TV series begins to unravel 1969 killing of Baltimore nun
UNITED STATES: A riveting documentary series centred on the 1969 murder of a young Baltimore nun has prompted new victims and witnesses of sexual abuse to come forward and could ultimately solve the cold case, according to lawyers, police and the FBI.
The Keepers, a seven-part series released by Netflix this month, examines the mysterious death of Sister Cathy Cesnik, 26, who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School, and asks whether she was killed because she was about to reveal details of a network of sexual abusers led by two priests.
Cesnik’s haphazardly parked car was found a day after she disappeared while shopping. Eight weeks later her bludgeoned corpse was discovered on a remote hillside.
The series, which looks set to emulate the true-crime successes of Making a Murderer, also on Netflix, and Serial, a podcast, examines abuse perpetrated by Joseph Maskell and a fellow priest, Neil Magnus, at the school.
In harrowing on-camera interviews, victims describe group rapes in which police officers sometimes took part.
Maskell was chaplain to the Baltimore county police and the Maryland state police as well as the local National Guard unit, giving him powerful connections in the city’s Catholic establishment.
The priests often selected their victims at Keough during confession, homing in on vulnerable children who were ashamed and confused after being abused at home.
Among them was Jean Hargadon Wehner, who alleged she was repeatedly raped aged 14 while being told it was to ‘‘cleanse her soul’’. She said Cesnik was the only teacher prepared to try to stop the abuse.
In the programme Wehner describes how Maskell took her to see the nun’s decomposing body before it was officially discovered and warned her: ‘‘You see what happens when you say bad things about people?’’ She was too frightened to speak out.
The Keepers also suggests that Cesnik’s murder was linked to that of Joyce Malecki, 20, an office worker with ties to the parish where the abuse took place, who was discovered strangled and stabbed in the grounds of a nearby military base.
After complaints to the archdiocese in 1975, Maskell, who raped boys and girls, was temporarily removed from his post at the school for psychological evaluation.
He then left to work as a priest at a church in Baltimore but in 1995 was removed from the priesthood after police found incriminating documents, including psychological profiles of his victims.
Maskell fled to Ireland, but later returned to Baltimore, where he died in 2001 without having been charged.
Magnus died in 1988, having never been confronted about his crimes. Maskell’s body was exhumed earlier this year.
Detectives revealed this month that his DNA did not match evidence from the Cesnik murder scene, but experts said this did not rule out his involvement.
A total of 30 women eventually came forward with accounts of sexual abuse at Keough. Last year the archdiocese of Baltimore paid settlements of up to US$50,000 (NZ$70,000) to 13 former students there.
Joanne Suder, a Baltimore lawyer who represents many of the victims, said the programme was likely to lead to more cases coming to light.
‘‘Lots of new victims are calling, and victims who were afraid to come out have decided to request mediation of their cases,’’ she said. ‘‘My personal belief is there are more than 100 victims altogether. We are aware of two who have committed suicide.’’
Among the possible victims is one from Ireland, where Maskell continued to say mass in spite of having been defrocked.
‘‘There was one call that one of the attorneys in my office took concerning a potential victim of sex abuse in Ireland by Maskell,’’ said Suder. It was the first such case from the country.
‘‘Historically, Ireland has not been receptive to sending priests back,’’ she added.
The FBI and the Baltimore police have also received a wave of new information. ‘‘The Keepers is rightly bringing attention to the senseless and unsolved murders of Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki,’’ the FBI said in a statement. - Sunday Times