And we hope that someone will be able to come forward with conclusive information about the murder. And after almost 50 years, Sister Cathy's murder has remained unsolved. An autopsy found Cesnik died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to police. She Was Found Fatally Beaten Two Months After Disappearing in 1969. [12] After obtaining permission from the state's attorney's office, the BCPD exhumed the body of Maskell, who died of a major stroke in 2001, but did not find a DNA match to evidence from the crime scene. The amount of people that have seen The Keepers now is mind-blowing around the world, White said. But beyond that, all of them had ties of some kind to Maskell, either working with him or attending churches where he was a priest. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. They say they were trying to find enough evidence for viewers to conclude that the nun's murder, and the sexual abuse must be related. 9:08 PM EDT, Tue May 9, 2017, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik; Rev. A writ of certiorari was granted by the Maryland Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court decision, ruling in part, "that the mental process of repression of memories of past sexual abuse does not activate the discovery rule. And it was the students who really benefited from that, as Huffpost describes. Police took DNA samples from the corpse to check against a DNA profile developed from evidence taken in 1970 from the scene in Maryland where the badly decomposed body of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik had been found by a father and son out hunting. The Murder. Those who knew her at the time said that she wouldn't allow any conversation about Cesnik's death, saying that was her life before, and that she now had a new life. . Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may . In Keeping On, Gemma takes readers on a journey of her life, from her childhood and her time as Sister Cathy's student at Archbishop Keough High . Another woman, Teresa Lancaster, also came forward. Other times, he would arrange full pseudo brothels. by Caralynn Lippo. 1. At the time of her disappearance, Sister Cesnik was on a sabbatical from the Roman Catholic Church and was teaching at Western High School in Baltimore City. Despite the fact that Father Maskell's DNA does not match the DNA found at the crime scene, Armacost notes that the results don't necessarily clear him as a suspect. It was no wonder that in the wake of the news, the students were all quietly shocked, worried that the police might stop looking for her. Despite the time, speculation, and later surge of interest in the case, Catherine Cesnik's murder has still gone unsolved. 16:14 EST 18 May 2017, A New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer latest book, 'The Kardashians: An American Drama,' will be published in September. NEXT:10 Creepy Documentaries To Watch If You Loved The Keepers. There is no word on whether the Attorney General's investigators will gain access to those records. Audiences reacted poorly to how cold, smarmy, and arrogant Sharon May appeared to be, and with good reason: they have every reason to believe she was very much involved in a cover-up for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, evident enough from her complete inaction throughout the case. Father Maskell was a counselor and chaplain at Archbishop Keough from 1967 to 1975. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much In 2004, a retired Baltimore homicide detective told the Baltimore City Paper that the church lawyers had 'stepped in and they talked to the higher-ups at the police department. There, on the ground, still clad, her face covered with maggots, was the body of Sister Cathy. They scared the living hell out of us.'. 102, September Term 1995, "Baltimore Archdiocese Pays Settlements to a Dozen People Alleging Abuse by Late Priest", "Netflix's 'The Keepers' generates interest in other Md. Eluding police questioning, Maskell eventually ran off to Ireland in 1994 to work as a priest. An autopsy revealed a skull fracture caused by a blow to Sister Catherine's left temple by a blunt instrument. Rather conveniently, they also couldn't find any other corroborating statements regarding Joseph Maskell's abuse (Jean Wehner's lawyers had no trouble). I think it's pretty undeniable by the end of The Keepers that they are, and Jean is the nexus of that, White said. Cesnik, a 26 . After Maskell died in 2001, the two women decided to go public, using their real names. ', They were told to 'stop harassing him,' he said. "Buried in Baltimore: The Mysterious Murder of a Nun Who Knew Too Much", "Justice for Sister Cathy is Long Overdue", "With New Lead, Police Reopen Old Murder Case", "Timeline: The Sister Catherine Cesnik Case", "Sister Catherine Cesnik Case: Missing Nun's Body Found in Lansdowne", "Baltimore Priest Victim: Police Were in on Sexual Abuse", "Jane Doe et al. There are a lot of different stories about how Maskell threatened the girls into silence, and Huffpost has the details. ", court of Appeals of Maryland, No. (just outside Baltimore), covered in snow and partially hidden by a nearby embankment. Joseph Cesnik in 1930 Census; Census Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; 1930 United States Federal Census; National Archives and Records Administration. The week prior, Sister Cathy Cesnik, a popular young nun who taught English and drama at Keough, had vanished while on a Friday-night shopping trip. Her cousin was soon to be married and Sister Cathy wanted to shop for an engagement gift, she told her roommate, Sister Helen Phillips, with whom she shared a small garden apartment in Southwest Baltimore, a blue-collar area of the city. After the series premiered, messages started to arrive from around the world with new information. 