MD MD - Sr. Catherine Cesnik, 26, Baltimore, 7 Nov 1969 "The Keepers"

I think we're on the same page here, lol But, just clarifying my thought... trying to get a timeline for when the car was placed/parked.

I wasn't questioning why they did/didn't see her car when they took their walk, I'm talking about when they (Koob & McKeon) first arrived (by car) at the apartment. If we are sure this intersection wasn't on their driving route to the apartment then... I'm good with that :)

I read some old news stories on the case and saw a few different time frames. Not sure if it was due to variations in reporting or differing eyewitness accounts. Suggest checking to see when LE says the first report came in about an illegally parked car. Pretty sure it was earlier in the evening before midnight.

ETA: 10 pm from a link in the article above

I'm on my tablet and can't get the link to post. Sorry.
 
Here's the link:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/feature...search-for-missing-nun-26-20170505-story.html

So here's a rough timeline:

7:30 pm - Sr. Cathy leaves to go shopping. Verified that she cashed her paycheck at a nearby bank that she used regularly.

10:00 pm - First report of her car abandoned 1 1/2 blocks from her apt. Reported by someone who lived nearby

Abt 11:00 pm or midnight - Sr Russell calls Koob saying she hasn't returned. Koob & McKeown drive to her apartment

1:30 am - Police first notified she was missing by Koob, Sr Russell. They're told to wait and see if she comes home.

4:30 am - Koob & McKeown spot her car while walking near her apartment, contact LE a second time
 
Here's the link:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/feature...search-for-missing-nun-26-20170505-story.html

So here's a rough timeline:

7:30 pm - Sr. Cathy leaves to go shopping. Verified that she cashed her paycheck at a nearby bank that she used regularly.

10:00 pm - First report of her car abandoned 1 1/2 blocks from her apt. Reported by someone who lived nearby

Abt 11:00 pm or midnight - Sr Russell calls Koob saying she hasn't returned. Koob & McKeown drive to her apartment

1:30 am - Police first notified she was missing by Koob, Sr Russell. They're told to wait and see if she comes home.

4:30 am - Koob & McKeown spot her car while walking near her apartment, contact LE a second time


I watched episode 1 again (Koob retracing the walk). It seems the car was at Lantern Ct & N Bend (I'm not sure why all the news reports said Carriage Ct). Also, despite a police officer coming to the apartment at approximately 1:30a that morning combined with reports that several calls (per the Baltimore Sun link) were made to LE regarding the oddly-parked car (approx 10pm and later)... the car wasn't seen by the officer nor by Koob/McKeon arriving at the apartment.

I know times were different then but ... it almost seems that the Lantern Ct & N Bend Rd intersection was avoided by interested parties until 4am.

Strange.
 
I came across this:

"New Evidence Links Merzbacher Child-Rape Case To Rampant 1970s Sex Abuse at Keough High School, According to Former Police Investigators in Maryland"

“The Rapes at the Two Catholic Schools Are Connected”

Keough Priest-Suspect in Murder of Teaching Nun Was Also Involved in an Apparent Cover-Up of Abuse at Merzbacher’s School in S. Baltimore, Say Former Cops

http://insidebaltimore.org/

Hi fred&edna,

I'm bringing forward this post of yours from 2015. It's a good link as it has articles going back many years that were written by Tom Nugent, the reporter who appeared in "The Keepers".

His articles have some more details that weren't included in the docu. Good background.
 
I have watched 6 out of the 7 episodes of "The Keepers."

My thoughts / theories so far:
- Gerry Koob and Cathy were in love. If she had lived, I think they would have been married. I think yes, she initially turned him down, but later changed her mind about their relationship.
- Cathy - probably naively - thought that if she reported the abuse at Keogh to The Powers That Be, that they'd address it. Maybe that's why she didn't tell Gerry. She thought she had done what she was supposed to - reported the abuse - and then trusted that it would be addressed.
- I believe Jean (Jane Doe) 100%. As a survivor of a sexual assault where I was drugged, her memories and 'fuzziness' (as well as that of the other Keough survivors) ring true to me. Memories of my assault have trickled back over the years, and I know that if I tried I could probably remember more, but have chosen not to.
- Russell Phillips clearly knew more than she ever told anyone. I suspect that her leaving the convent as well as the state shows that she was a) disgusted with the church and b) afraid.
- Edgar may have a lot more to tell, but I doubt he will. He seems to me to be a man haunted by his past actions. I suspect that he is a pedophile.
- Speaking of haunted, Billy clearly was. That poor man.

