April 27, 2006

Investigators try to link cloth to priest

TOLEDO (OH)
The Mercury News

JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio - Bloodstains on an altar cloth and the forehead of a nun slain in 1980 could have come from a sword-shaped letter opener belonging to the priest accused of stabbing her, a medical examiner testified.

The stains were a key reason why prosecutors two years ago charged the Rev. Gerald Robinson with killing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. Paulette Sutton, a medical examiner, told jurors Wednesday during Robinson's trial that of 18 bloodstains she examined on the cloth, most could have come from the letter opener.

Robinson, 68, was a suspect early on because he was near the chapel at the time Sister Pahl was killed. The two worked together closely and Robinson presided over her funeral. He could get life in prison if convicted of murder.

Testimony in the case was set to continue Thursday.

Posted by kshaw at April 27, 2006 06:50 AM