CATHOLIC Church officials in Toledo were this week accused of colluding with local police to keep a priest from being arrested for murder for a staggering 24 years,
The accusation follows the rejection of an appeal against his prison sentence by Gerald Robinson, who was convicted in 2006 for the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, a 71-year-old nun who found dead in the sacristy, next to the chapel, of the former Mercy Hospital in Toledo on the day before Easter in 1980.
Jailed priest Gerald Robinson
Despite defence contentions that Robinson did not receive a fair trial because too much time had elapsed before he was convicted, the Ohio Supreme Court said it would not consider his appeal, according to the Toledo Blade.
Barbara Blaine, a former Toledoan who is founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said there is comfort in knowing that:
Some level of vindication occurred for the wrongdoing the nun experienced.
She added that although the conviction has been upheld, survivors of priest abuse are still “haunted” by their pasts and believe there is a great deal not yet uncovered.
We’re still convinced that someday the truth will be exposed and we’re looking forward to that.
Claudia Vercellotti, local coordinator of SNAP, called the decision “bittersweet” because of a possible appeal by Robinson to the US Supreme Court. She said:
It’s ironic that [defence counsel] Mr Donahue claims the time between Sister Margaret Ann’s murder and Father Robinson’s arrest denied the priest due process, because it was Catholic officials in collusion with the police department that kept Robinson from being arrested for 24 years.
The only ones being denied due process for those 24 years were Sister Margaret Ann, the Pahl family, the Sisters of Mercy, and the community.
Murder victim Sister Margaret-Ann Pahl
Robinson, 70, is serving a 15-year-to-life prison sentence in Hocking Correctional Facility in Nelsonville, Ohio. He was arrested by Lucas County cold-case investigators in April, 2004, and convicted in May, 2006. Robinson, who retired in 2004 but is still a priest, is not eligible for parole until 2021.
Lee Pahl of Edgerton, Ohio, a nephew of Sister Margaret Ann, said that he watched the original trial every day and was convinced “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that the jury reached the right decision. He said the situation has been “long and hard” for his family, adding that he’s not surprised that the defence continues to argue on Robinson’s behalf.
According to evidence at the trial, the 71-year-old nun had almost been choked to death and then stabbed 31 times in the chest, neck, and face with a sabre-shaped letter opener. Her partly-naked body was found by another nun on the morning of April 5, 1980.
An unrelated civil case remains pending against Robinson before Common Pleas Judge Ruth Ann Franks. Survivor Jane Doe and her husband have filed suit against Robinson, Gerald Mazuchowski, and the Toledo diocese claiming that she experienced sexual and cult-like abuse.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Okay, so this is Catholic logic. ‘We strive as hard as possible to keep priests out of jail, no matter how heinous their crimes, but once they’re in they’re less of an embarrassment, so we’ll do our almightiest to keep ‘em there till they die.’ Tad hypocritical, but what the heck, an ex-Nazi gay-basher as Pope is so weird anything else becomes almost commonplace.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Spot on Valdermar, but don’t forget that, in his previous role as Vatican ‘enforcer’, it was Benny the Boy Nazi who amended the rules on priests co-operating with criminal investigations to ensure that any physical evidence priests have of wrongdoing (families reporting child abuse, auditors noticing cooked books, etc,)must be submitted directly to the Vatican, not any relevant local or national investigating body such as the police or tax authorities. The Vatican then uses its status as a sovereign state to ensure the evidence cannot be requested by any court, even if known of.
I also gather that under Benny’s edict above priests are forbidden by their vows of obedience to the Pope from speaking to any investigating body for something like a decade – by which time prosecutions cannot begin. Ironically, there are even clauses hidden away in both the Human Rights Act and the Interception of Communications Act which protect them from being bugged or revealing the contents of anything said in the confessional booth.
With privileges and scams like this, which play on the laughable idea that priests are somehow more decent and honest than us lot, it’s a wonder their crimes ever get prosecuted.
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Thanks, Stuart H, I didn’t know that – but it doesn’t surprise me.
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
When it comes to hypocrisy and subterfuge, the catholic church is hard to beat, they have had centuries of abusing people – torture and murder being there particular favourites, so no surprise here. Odd thing about this case is that the victim was female; I thought catholic priests had a penchant for young boys.
Did you notice that Robinson bears a similarity with G. W. Bush, he even has the same shifty, sly look about him.
August 21st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
When forensic evidence is over looked it tends to lead to innocent people being incarcerated. The last victim of a brutal serial killer named B.T.K, had DNA evidence under both of her fingernails, but her husband remained the main suspect until the crime was solved.