Here is what I think happened:
- Cathy spoke to Maurice (head nun) about what was going on. Maurice spoke to Maskell and they all went into crisis mode. Cathy gets moved to Western (did Russell too?) and Maskell has to figure out his next move. He probably knows that Cathy won't be placated for long.
- Maskell and Magnus burst in at Cathy and Russell's apartment. For whatever reason, he realizes that threatening her won't accomplish much if anything and he calls in favors with his 'ring.'
- Cathy arrives home and I think she was grabbed in the parking lot. I am not sure if I buy the murder in the apt / wrapped up in a rug thing that Brian recounted. I do buy that Billy was involved in the disposal somehow and/or that he witnessed Cathy being abducted or murdered. I also think that Edgar was part of the murder / disposal team.
- Cathy is somehow subdued and transported elsewhere. Maybe she's hit once on the head in her apartment, but killed somewhere else? She's then dumped at the disposal site in between the two Schmidt properties.
- Those involved split up after the murder and dumping. Billy is the most likely one to have driven back the car; he has to get back to his place somehow, but I suspect even then he felt guilty, so he left the car where it was found.
- Maskell also calls in favors with his cop friends. This is why Bannon and Roemer focus in on Koob.
- We all know that the Archdiocese covered things up. They knew at the very least that Maskell was abusing children and young adults. The settlements and moving Maskell around proves that.
- I think that the cops had some sort of leverage over Edgar, Billy, and Skippy. They knew that Edgar was a pedophile and that Billy was gay. Skippy may have provided muscle for the cops, as well as being Billy's lover. The cops were probably fine with turning a blind eye if the three did their bidding.
- I think that "Brother Bob" was either Bobby Schmidt or Joseph Maskell's brother, Robert, who was a police officer.
 
I have watched 6 out of the 7 episodes of "The Keepers."

My thoughts / theories so far:
- Gerry Koob and Cathy were in love. If she had lived, I think they would have been married. I think yes, she initially turned him down, but later changed her mind about their relationship.
- Cathy - probably naively - thought that if she reported the abuse at Keogh to The Powers That Be, that they'd address it. Maybe that's why she didn't tell Gerry. She thought she had done what she was supposed to - reported the abuse - and then trusted that it would be addressed.
- I believe Jean (Jane Doe) 100%. As a survivor of a sexual assault where I was drugged, her memories and 'fuzziness' (as well as that of the other Keough survivors) ring true to me. Memories of my assault have trickled back over the years, and I know that if I tried I could probably remember more, but have chosen not to.
- Russell Phillips clearly knew more than she ever told anyone. I suspect that her leaving the convent as well as the state shows that she was a) disgusted with the church and b) afraid.
- Edgar may have a lot more to tell, but I doubt he will. He seems to me to be a man haunted by his past actions. I suspect that he is a pedophile.
- Speaking of haunted, Billy clearly was. That poor man.

Here is what I think happened:
- Cathy spoke to Maurice (head nun) about what was going on. Maurice spoke to Maskell and they all went into crisis mode. Cathy gets moved to Western (did Russell too?) and Maskell has to figure out his next move. He probably knows that Cathy won't be placated for long.
- Maskell and Magnus burst in at Cathy and Russell's apartment. For whatever reason, he realizes that threatening her won't accomplish much if anything and he calls in favors with his 'ring.'
- Cathy arrives home and I think she was grabbed in the parking lot. I am not sure if I buy the murder in the apt / wrapped up in a rug thing that Brian recounted. I do buy that Billy was involved in the disposal somehow and/or that he witnessed Cathy being abducted or murdered. I also think that Edgar was part of the murder / disposal team.
- Cathy is somehow subdued and transported elsewhere. Maybe she's hit once on the head in her apartment, but killed somewhere else? She's then dumped at the disposal site in between the two Schmidt properties.
- Those involved split up after the murder and dumping. Billy is the most likely one to have driven back the car; he has to get back to his place somehow, but I suspect even then he felt guilty, so he left the car where it was found.
- Maskell also calls in favors with his cop friends. This is why Bannon and Roemer focus in on Koob.
- We all know that the Archdiocese covered things up. They knew at the very least that Maskell was abusing children and young adults. The settlements and moving Maskell around proves that.
- I think that the cops had some sort of leverage over Edgar, Billy, and Skippy. They knew that Edgar was a pedophile and that Billy was gay. Skippy may have provided muscle for the cops, as well as being Billy's lover. The cops were probably fine with turning a blind eye if the three did their bidding.
- I think that "Brother Bob" was either Bobby Schmidt or Joseph Maskell's brother, Robert, who was a police officer.

FYI - His brother's name was not Robert. His brother's name was Joseph Thomas Maskell and went by Thomas or Tommy. Note that he retired in 1966 due to being shot in the line of duty in 1964. This is before the events that happened at the school.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-04-17/news/1998107021_1_police-lieutenant-veney-maskell
 
Thanks, I mistakenly thought his brother was Robert.

I'd edit my post, but the time to do so has run out.

I do think that the fact that A. Joseph's brother was a cop gave him an in.
 
except they were in different locations correct?

