?

And keep in mind, most of the accusations came out 20 to 25 years after the molestations happened. We probably need to be checking the late 80s to mid-90s time frame as well.
 
This is an abstract from a FL article, 2004, about a priest accused of molestation (no connection to LS or Debbie's case)---

The alleged victim, now 29, contacted the Orlando diocese through his attorney on May 25, alleging that [Richard xxxxxxxx] had taken him on trips to Key West, Chicago, Colorado and Indiana during the seven- year period. On a final trip to Indiana, he allegedly confronted xxxxxxx, who admitted he "had a problem" and offered the teen $800 to keep quiet, according to the letter

Who does the bolded statement remind you of?

And keep in mind, most of the accusations came out 20 to 25 years after the molestations happened. We probably need to be checking the late 80s to mid-90s time frame as well.
 
I'm trying to check anything with either school listed. I have to go back again and find out what Diocese St. Isidore and St. Edwards belong to. They are not part of Joliet or Chicago Diocese....

ETA: ok, both schools were part of the diocese of Rockford. We should check for accusations within the diocese of Rockford as well.

Do we want to look at possible peers of LS's who were later accused?

I think there is a list of convicted preists somewhere.... I've seen it but never saved it.
Perhaps we can research if any of them attended school with LS?
 
Well, when we're right, we're right. :)

The Joliet parish, the West Chicago area, to include Carol Stream, had its own scandal within the church. This article, or section thereof (Im really hating the whole PtV thing) speaks for itself.

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5196065/Anger-hope-faith-in-Joliet.html

Ms. Hlotke, mentioned in the article, may have a wealth of knowledge about the timeframe for us.
 
IIRC there were quite a few in the diocese of joliet. Let me see if I can find a map of Illinois diocese. I am not certain area's of WC and Bloomingdale are part of the Joliet diocese.

I found the link to the RSO I remember... he is listed in Missouri with a birth year of 41 making him a little young to have been a possible school peer of LS's. his conviction was based upon a friend of his finding a VHS tape of him engaging in sexual relations with a young teenage boy which went off to sell at a flea market or something like that IIRC. I do know his friend turned in the VHS tape to authorities.

I'd prefer to send the link via PM rather than linking it here if anyone is interested in actual info listed at the RSO site.

ETA: the offense he was charged with took place in Kankakee... but I remember hearing he was moved from church to church for a long time before anything was done about this.
 
Abstract from an article related to one of the priests named in the previous article I linked:
"The deposition is part of a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges another priest, Rev. Edward Stefanich, sexually abused him in the 1960s. The 268-page document had been sealed, but the Tribune and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault asked that it be released and DuPage County Judge Stephen Culliton ruled to unseal it on Thursday."

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2006/01_02/2006_02_04_Yednak_4Priests.htm


 
Does it all mean anything? I don't know. But SA Hopf seemed to know something in LS's past...
There appears to have been abuse going on with priests in the area when LS was younger...
LS joins the seminary, during a time when abuse was alleged at the school he attended...
LS then leaves seminary early...

Lot of coincidences going on in this case.
 
Daily Herald (Chicago) May 23, 1952

LS confirmed at St. Isidore Catholic Church on May 28 at 8:00 p.m. Bishop McNamara of Joliet Diocese administrating the sacrament.
 
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