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	Priest Knew Where Body Was Hidden Angelika Murder Trial Told By Gordon Mcilwraith Glasgow Daily Record [Scotland] April 6, 2007 http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/PRIEST%20KNEW%20WHERE%20BODY%20WAS%20HIDDEN Father Gerry Nugent knew where Angelika Kluk's body was hidden before the details were revealed, it was claimed yesterday. Police told the priest to leave his house, saying only that there had been a "significant development". But later that night, he told friends the body of the 23-year-old Polish student was in the church confession box. Church handyman Peter Tobin denies raping and murdering Angelika in September last year. She vanished from St Patrick's Church in Anderston, Glasgow, on September 24 and was reported missing the following evening. Yesterday, Donald Findlay QC, defending, dramatically halted Father Nugent's evidence on his fourth day in the witness box, saying: "Enough is enough, Father. "Where did you get that information from that enabled you to say something about Angelika's body being found and something to do with the confessional box?" Earlier, Father Nugent was branded a despicable coward and a liar for claiming that Angelika had seduced him. And the court heard that hours after she went missing, the priest said he "didn't give a damn" about her. The 63-year-old priest also retracted his claim that he had sex with church guitarist Sarah Howie. The court heard she was "livid" at the suggestion. Father Nugent said instead of full sex, there was only "sexual activity". Continuing his cross-examination at the High Court in Edinburgh, Mr Findlay said that on September 29 last year, police asked Father Nugent and Russian student Rebecca Dordi to move out of the chapel house. The priest admitted he had only been told there had been a significant development and he had been given no other details. He and Ms Dordi went to the house of friends Margaret and Rita Bonner. Mr Findlay asked if there was any talk about finding a body. The priest said: "We surmised the 'significant development' was something to do with the investigation. "We were all upset and I can't remember in detail what we were speaking about. "I am sure we spoke about many things and not just what was happening that night but all that week and how people were feeling." Mr Findlay said: "On the Friday night, was there any discussion about the finding of Angelika's body?" Father Nugent, an alcoholic who recently resigned as priest of St Patrick's, replied: "I can't remember anyone saying that was the significant development. I was so devastated when I got to the house I asked for a drink. I was given whisky and I over-indulged." Mr Findlay said: "Were you drunk?" Father Nugent said: "Yes. Whatever people were talking about, I was just sitting there in another world and that is the reason I can't remember." The lawyer referred him to a police statement in which Ms Dordi claimed he said Angelika's body had been found in the confessional. Mr Findlay asked if he recalled the conversation and the priest said: "I am beginning to remember it now." He said there was a chat along the lines of a body and the confession box but he didn't know where the information had come from. Mr Findlay stormed: "That won't do, Father. You said all the police told you was that there had been a significant development. "Where did you get that information from that enabled you to say something about Angelika's body being found and something to do with the confessional box?" Father Nugent said: "I was kind of just surmising and it wasn't because I had information." Mr Findlay said Ms Dordi told police "there was much talk about the body in the church". He added: "She told police you said the body had been found inside the confessional box and she said that couldn't be, because she had checked the confessional box." Mr Findlay asked how it could be that there was talk about virtually the precise location of the girl's body. He suggested it was because someone in the house knew where the body was, adding: "That was you, wasn't it?" The priest confirmed that he knew what "in vino veritas" meant - through drink, you tell the truth. Mr Findlay said: "In her statement Rebecca Dordi says, 'There was talk of her being in some sort of hatch or trapdoor'.Was there?" Father Nugent said: "Yes." Mr Findlay asked if it had occurred to him that the confession box might have been checked. Father Nugent said: "It wasn't a place that many people went into." Mr Findlay said: "One reason why there could have been, as indeed there was, conversation in the Bonner household about where the girl's body was found is that someone in that house knew where the body was." Father Nugent said: "I don't know anything about the death of Angelika or the circumstances." Mr Findlay noted that the priest had used that same phrase several times in the course of his evidence. But Father Nugent denied that he had rehearsed it. Father Nugent has told the court that he and Angelika had sex three or four times in 2005. Mr Findlay asked him about the first occasion. Father Nugent said: "There was no drink. Angela and I had become very close. I enjoyed her company and she enjoyed my company. "We would watch programmes on TV and she would give me a goodnight kiss. That was the beginning of the physical relationship. "I would very seldom go to her room