Potential suspects seem like they should shed some light on a case, but that wasn't the case here, as Huffpost documents. On January 3, 1970, her body was found by a hunter and his son in an informal landfill located on the 2100 block of Monumental Road, in a remote area of Lansdowne. See more ideas about catherine, documentaries, unsolved murders. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. Sister Cathy was a teacher at Archbishop Keough High School and went missing in Baltimore in 1969. [8], In 1995, Teresa Lancaster and Jean Wehner (ne Hargadon), former students at Keough who say they were sexually abused by Maskell, filed a lawsuit against him, the school, gynecologist Christian Richter, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and William H. Keeler. Many have speculated on the identity of this mysterious Brother Bob, with most pointing to Ed (Edgar Davidson) as being the most obvious answer, but some are now speculating that Father Robert Flaherty is Brother Bob. But she wasn't fully happy there, and by 1969, at the age of 26, Cesnik knew she had potential that her order was stifling, knew she could become so much more, and moved out to take a job at Western High School. Feb 28, 2020. One of the initial persons of interest was a Jesuit priest who had been romantically involved with the pretty nun, and had once asked her to marry him, before she took her vows. So we didn't want to set that as our bar, Hargrave said. The girl left but the next day, she later claimed, Maskell waved a gun at her, warning he'd kill her and her family if she revealed the abuse. In his late 20s at the time and described as pretty charismatic, he was easy to like, working as a counselor with a psychology degree from Johns Hopkins. Their work is featured prominently, in "The Keepers.. Huffpost added that choke marks colored her neck, and a quarter-sized hole in the back of her skull pointed to her actual cause of death blunt force trauma, leading to a skull fracture and brain hemorrhaging. As police proceeded with their investigation, Father Maskell who was said to have taken a female student to the site where she claimed she saw Sister Cathy's lifeless body came under suspicion. With that came the ominous warning "You see what happens when you say bad things about people?" Frightened and feeling threatened by the strapping, dominating clergyman who was popular with churchgoers for his Sunday masses the girl decided to keep secret her gruesome discovery. 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. The Keepers was an intense docu-series on Netflix about an unsolved murder, and here are some bits of evidence the show has left out. They were last known to have been at shopping centers in the area, the same as Cesnik. Well, for all the fans with remaining questions, there has been an update in the murder case. The plaintiffs suits are thus barred by the statute of limitation. The seven-episode docuseries explores the 1969 death of Catholic nun and Baltimore schoolteacher Sister Cathy Cesnik and touches on 20-year-old Joyce Malecki's murder mere days later. Really, the whole thing raises a lot of questions, summarized by Huffpost. The filmmakers said they were not trying to solve the murder of Sister Cathy, or the murder of Joyce Malecki, which is also featured in the series. On the show, we see how long its been taking to get the FBI to honor the requests for documentation under the Freedom of Information Act. In 2016, the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) reassigned the case due to retiring officers, prompting new interviews and further investigation into the alleged sexual abuse at Keough. The Murder. Jane Doe (Jean Wehner) is quoted as recalling a man she knew only as Brother Bob, who she can hardly remember from being traumatized so badly by him, whispering to her that he was the one who had killed Sister Cathy. Unless some brave sleuths or particularly inspired detectives go digging, Keough High School is now, for better or worse, closed to a continuing story. CNN reported in 2017 that police had the okay to exhume his body for DNA testing, but even then, the DNA wasn't a match with what was found at the crime scene. 1. There is no word on whether the Attorney General's investigators will gain access to those records. While the case remains open, allegations of sexual abuse by Father Maskell, and Sister's Cathy's plan to blow the whistle along with a possible cover up by the Catholic Church with close ties to law enforcement are at the heart of the horrendous case. Photo of Sister Cathy Cesnik (Image Source: Daily Mail) On November 7, 1969, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik disappeared. Two months later, her body was found in a frozen field in Baltimore County. Either she or Phillips would always make to stop on every second Friday to cash their paychecks. Source:https://www.spreaker.com/user/americancrimecast/sistercathy-1Join Gemma Hoskins and Shane Waters in this new podcast series about the unsolved murder . We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She left for Baltimore at 18 to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame, eventually going on to teach at Archbishop Keough High School. She'd spin stories and excuses, telling Maskell that they were studying or otherwise occupied by something that they couldn't get away from. Though, of course, they insist theyre doing everything they can to help victims of abuse, on the subject of Maskell, they remain as vague and unhelpful as ever. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. One of the friends Helen Phillips had called upon, Koob had been dating Catherine Cesnik at the time. The Huffington Post reported that Maskell told Wehner, "You see what happens when you say bad things about people?"[1]. She also talked about what happened after Sister Cathy found out about it. As documentary-maker Ryan White asserted: 'What we discovered during the filmmaking process is that everything wasn't as it appeared to be. Jan. 3, 1970, changed that. Sean Caine, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said the archdiocese removed Maskell from his post as soon as they learned of the allegations in 1992, in order to conduct their own investigation. 