April 29, 2006

Nun upset at priest day before she was murdered

TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade

By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

A retired Mercy Hospital housekeeper testified today that Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was so upset over the way the Rev. Gerald Robinson celebrated Good Friday Mass on April 4, 1980, that the nun clutched her hand and said, "Why do they cheat God from what belongs to him?"

Father Robinson, 68, is on trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, charged in the murder of Sister Margaret Ann on Holy Saturday, 1980.

Shirley Ann Lucas, who cleaned the Sisters of Mercy convent on the seventh floor of the hospital, testified in Judge Thomas Osowik's court today that Sister Margaret Ann was a "very strict" nun who wanted things done a certain way.

Asked by Larry Kiroff, assistant Lucas County prosecutor, for an example, Ms. Lucas said the nun criticized her for throwing away small pieces of soap and toilet paper rolls with just a few pieces of paper left. Sister Margaret Ann showed her how she could wet the small soap bars and press them together to make a larger bar, Ms. Lucas said.

Posted by kshaw at April 29, 2006 09:35 AM