1 of 40. By Leads dried up quickly and no one came forward with information about Cathy's whereabouts, and the search dragged on for months. Now, WJZ has learned Baltimore County Police may be closer than ever to solving the murder of 26-year-old Sister Cathy Cesnik. Hoskins and Schaub looked into each of those tips, and the tips have kept coming in for the past five years. But now, because of witness testimony, and a multi-part documentary about the Cesnik murder to be aired on Netflix beginning on May 19, there is hope that her killer may be identified and the case finally be put to rest. According to Armacost, Baltimore County police in 1994 took the alleged victims statement seriously and interviewed Maskell, himself once the chaplain for the Baltimore County Police and other area law enforcement agencies. The theory that she was killed because she knew something about abuse that was going on by priests within the church continues to be a theory, but is not the only theory. By 1994, Maskell no longer worked at the high school and was the pastor of Holy Cross Church in Baltimore. murders for possible connections to Sister Cathy. With new evidence cropping up recently, this article has been updated to reflect evenmorefacts and clues that the docuseries overlooked. The mutilated body of the 26-year-old teacher was found on January 3, 1970. This is huge news regarding Sister Cathy's case. She was the eldest child of Joseph and Anna Omulac Cesnik. A 1994 story in the Baltimore Sun, revealed that she had information about Cesnik's murdered condition, such as the maggots on her face, known only to the cops. As in, a three-year-old who remembers it. She believes they might contain the names of people who were complicit in his crimes, or in covering them up. Though the documentary includes much of the story, director Ryan White doesnt include every piece of evidence, and some of the most crucial information gets left out. Locating that stash, investigators found, among other things, nude pictures of underage girls. Joyce Maleckis murder is explored as much as it can be as being potentially connected to the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, but theres still so much that Abbie, Gemma, and audiences dont know. 'Father Maskell picked me up, took me to a wooded area where there was a lot of policemen gathered around, he left me in the backseat and two policemen abused me while Maskell stood next to the car. Source:https://www.spreaker.com/user/americancrimecast/sister-cathy-cesnik-part-5-if-i-told-i-wThis episode may not be appropriate for all listeners. [7], In 2017, CBS Baltimore reported allegations from three women that during Cesnik's tenure at Archbishop Keough High School, two of the priests, Joseph Maskell and E. Neil Magnus, were sexually abusing the girls at the school in addition to trafficking them to others. On February 28, police opened the grave of Rev. The plaintiffs appealed. Peter McKeon (possibly with Sister Helen Phillips and Rev. If the Archdiocese is willing to blatantly lie about this, what else are they lying about? But that's where things get hazy. She "was found strangled and stabbed to death in a small creek . Father Neil Magnus Is A Possible Suspect On 'The Keepers'. Though White says he included absolutely all the information he knew in the documentary, he did contradict himself later by saying, The project was heavily vetted by lawyers there were times when I believed we knew somebody that was involved in the abuse, but we couldn't include a name for legal reasons. True crime buffs will know that this often happens, that the law tangles everything up in red tape so details like names and dates will be removed from stories. prior to the release of the Netflix documentary series 'The Keepers', for DNA testing involving the murder of Cathy Cesnik. One of them, Jean Wehner, was the student who claimed Maskell had taken her to view Cesnik's body in the dump. Former students of the Catholic school have maintained that the priest was somehow involved in Sister Cathy's murder. Supposedly, according to White and Jean Wehner, the Archdiocese opened an investigation into A. Joseph Maskell, and so, those records should exist. Nearly 20 years ago, Nugent had been calling many former students from the now-closed Archbishop Keough High School, for a story on Sister Cesnik, who was murdered in 1969. The green 1970 Maverick had been parked illegally near the apartment. He'd even leave his position as a priest and marry her, if only she would agree. Each of their bodies was found in different law enforcement jurisdictions, delaying any connections from being made for many years, according to Armacost. Father A. Joseph Maskell was a person of interest for a reason, it seemed. 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