April 22, 2006

25-year-old murder focuses on priest

TOLEDO (OH)
United Press International

TOLEDO, Ohio, April 22 (UPI) -- The 1980 murder of a 71-year-old nun in Ohio is being tried after a woman came forward saying a priest had molested her as a child in Satanic rituals.

Father Gerald Robinson -- a popular and now frail 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest who helped preside over the nun's funeral Mass -- is being tried for her death, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was choked so hard that the blood vessels in her eyes burst and bones in her neck were crushed. While she was still breathing, her killer stabbed her 31 times -- and some of the wounds formed the shape of an upside-down cross.

Pahl's mutilated body was found sprawled on the floor of the church sacristy, below a small wooden crucifix.

Posted by kshaw at April 22, 2006 07:10 PM