By Peggy Wright
Daily Record
October 30, 2009
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20091030/COMMUNITIES/310300003/1005/NEWS01
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| Jose R. Feliciano, 64, the man charged with fatally stabbing a Chatham priest, is brought into the courtroom of Judge Thomas V. Manahan for a bail hearing Thursday afternoon. Photo by Karen Mancinelli |
The custodian charged with killing St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church pastor the Rev. Edward Hinds kept a secret for 21 years — that he is wanted in Philadelphia for ''corruption of minors" and ''indecent assault," a prosecutor said Thursday.
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Appearing dazed and weary, murder suspect Jose R. Feliciano shuffled into a courtroom in Morristown in shackles Thursday for a review of the $1 million bail set upon his arrest last Saturday for the Oct. 22 fatal stabbing of the cleric in the kitchen of his rectory.
Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Leslie Wade asked Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan to modify the $1 million bail to cash only, saying that police have learned there is a 1988 warrant for Feliciano's arrest out of Philadelphia. Feliciano also has multiple birthdates, Social Security numbers, and has gone by other names such as Carlos Feliciano, Wade said.
Feliciano is being held at the Ann Klein Forensic Center in Trenton, where mentally unstable or suicidal defendants are kept, but was transported to Morristown for the bail review.
According to Philadelphia court records, Feliciano lived in that city in April 1988, when he was charged with committing indecent assault without consent, simple assault, and corruption of minors on March 31, 1988. The records indicate that Feliciano's birthdate was given as March 14, 1948 upon his arrest, but he gave New Jersey police a birthdate of March 14, 1945.
Philadelphia police referred calls to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, where a spokeswoman referred calls to an online court summary of the charges against Feliciano that do not describe the allegations, the ages of the victim, or whether there were multiple victims.
Wade said Feliciano, a married father of two teenaged children who worked 17 years as a janitor for St. Patrick Church, ultimately confessed to prosecutor's office Capt. Jeffrey Paul that he killed the 61-year-old priest around 5:20 p.m. on Oct. 22 after an argument. Feliciano was among a few people who discovered the priest's body in the rectory at 8 a.m. on Oct. 23. Wade said Feliciano attempted to mislead investigators up until the time he confessed.
"Despite the fact we have a confession ... he tried to deceive the police. He tried to tell police he was not involved," Wade said. He added that detectives uncovered "a dramatic pattern" of evidence of Feliciano's culpability inside and around his home in Easton, Pa. — where police found bloody rags, clothing and the slain priest's cellular telephone.
Authorities have said that Hinds, a few days before he was stabbed 32 times, told the St. Patrick School principal that he planned to talk to Feliciano about his "continued employment." According to a court record filed in Pennsylvania, Feliciano's personnel file reflected that he either had never undergone a background check or did not pass one when hired at St. Patrick Church.
Diocese of Paterson attorney Kenneth Mullaney, and the diocese itself, stated Thursday that diocesan policy requires all employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children to undergo criminal background checks and to be trained in the "Protecting God's Children" program. Mullaney said the diocese redoubled its efforts in March to ensure compliance with this program and that there are more than 9,500 employees and volunteers within the diocese who have been trained and fingerprinted.
County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi has not specifically stated whether his office believes Hinds questioned Feliciano about a background check, but has said detectives learned the priest planned to talk to him about his employment.
Feliciano said nothing at his bail hearing Thursday but mostly kept his head down and nodded once once when the judge asked whether he received a copy of the criminal complaint. He has been approved for representation by the county Public Defender's Office.
A male cousin of Hinds and the cousin's wife were escorted into court by Trish Stewart, victim/witness coordinator for the prosecutor's office. The couple murmured and appeared to weep as some of the evidence against Feliciano was outlined, but they declined comment after the hearing.
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