and if I did I would knock. "On the night it happened, she invited me into her room and we started to kiss seriously and it led to sexual activity." Father Nugent said he took full responsibility for instigating sex. He said: "I was not in love with her. I'm not even sure what that means. It was my weakness, my lustfulness." Mr Findlay said: "Anybody, if that is true, who then sought to blame a girl who cannot speak for herself, that would be a despicable act in the extreme by a coward and a liar. "Whom am I talking about, Father Nugent?" The priest said: "You are talking about me." Mr Findlay produced a statement Father Nugent had given to police in which he said: "I was not initially attracted to her. "She felt more strongly about me than I did about her and it was her who initiated everything." Mr Findlay asked what had changed. Father Nugent said: "Angela is not here to speak for herself and I don't want anybody to think badly of Angela. "That's why I wanted to take the position that I was responsible for sexual activity." Mr Findlay said: "It is complete and utter nonsense. You told the jury the very opposite to what you told the police. Which of the two versions is true?" Father Nugent replied: "What I said to the police." Mr Findlay said: "You lied to me this morning and you lied to the court." The priest also disagreed with Mr Findlay's suggestion that by the time Angelika went missing, he didn't care about her. The lawyer challenged: "By the time this girl was thought to be missing, you didn't give a damn about her, did you?" Father Nugent replied: "I wouldn't say that." The trial heard that the day after Angelika was reported missing, Father Nugent called Catholic press officer Simon Dames to St Patrick's. The priest said he could not remember the meeting. But Mr Dames gave a statement to police in which he said Father Nugent told him he "no longer gave a damn about her". Father Nugent said: "I cannot remember saying those words. "I probably said it when I had a drink and that is the reason I cannot remember." Mr Findlay asked the priest to explain why, when Angelika's sister Aneta, 28, and married lover Martin MacAskill, 40, were desperately looking for her, he didn't show more concern. The lawyer said: "No need to give a damn because she was dead. You knew she was dead." Father Nugent said: "I know nothing about the circumstances of Angela's death. "I was anxious at this time. I was hoping they would find her." Mr Findlay recalled that on the night of September 25, Father Nugent had locked himself in his room rather than join the search. He said: "You knew Angela was dead." The priest repeated his denial: "I was not responsible for the death and I know nothing about the circumstances concerning the measure of death." Mr Findlay said: "She was missing, people were scared and worried and you say to someone you don't give a damn. "Explain that to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury." Father Nugent said: "The only explanation I can give is that I must have been drunk that morning. I can't honestly remember. "Drink featured strongly in my life that week. I was abusing it." Mr Findlay said: "You knew she was dead and where she was." Father Nugent again repeated: "I know nothing about the death and the circumstances of Angela's death." Re-examined by advocate depute Dorothy Bain, Father Nugent was asked about his claim earlier this week of having a sexual relationship with church guitar player Sarah Howie. The prosecutor said: "She says it's not true, that there were no sexual relations and she is livid at the suggestion." The priest replied: "No, I never had sexual intercourse with Sarah but there was sexual activity." On Wednesday, the jury saw CCTV pictures which showed lights going on at the confession box end of the church at 2.30am on September 25 and going off a few minutes later. But Ms Bain revealed the lights were on a timer and programmed to go on and off at that time. Father Nugent has now completed his evidence. The murder charge alleges that Tobin attacked Angelika between September 24 and September 29 in St Patrick's Church, or elsewhere, gagging her with cloth and tape, tying her hands, raping her, battering her with a piece of wood or something similar and repeatedly striking her with a knife. It is alleged he hid the body under the floor of the church in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice. In a special defence read to the jury, Tobin admits having sex with Angelika with her consent. A further charge, which Tobin also denies, alleges that he told police his name was Patrick McLaughlin, gave a false date of birth and address, and that he travelled to London and gave staff at the National Neurology and Neurosurgery Hospital in Queen's Square, London, a false name. Tobin also denies a breach of the peace between July and September last year by threatening Rebecca Dordi at St Patrick's Church. The trial, before Lord Menzies, will resume on Tuesday after the Easter weekend break. Timetable of tragedy Sun. September 24 Angelika last seen alive in chapel house garage. Mon. September 25 Angelika reported missing after frantic married lover Martin MacAskill raises alarm. Tue. September 26 Police sniffer dog arrives at church. Fri. September 29 Police find Angelika's body in a void under the floor, feet from the confessional box.
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