But some thirty women soon came forward with accounts of sexual abuse at the school. Advocates, filmmakers say they have not given up. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. Discovery Company. One of the most frustrating aspects of being a true crime fan is dealing with endless cover-ups from authorities and government entities, like police and the FBI. Details. On November 7, 1969, 26-year-old Sister Catherine Cesnik vanished. It had to be somebody who knew her.'. Hoskins did write about her theory on the killer in her book "Keeping On: How I came To Know Why I Was Born.. The news shook a lot of people, to put it lightly. Rather, people actually trusted him a lot, reportsHuffpost. The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki. , updated Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may . However, they say theres nothing, even though Jean Wehner found many victims willing to come forward simply by sending out letters in the mail. The Keepers: Pieces Of Evidence The Show Leaves Out, 16 TV Shows Too Disturbing To Binge-Watch, 10 Exciting New Netflix Originals Still Coming In 2019, Netflixs Tiger King: 15 Best Joe Exotic Quotes, Everything Available At Launch On HBO Max, 10 Creepy Documentaries To Watch If You Loved The Keepers, Wesley Crusher Is Now A Big Star Trek Picard Season 3 Question, Last Of Us Episode 6's Joel Ending Change From Game Defended By Director, How I Met Your Mother Stars Hold Mini-Reunion In New Image. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. After that, it seemed like she paid a visit to Muhly's Bakery inside the Hecht Company store in Edmondson Village. (Aside from reports that Maskell invited uniformed officers to assault the girls). 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. Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was 26 when she disappeared in 1969; her body was found weeks later, Baltimore County Police exhumed the body of a priest for DNA testing in the case. So the case couldn't go forward. All of them took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s generally around the Baltimore area, with many of the crime scenes and bodies sharing physical characteristics. In The Keepers another Keough graduate - Jean Hargadon-Wehner - talked on camera about her abuse by two priests, Neil Magnus and Joseph Maskell, and other men at the school. ', He theorized that because there had been no signs of a struggle, 'it looked too clean. I always felt like there was some reason for me to be here and I didn't know what it was. The first clue in the disappearance was found pretty early her car ended up giving some insight into what happened but mostly brought more confusion. Its possible Flaherty and Maskell had some deeper connection at the time that has simply been completely overlooked. Pamela Lynn Conyers, 16, was last seen at the shopping mall in Glen Burnie on October 16, 1970, police said. Her account was brought into question by scientific evidence showing that it would have been impossible for maggots to be alive at that time of year. However, she didnt want to go on the record. And to end. 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. And the oldest was in her 20's.. Outwardly, it seemed like there was little wrong with him. 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." Her body was found January 3, 1970. No matter how wrong it seems, it's happened too many times, and the case of Sister Catherine Cesnik is one of those examples. The current team of cold case detectives, assigned the Cesnik case in 2016, began discussing the exhumation of Maskell almost immediately, but it took time to get proper authorization. It just means that there's no link between Maskell and the crime scene. In the 1990s, Jean Wehner came forward and alleged that Father Maskell had sexually abused her and allowed other men to do the same. Determining whether Maskells DNA matches the evidence remaining from the crime scene is a box that must be checked, said Armacost. Koob had an alibi for the night he'd been out at a movie with another priest and claimed not to know anything. memorial page for Sr Catherine Anne "Cathy" Cesnik (17 Nov 1942-7 Nov 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 61142401, citing . [6] At 4:40am the next morning, Russell's friends, Peter McKeon and Gerard J. Koob, both Catholic priests, found Cesnik's car, in muddy condition, and illegally parked across from her apartment complex. There is even more to this than meets the eye; White said there are about thirty-five other survivors just like her, and more reaching out all the time. In 2017, Netflix released an original documentary called The Keepers which reignited interest in the unsolved murders of Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki in 1969. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. He'd mostly target students who were struggling, either academically or at home, calling them in for "therapy," where he used his charms to manipulate them into believing he knew what was best for them. She was valedictorian at the graduation of her high school class in 1960, after being the May Queen and the president of the senior class and the student council. By 1994, they and several other students had filed a lawsuit alleging physical and sexual abuse by Maskell through the 1960s and 1970s, according to Armacost. . I think this is it, Hoskins said, in a recent interview. Supposedly, according to White and Jean Wehner, the Archdiocese opened an investigation into A. Joseph Maskell, and so, those records should exist. There, on the ground, still clad, her face covered with maggots, was the body of Sister Cathy. 