2023 Cable News Network. Two women, both with close ties to an unnamed man who may have been . [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. One of Baltimores most infamous cold cases, Cesniks death is the subject of a new documentary series, The Keepers, which releases May 19 on Netflix. By 1994, over a dozen allegations had been filed against Maskell by different women, some of whom had been abused, and others who had managed to fend off Maskell's advances. Ghosts of the past might've followed her, though, punishing her for what she knew and the good she did. Peter McKeon (possibly with Sister Helen Phillips and Rev. She Was Found Fatally Beaten Two Months After Disappearing in 1969. She was the eldest child of Joseph and Anna Omulac Cesnik. Not two decades. She was found dead two months later. She was last seen just before leaving . Hargadon-Wehner's new book "Walking With Aletheia" details her healing process, and what she's learned from - she says - communicating with several different aspects of her personality. Meteorological records also reveal that temperatures during the week in question were warm enough for maggots to hatch. 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. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. RELATED:Everything Available At Launch On HBO Max. And why should they? Western's principal noted that she was an especially "fine teacher," while others pointed out that she was known for her compassion. Every bit of it, vividly. Pamela Lynn Conyers, 16, was last seen at the shopping mall in Glen Burnie on October 16, 1970, police said. But that charming faade was shattered in 1992. The student let herself out right away but could tell that Maskell knew what was happening. Father Maskell was a counselor and chaplain at Archbishop Keough from 1967 to 1975. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. Nicole currently resides in Massachusetts with their husband and two best friends. Much like the government, the Catholic Church has their own internal system for keeping track of the people who make up their organization. In the decades since the nuns killing and as DNA testing has become a vital investigative tool, Baltimore County police have compared the DNA of several other people as part of their investigation into the never-closed case, according to Armacost, but those tests did not match the DNA profile from 1970. Without getting into a bunch of complicated legal jargon, victims of abuse would've had three years to come forward. Two women anonymous at the time but who later came forward as Jean Wehner and Teresa Lancaster came forward with allegations of abuse, saying he (and some of his associates) had assaulted them while they were students at Archbishop Keough (later Seton Keough) High School (via Baltimore Sun). Grace Elizabeth Montanye, 16, met a stranger at a shopping mall on Sept 29, 1971, northwest of Baltimore, according to police. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. The details go on, and none of them are pretty. Supposedly, according to White and Jean Wehner, the Archdiocese opened an investigation into A. Joseph Maskell, and so, those records should exist. Four former students also claimed that they were abused by Maskell, and a Baltimore Archdiocese spokesman acknowledged that Maskell was 'credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. Something was clearly wrong, and so, according to the Baltimore Sun, Helen Russell Phillips called on the help of a few friends revs. And that wasn't the only time he threatened to expose his victims, saying he would get one of the girls expelled and sent to a facility for having done drugs a secret she'd confided in him because she'd thought he loved her. On November 7, 1969, 26-year-old Sister Catherine Cesnik vanished. Its important to take this confession from Koob with a grain of salt, as he is proven in the show to be less than the most reliable of witnesses, but, as White says, I dont know where the truth lies.. 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. One of them, Jean Wehner, was the student who claimed Maskell had taken her to view Cesnik's body in the dump. White can only say this about it: Her story is chilling.. [5] On November 7, 1969, she left the apartment she shared with Helen Russell Phillips at the Carriage House Apartments, at 131 North Bend Road in Catonsville, en route to the Edmondson Village Shopping Center to purchase a gift for her sister's engagement at Hecht's jewelry store. RELATED: 10 Exciting New Netflix Originals Still Coming In 2019. > Licensing inquiries: Email tim.thomas@baltsun.com. Because the federal government keeps stalling and refusing to release information under the FOIA regarding Joyce Maleckis murder, there are likely countless pieces of possibly helpful evidence related to the homicides of both Joyce Malecki and Sister Cathy. When she didnt come home, her roommate reported her missing the next day. Not every story that Ryan White heard gets told in The Keepers. But it's not the only theory. It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. This is presumed to be the source of the DNA sample found at the murder scene, but Ryan White knows theres even more that Baltimore County Police arent saying. I think this is it, Hoskins said, in a recent interview. The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki. The show is responsible for initiating a deeper look into the case of A. Joseph Maskell and Sister Cathy Cesnik, as Baltimore County Police start investigating again due to a public outcry. The Baltimore Sun reported in late 2016 that since 2011 the archdiocese has paid out settlements to Maskell's alleged victims. Sister Cathy Cesnik & Joyce Malecki. Shortly before her disappearance, he'd called her again, telling her that he was still in love with her. ', He theorized that because there had been no signs of a struggle, 'it looked too clean. RELATED:16 TV Shows Too Disturbing To Binge-Watch, Most dont believe Gerry Koob when he talks, but a member of the police force, Detective Roemer, claimed that Koob confessed to having a sexual relationship with Sister Cathy before her disappearance. The same happened in 1994. If the Archdiocese is willing to blatantly lie about this, what else are they lying about? Today, almost a half-century later, the murder of Sister Cathy who was once compared to Julie Andrews' character in 'The Sound of Music' because of her beauty and bubbly personality is still one of law enforcement's most mysterious cold cases. For this week, I sailed through a second viewing of the entire seven-part series about the link between Sister Cathy Cesnik's 1969 murder and sexual abuse at a girls parochial school in Baltimore. This photo was not uploaded . There were actually six different murders that might all be connected with each other three teenage girls, a teenage boy, Cesnik, and Joyce Malecki. All rights reserved. