Priest's Affair and the Body Buried under His Church, This is London [Scotland], March 30, 2007

Priest's Affair and the Body Buried under His Church

This is London [Scotland]
March 30, 2007

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23390870-details/Priest's+affair+and+the+body+buried+under+his+church/article.do

A student was murdered and buried under the floorboards of a church after having affairs with a priest and a married man, a court heard yesterday.

Angelika Kluk, a 23-year-old from Poland, came to Britain during her summer holidays to earn money but ended up in a relationship with the priest of the Catholic church where she was staying, it is claimed.

The lover, the accused and the victim, left to right: Martin MacAskill, odd-job man Peter Tobin, and student Angelika Kluk

But their relationship turned sour after he found out she had embarked on a 'romantic and sexual' relationship with a married man.

Two months later, Miss Kluk's battered body was found buried underneath the floorboards of the church near the confession box.

She had been bound, gagged and raped before being struck over the head with a piece of wood and stabbed repeatedly with a knife.

After she went missing a desperate search was carried out and her lovers.

After she went missing a desperate Thou shalt was carried out and her lovers questioned.

But less than 24 hours after her body was found under a hatch in the church floor, police arrested Peter Tobin, 60, a local odd-job man, for her rape and murder.

Yesterday, giving evidence at the second day of Tobin's murder trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, Father Gerry Nugent of St Patrick's Church in Anderston, Glasgow, told of his relationship with Miss Kluk.

Jurors heard that Father Nugent had admitted a relationship with her to a newspaper five months after her killing.

Defending, Donald Findlay, QC, told the court that the article, under the headline 'Churchman admits sex with tragic Angelika', appeared in a February edition of the Scottish Mail on Sunday.

He told the court that Father Nugent admitted the 'lengthy and intimate' relationship with Miss Kluk which began when she stayed with him at lodgings at his church during her summer holidays. She was working as a cleaner in Glasgow to earn money for her education in Poland, where she lived at home with her divorced father and studied science and languages.

She also helped out at St Patrick's chapel in return for board and lodgings. But, the court heard, Father Nugent became 'cold' towards Miss Kluk when she began another shalt not con relationship with a married man, Martin MacAskill.

'It was romantic and sexual'

Giving evidence, Mr Mac- Askill, 40, struggled to hold back tears as he admitted their affair. 'It was a romantic and sexual relationship,' he told the court. 'I loved her - still do.' Mr MacAskill, a chauffeur, said he began an affair with Miss Kluk in July last year after she became a temporary nanny for his children. He wiped away tears as the court heard extracts from Miss Kluk's diary where she spoke of her love for Mr MacAskill.

'I don't want it to be a dream,' she wrote. 'I want it to be life. I want to live it with my eyes wide open. My love to you is yet so small and immature but it still grows stronger and understands more.' Mr MacAskill told the court that he told his wife about the affair in August last year - the same month that Father Nugent found out.

The court heard that his wife asked him to stop seeing Miss Kluk, but he realised that he 'couldn't give her up'.

He told the court he last saw Miss Kluk at the start of September - three weeks before her brutal killing.

Giving evidence at the court, Miss Kluk's older sister Aneta, 28, a secretary, told how she had known about her sister's relationship with Mr MacAskill and that she did not approve as she felt her sister was worth 'much more'. But she denied

her sister had ever had an affair with Father Nugent, saying his allegations were 'outrageous and untrue'.

She described Father Nugent as having a 'Jekyll and Hyde' personality and said he had an alcohol problem.

Miss Aneta Kluk said she last saw her sister on Thursday, September 21 and became concerned over the next few days when she was unable to contact her.

She said that a few days after her sister's disappearance she went to St Patrick's Church where she met Father Nugent, Mr MacAskill and Tobin.

At the time, Tobin called himself Pat McLaughlin. After Miss Kluk's death, Tobin was arrested and charged with rape and murder between September 24 and 29 last year.

He is also charged with perverting the course of justice after lying to police about his name. He denies the charges and claims Miss Kluk willingly had sex with him.

The trial continues.