TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By CLYDE HUGHES
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Lucas County assistant prosecutor Dean Mandros acknowledged yesterday that prosecutors initially had doubts two years ago when cold-case investigators wanted to reopen the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
And Toledo police Sgt. Steve Forrester and Tom Ross, an investigator with the Lucas County prosecutor's office, were constantly hammered by defense attorneys for Catholic priest Gerald Robinson during his trial for the 71-year-old nun's murder.
So Mr. Ross said he felt "vindicated" yesterday with the conviction of the 68-year-old retired priest in a crime that took 26 years to be resolved.
"This is a vindication as much as for us as the [detectives] back in 1980," Mr. Ross said during a news conference. "If they had the technology we have today … they would have brought this to a successful conclusion in 1980. I think it was handled quite well. Back in 1980, they focused on the right suspect."
Posted by kshaw at May 12, 2006 07:47 AM