How we reported this story
In reporting this story, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Gina Barton conducted dozens of interviews with those involved in the case. She attended the 20th anniversary Requiem Mass for Father Alfred Kunz and visited the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace shrine in Necedah, Wis.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Department declined to release its case file to the Journal Sentinel, citing an exemption to the state’s public records law for open cases. Barton reviewed 50 pages of department reports that had been released to the Journal Sentinel in 1998 and remained on file in the newsroom. Those reports document the initial police response to the 911 call and several interrogations of Brian Jackson and people who knew him.
Barton read court records, archival records detailing events at the shrine and portions of Malachi Martin’s book on exorcism, “Hostage to the Devil.” She also reviewed dozens of print and television news reports about the Kunz homicide and investigation.
In addition, Barton listened to seven and a half hours of the “Our Catholic Family” and “Our Apostolic Church” radio programs. Recordings of the programs were provided to the news organization by Peter Kelly, who produced them. Descriptions of Kunz’s feelings, beliefs, experiences and teachings were taken from statements he made on the show in 1997 and early 1998. Father Charles Fiore also spoke on some of the recordings.
Details and quotes in scenes were obtained through interviews with those present or from police reports, court records, transcripts, archived news reports, video recordings or audio recordings.
Brian Jackson spoke briefly in person to Journal Sentinel reporter Ashley Luthern. He said he is innocent and believes the investigation was waylaid by the fact detectives spent so much time on him. He declined a detailed interview, saying his lawyer had advised against it. Jackson’s thoughts, feelings and interactions with Kunz, as conveyed in the story, come from police reports in which he described them to detectives.
In all other instances in which people’s thoughts are described, they conveyed those thoughts to a reporter.
Throughout the series, quotation marks indicate a subject’s exact words as written in a transcript, as recalled by a party to the conversation or as stated to a reporter, either now or at the time of the incident. Italics indicate statements recalled or summarized by a third party in an interview, a news story or an investigative document, such as a police report.
People who provided information for this chapter include retired deputy David Cattanach, former sheriff Gary Hamblin, Detective Gwen Ruppert, Sheriff David Mahoney and Father Scott Jablonski, the current pastor of St. Michael Church. Retired Detective Linda Pederson Honer said in an interview that she personally interviewed two women who admitted having sexual relationships with Kunz, but she would not give their names. Retired Detective Kevin Hughes lives in Ecuador and could not be reached. A relative provided email addresses for Hughes and his wife, but he did not respond to multiple messages. Maureen O’Leary did not respond to phone messages, knocks on her door or a letter.