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved "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. What the show doesnt get into is that the FBI has pushed back the date even further now. Another article put out by the Baltimore Sun tried to paint a clearer image of the evening. Ultimately, Maskell died in 2001, having never been charged for a thing. Sandra Onorati Rzucek, Shan'ann's mother, described Shan'ann as a "fireball". (Handout photo courtesy of . Baltimore Detective Lt. Sam Bowerman always believed Sister Cathy was killed by a man who either lived in, or was familiar with, the area around the Carriage House Apartments, knew the location off Monument Avenue where her body was dumped, and that the murder was unplanned. An autopsy revealed a skull fracture caused by a blow to Sister Catherine's left temple by a blunt instrument. On the evening she disappeared, Sister Cathy was reportedly counseling one of the abused girls when Maskell unexpectedly showed up. It had to be somebody who knew her.'. Except for that day, she said. The Murder Of Catherine Cesnik, The Nun Who Knew Too Much. Autoplay. There, on the ground, still clad, her face covered with maggots, was the body of Sister Cathy. The women have since been more vocal about the abuses they suffered at Joseph Maskell's hands, and all the stories are universally awful (via Huffpost). September 2, 2018 / nickvdl. Sister Catherine Cesnik is pictured with her father, Joseph Cesnik. It made sense that she'd gone into some kind of wooded area, and with Leakin Park near where the car was found, it was a place to start. But that's where things get hazy. [deleted] 6 yr. ago. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. When she was reported missing later that night, several dozen cops and half-a-dozen dog teams unsuccessfully searched a wide swath of Baltimore's southwest neighborhood searching for clues to her whereabouts. In general, he exploited 1960s counterculture, offering a relaxed environment and a willing ear regarding sex, drugs, alcohol, and the like all things that the students' strictly religious parents detested. Armacost says the timing of Maskells exhumation has nothing to do with the documentary, and opening the priests grave was simply a step that cold-case investigators felt needed to be taken to leave no stone unturned. Whats worse than considering the fact that A. Joseph Maskell terrorized one community? People from all over Baltimore County helped the police comb local parks and wooded areas for any sign of her. No one really knows exactly what happened to Cesnik. In spite of the Freedom of Information Act, the federal government has continuously neglected to provide Gemma Hoskins with this information. . Maybe that was why a homicide detective was told to drop the case in the 1970s, blocked from investigating because higher-ups were "protecting someone." There are a lot of people that are living that should be behind bars, she said. The body was in poor condition but an autopsy revealed that Sister Cesnick died from a blow to her left temple by a blunt . It's been almost five decades since 26-year-old nun and teacher Sister Cathy Cesnik was senselessly murdered back in 1969 and to this day, those closest to her are still looking for answers . catherine cesnik autopsy photos. Expand. [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. It continues to be one of several theories.. She was warm and energetic, always ready to engage with her students, writing musicals for them to perform on stage, or inventing games to encourage them to teach each other new vocabulary. Moreover, she said that along with the priest, she was abused by police officers. Were not going to let this go, Hoskins said. One of the most famous pieces of evidence from the show is the cigarette butt shown in episode six, found near Sister Cathys body. Joyce Helen Malecki, 20, disappeared from Harundale Mall a few days after Cesnik; her . The unsolved slaying of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik in Baltimore in 1969 hit another dead end Wednesday when police learned that DNA from a long-deceased priest did not match crime scene evidence . She joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame when she was 18. No matter how wrong it seems, it's happened too many times, and the case of Sister Catherine Cesnik is one of those examples. appreciated. Following her disappearance, investigators plotted her movements and determined she had cashed her $255 paycheck at a bank before heading to a small shopping center where she bought some baked goods. They encourage everyone reading this to question everything, stay hydrated, and treat others with kindness. RELATED:Netflixs Tiger King: 15 Best Joe Exotic Quotes. ', He claimed that the detectives were told to either charge the priest 'or let him go. Around 7:30pm on . As the next morning rolled around, Catherine Cesnik still hadn't returned to the apartment, and her roommate became very concerned. Gerard Koob it depends on the report) found her car unlocked around 4:40 a.m. on the day after her disappearance. It was thrown out on a technicality, according to Huffpost. 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