2023 Cable News Network. He died in 2001, police said. Still a mystery. [10], Wehner says that, two months before Cesnik's body was discovered, and only a day or two after Cesnik disappeared on November 1969, Maskell drove her to a wooded site near Fort Meade and showed her the body. Born in Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1942, reports the Baltimore Sun, Cesnik was described by her younger sister as devoted and rather ambitious. 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 . But, again, that didn't go anywhere, with Maskell always conveniently too busy to talk. Even after Cesnik left her job at Keough and took a position at Western, she still gave the girls a safe space to talk. The Murder. According to the Baltimore Sun, as evening fell on Nov. 7, 1969, Sister Catherine Cesnik left her unassuming apartment, heading to the Edmondson Village Shopping Center around 7:30 p.m. As far as her roommate, Sister Helen Russell Phillips, could tell, she was headed out to buy an engagement gift for her sister, as well as run a few errands. On May 17, the Baltimore Sun reported that his DNA did not match a sample that was taken. Jean Wehner also added that, one day, Cesnik took her aside, just to ask if the priests were hurting her. She joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame when she was 18. Like a scene out of a horror movie, the high school junior was driven to a garbage dump by the school's 30-year-old spiritual counselor, Father Joseph Maskell - who died in 2001 - and reportedly told the 16-year-old student: 'You see what happens when you say bad things about people?'. 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. This photo was not uploaded . 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. Were not going to let this go, Hoskins said. Baltimore County Police exhumed the body of a priest for DNA testing in the case No one, not even fellow Keough graduates, knew that Jean Hargadon-Wehner was the so-called "Jane Doe" who came forward in the early 1990's and accused the Archdiocese of Baltimore of allowing the abuse to continue. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. It was actual, hard evidence that would at least be enough to arrest Maskell for possessing child pornography. Detective Nick Giangrasso still thought it was someone tied to the church, though, and began to look into Father A. Joseph Maskell. Does he ever reveal them? In fact, people around the world were so distraught at learning about Sister Cathy's case that they started flooding the Baltimore County Police with calls. I'm not going to name names right now but they know stuff. 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. Peter McKeon (possibly with Sister Helen Phillips and Rev. All rights reserved. She left for Baltimore at 18 to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame, eventually going on to teach at Archbishop Keough High School. ', While the murder of Sister Cathy is in the forefront of the series, White noted that there were other crimes 'happening before and after, and still filter down to today and may be linked to her murder. ', 'Before I knew it, there was a big man on top of me and then I thought that would be it and another policeman came in and I could hear Maskell in the distance talking and laughing. The plaintiffs suits are thus barred by the statute of limitation. As the next morning rolled around, Catherine Cesnik still hadn't returned to the apartment, and her roommate became very concerned. Another time, he pressed his gun to the side of Jean Wehner's head, actually pulling the trigger only for her to realize it was unloaded. There were actually six different murders that might all be connected with each other three teenage girls, a teenage boy, Cesnik, and Joyce Malecki. And this update involves Father Joseph Maskell. Sharon Mays husband, V. Eric W. May, Sr., was a state cop while Sharon was a prosecutor, providing the two of them even more opportunity to participate in a cover-up. 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. People from all over Baltimore County helped the police comb local parks and wooded areas for any sign of her. Her body was found in Lansdowne, south of Baltimore, on January 3, 1970. Cesnik attended St. Mary's School on 57th Street and St. Augustine High School, both in Lawrenceville. And after almost 50 years, Sister Cathy's murder has remained unsolved. Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Soon they were linking that abuse to Sister Cathy's murder, and speculation that she was going to blow the whistle and tell all. 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. Detectives revealed on Wednesday that after weeks of testing, Maskell's DNA did not match evidence found from the murder scene nearly 50 years ago. Jerry Oppenheimer For Dailymail.com I think he's dead, but I may be wrong. 'There were a lot of layers that if you peeled them back went a lot deeper. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much All Rights Reserved. catherine cesnik autopsy photos. Their work is featured prominently, in "The Keepers.. But Maskell's case was complicated further by his ties to the police force through his work as a military chaplain. According to Armacost, in 1994 one of the students who claimed abuse by Maskell when she was in high school said that he took her to a remote dumping area and showed her Cesniks decaying body as a warning of what would happen if she told anyone about him. [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. Maskell denied involvement in any form of abuse. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. However, White did still get to talk to them he even got to talk to the anonymous student he mentions in the series. Eluding police questioning, Maskell eventually ran off to Ireland in 1994 to work as a priest. So it probably wasn't the result of some random act of violence. The words scared Wehner into silence for decades. Instead, it made more sense if someone Catherine Cesnik already knew coerced her from the car. Ghosts of the past might've followed her, though, punishing her for what she knew and the good she did. May 11, 2017 at 2:54 pm. Many believe a quiet cover-up orchestrated by the Catholic Church and . 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. Viewers of The Keepers do not fondly reflect on Sharon May, the prosecutor in charge of the Maryland State Attorneys Office Sex Abuse Unit. Many of the parents in the area would regularly attend his masses and let him baptize their children. As in, a three-year-old who remembers it. Police have also looked into whether Cesniks death is related to the deaths of three other young women in the Baltimore area around the same time. appreciated. Authorities said results will take up to six more weeks. Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may . Autoplay. White is unconvinced that the DNA found at the scene on a cigarette butt would match A. Joseph Maskells DNA, but he remains positive that, eventually, someone will catch whoever murdered Sister Cathy and theyll finally figure out why. [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. The weapon that caused it? We know this speculation about the circumstances is not false, because Jean Hargadon Wehner tells us in the show that she has evidence proving otherwise. The Keepers centres on the death of 26-year-old nun, Sister Cathy Cesnik, who went missing from Baltimore, Maryland on November 7th, 1969.Her body was found decomposed two months later, but the . This family evidence of anger problems, assaults on others, using a position of power over others to avoid punishment, and the assault on a young woman much like Sister Cathy all point towards a potential pre-existing rage in A. Joseph Maskell that nobody has ever explored. Her co-workers had kind words to say about her. by Caralynn Lippo. A lack of information about his life at the time has made deeper research difficult; however, viewers now know that Robert Flaherty was accused in a separate sex abuse scandal, as well. 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. According to People, Jean Wehner suspected that Cesnik had planned to go to police, finally exposing Maskell for what he was. Maskell's DNA did not match the forensic profile from 1970, although investigators noted that this . 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. He'd even leave his position as a priest and marry her, if only she would agree. There is no word on whether the Attorney General's investigators will gain access to those records. Father A. Joseph Maskell was a person of interest for a reason, it seemed. Without getting into a bunch of complicated legal jargon, victims of abuse would've had three years to come forward. 2. Updated 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. She acted like a savior to his victims, and Huffpost compiled a number of those stories. They already knew the murderer, but looking further would unearth information he wasn't supposed to know. Sister Cathy's life and death have both deeply inspired and haunted Gemma in a number of ways, and she's made it her life s purpose to uncover what really happened on that November night in 1969. He then left to work as pastor of a church in Baltimore, but later returned to his duties after an archdiocese investigation failed to support the abuse allegations. After the complaints were made to the archdiocese, Maskell was temporarily removed from his post at the school for psychological evaluation. The mutilated body of the 26-year-old teacher was found on January 3, 1970. But that's where things get hazy. The youngest I've talked to myself was three, Hoskins said. Now, police are awaiting results of DNA from the body of Maskell, a priest who was accused in the 1990s of sexually assaulting young women. Sister Cathy was left in a remote area of Lansdowne, near a garbage dump. Often, survivors would choose to remain anonymous, and the crew of The Keepers respected that choice and removed their stories, names, and/or faces from the series. It would be two months later, on January 3, 1970, that a couple of hunters came upon Sister Cathy's decomposed, frozen and mutilated body, and notified police. What the show doesnt touch on, however, is Koobs supposed relationship with Sister Cathy. 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