April 28, 2006

Coroner: Priest's Letter Opener Fit Wound

TOLEDO (OH)
Houston Chronicle

By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press Writer

TOLEDO, Ohio — A letter opener found in a priest's room was a "perfect fit" when inserted into a jaw wound suffered by a nun slain in 1980, an assistant coroner testified Tuesday at the priest's murder trial.

Also, the letter opener appeared to match punctures in an altar cloth that had been placed over the nun's body, another investigator told the jury.

The testimony came at the trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, in the slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. She was stabbed to death and choked in a hospital chapel. Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the killing.

"We took the letter opener and inserted it. It was a perfect fit," Diane Scala-Barnett, an assistant Lucas County coroner, testified about a second autopsy done after the body was exhumed in 2004.

Posted by kshaw at April 28, 2006 03:54 AM