By Keith Moor
Herald Sun
August 30, 2007
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22330913-2862,00.html
An accused pedophile priest has emerged as a suspect in the 1980 killing of Thornbury bookshop owner Maria James.
Homicide squad detective Ron Iddles yesterday confirmed dead Catholic priest the Rev Father Anthony Bongiorno was one of several "persons of interest" being examined during a review of the case.
Mrs James, 38, died after being stabbed 68 times on June 17, 1980.
Det Sen-Sgt Iddles recently received new information that suggests Father Bongiorno, who died in 2002, could be the murderer.
DNA is expected to be used to either clear Father Bongiorno or confirm the theory that he killed Mrs James.
Det Sen-Sgt Iddles said he was having a fresh look at the Maria James case in light of several new persons of interest being identified, including Father Bongiorno.
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| Suspect: the Rev Father Anthony Bongiorno. |
He was recently told Mrs James may have confronted Father Bongiorno about his alleged pedophilia on the day she was stabbed to death.
Det Sen-Sgt Iddles has also been told Father Bongiorno may have killed her in anger or to prevent being exposed as a child molester.
The Herald Sun this week received the new information about Father Bongiorno from Mrs James's son Mark and a female family friend of Maria James.
The information was passed on to Det Sen-Sgt Iddles, who has been involved in the Maria James case for 27 years.
A Herald Sun Insight investigation has also discovered:
FATHER Bongiorno is one of several persons of interest whose DNA is being sought by police for comparison with the killer's DNA.
IF police can't get DNA from a sibling of Father Bongiorno, then if the material provided to the Herald Sun indicated he was a relevant suspect his body could possibly be exhumed and DNA obtained from it.
DNA has already cleared convicted killer Peter Raymond Keogh, who for years was the prime suspect in the Maria James case.
A MENTALLY handicapped teenager told police in 1986 that Father Bongiorno indecently assaulted him, but no charges were laid.
VICTORIA Police's child exploitation squad charged Father Bongiorno in 1995 with seven counts of indecent assault against three boys aged 8 to 10 and one count of unlawful intercourse. He was acquitted on all charges.
FORMER premier Jeff Kennett received written information in 1998 that nominated Father Bongiorno as a child molester. He gave the letter, which contained a photo of Father Bongiorno, to police.
Mark James this week told the Herald Sun his mother had several heated arguments with Father Bongiorno in the months before her murder.
He said Father Bongiorno humiliated his mother in Thornbury's St Mary's Church by berating her in front of the congregation for selling mild pornographic magazines in her nearby bookshop.
Mr James, who was 13 at the time of the murder, said he told his mother that Father Bongiorno used Mars Bars to try to entice him into his home.
He said he believed his mother confronted Father Bongiorno about what she considered was his inappropriate behaviour.
Mr James said as a teenager at the time of the murder he had not thought to tell police of his suspicions.
It was only after the Herald Sun this week alerted him to the theory of his mother's friend that Father Bongiorno was involved that he started thinking back to the actions of the priest.
Det Sen-Sgt Iddles obtained the unknown killer's DNA in 2001 after deciding to send exhibits from the Maria James crime scene to be tested on the off chance advances in technology would enable scientists to identify and extract DNA.
Mr James yesterday appealed to police to get Father Bongiorno's DNA so it could be compared with the killer's.
"At least then we would know one way or the other whether he was responsible for killing my mother," he said.
Det Sen-Sgt Iddles yesterday confirmed three suspects have been eliminated in the Maria James case since the killer's DNA was obtained in 2001.
He said a recent review of the case had identified several other persons of interest.
Homicide squad detectives are in the process of tracking down those people so their DNA can be taken and compared with the killer's DNA.
Father Bongiorno died in 2002 at the age of 67.
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