I'm not automatically dismissing I promise. I just have a few issues with it. These are not children were are talking about teens.


I can't agree more. Teens! Here is the appellate brief Jane Doe (Jean) vs Joseph Maskell. Shocking because according to her statements the abuse was far more extensive than what the documentary covers (hard to believe) BUT she also states that Sister Russell, dressed in full nun's habit, was among her abusers.

Here is the link: https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-21...a1cea210f49845ce320785c23526&oe=59583501&dl=1
 
I can't agree more. Teens! Here is the appellate brief Jane Doe (Jean) vs Joseph Maskell. Shocking because according to her statements the abuse was far more extensive than what the documentary covers (hard to believe) BUT she also states that Sister Russell, dressed in full nun's habit, was among her abusers.

Here is the link: https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-21...a1cea210f49845ce320785c23526&oe=59583501&dl=1

That link doesn't work for me - is there somewhere else we can read the brief? Did you happen to take a copy of the section about Sister Russell?
 
I wonder if she did talk to someone that summer, and was assured it would be handled. Allowing her to transfer to teaching at a public school for a year would make sense, so that there would be no repercussions from Fr. Maskell. She may have thought it was taken care of, until the night before she died, when some former students, still at Keough came to visit her and told her nothing had changed.

I have heard that Maskell burst in on that conversation, so he probably knows what was being discussed. Once she realized the archdiocese was not going to help, she may have decided to go to the police (never realizing their complicity in all of the abuse) which he felt he had to prevent.

Just throwing out a possibility. Because she was so kind and also modern and outspoken, it doe NOT seem like she would have waited months to take ANY action after telling Jean to enjoy her summer and assuring her she would address the problem. It is likely that Cathy thought this would be simply a matter of letting the priest know that she knew, and giving him an opportunity to promise to stop..
 
I keep reading that, upon discovery of the body, a prescription bottle with Sr. Cathy's name on it was found in her purse. Obviously it could have been anything, but why doesn't ANY article or anecdotal evidence tell WHAT THE PRESCRIPTION WAS FOR? I am pretty sure the existence of the bottle, and the fact it was prescription medication (the label with her name) is real, since it appears so often, but what was in the bottle? Was the medication bottle empty? Could the date of her death be determined for sure based on the number of pills remaining? Maybe it was something as simple as an antibiotic for strep throat or a pain pill from dental work, but why can't we know? Nothing in her autopsy clarifies it either.
 
It's a bit of a tangent but I shared this on the reddit thread as well, in case there are others who are interested.

I'm having so much trouble understanding how this abuse happened (happens?) in a world that is so regimented and dogmatic in its doctrines about sex, adultery, birth control and homosexuality. That this story is not an isolated case suggests we are not dealing with "monsters" but with some deep, systemic justification and denial.

I'm from Australia where we have been in the midst of a Royal Commission into these issues. Cardinal Pell, the Vatican's Head of Finances has just been ordered to return to face charges. He features in this article too.

(Content note: Essay is an Australian context, and includes distressing accounts of child sexual assault)
http://rightnow.org.au/essay/catholic-clergy-and-child-sex-abuse/.

Since watching The Keepers, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the mindset of the abusers and apologists.

This essay is in an Australian context and very disturbing, but helped me understand how these people managed to create a world where child rape was tolerated. Dehumanising, denying and redefining "celibacy". Allowing men to confess over and over with no accountability.

The arrogance and hypocrisy is disgusting. I am not Catholic but I will never be able think of Catholicism without remembering this. Or to erase the victims from my mind the way these supposed Men of God did.
 
Sr Cathy was sexual assaulted;

Lieutenant Bowerman said he analyzed what is known of the case and concluded that the killer:

* Probably knocked out Sister Catherine, possibly by choking her, judging by marks on her neck, then assaulted her, killed her and dumped her body in Lansdowne, Md.
 
Detective Roemer said he remembered the bue coat but it was away from the body along with one shoe.
 
I am very surprised this thread has no taken off due to the Netflix series. Its brought me back after years of not being on Websleuths.
Anyway, I wonder how one goes about finding fellow pedophiles especially in the 60s when you had no internet. My belief is that just as Maskell used the confessional as a means to find victims,he probably used it to find fellow sickos and also threatened people to do his bidding. In one of the first episodes, I believe it was Jean,who remembered a Police officer that did not want to participate,but Maskell pretty much tells him he has to. Was he holding things over individuals heads that they confessed to and then basically blackmailing them.?
 
What a sick secret "society" these religious figures participated in.
 
I thought the autopsy had stated her body was too decomposed to verify sexual assault. Although this was probably likely, verification before waving a Ah ha! flag is needed. Plus it doesn't read to me that Jean had stated about Sister Cathy and Russell were present in full habits but the other plaintiff in the case. Just my thoughts.
 

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