New Jersey Real-Time News Breaking Local News from New Jersey, The Star-Ledger, November 4, 2009

New Jersey Real-Time News
Breaking Local News from New Jersey

The Star-Ledger
November 4, 2009

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/chatham_priest_killed_911_tape.html

[with audio]

CHATHAM BOROUGH -- Just before he was killed in the parish rectory, a priest from Chatham called 911 asking for help, according to audio recordings of that call released today by authorities.

Apparently struggling to speak, the Rev. Edward Hinds of St. Patrick Church in Chatham tried to tell a police dispatcher the street address of the rectory, but the call, placed on Oct. 22 at 5:27 p.m., quickly became disconnected.

A 1997 file photo of Rev. Edward Hinds.

Listen to Father Hinds' 911 call and the dispatcher's attempts to call back:

A dispatcher with the New Jersey State Police answered the call saying, "911, where is the emergency?"

Hinds, in a halting voice and sounding out of breath, replied, "85 ... Washington Avenue."

Because the call was placed via cell phone, its exact location and town were not known to the dispatcher answering the call, authorities said.

The dispatcher asked, "Washington Avenue?" but Hinds did not immediately reply, and the dispatcher continued with "Hello?"

Hinds then could be heard saying, "Help," and trying to utter something else that came out muffled, just before the call became disconnected.

The dispatcher called the cell phone back, but he got the priest's voicemail and immediately hung up.

The dispatcher called back again, but this time the church custodian, Jose Feliciano, whom authorities have charged with killing Hinds by beating him and stabbing him 32 times, is believed to have answered the phone and told the officer there was no problem.

"Hello?" Feliciano said.

With urgency, the dispatcher rapidly asked, "Sir, this is the State Police. You called 911. Do you have an emergency?"

Jose Feliciano looks to a packed courtroom as he makes his first appearance in Superior Court on Oct. 29 in Morristown.

In a calm voice, Feliciano hurriedly said, "No, we don't. Thank you," while in the background, Hinds can barely be heard saying, "Yes we do" have an emergency.

The dispatcher asked: "No?" and Feliciano responded, "No. Thank you."

The dispatcher said, "All right," and hung up.

That was the end of the calls, and no police services were sent to the scene, authorities said.

The New Jersey State Police are reviewing how the 911 call was handled by the dispatcher. State Police spokesman Gerald Lewis said, "Our preliminary investigation indicates that the dispatcher followed the proper protocol."

Hinds, 61, was found dead the next day, shortly after he failed to show up for the daily 8 a.m. Mass.

Concerned parishioners went to the adjoining rectory and found the popular priest on the floor, but only thought he had fallen and was knocked unconscious, according to recordings of calls made to Chatham Borough police that were released Tuesday.

Feliciano, 64, of Easton, Pa., feigned surprise at discovering the priest's body at the same time the church members arrived, authorities have said. His half-hearted attempts at CPR on the priest aroused immediate suspicion, they said. Hinds' cell phone, the knife and bloody rags were found in a park across from Feliciano's home, and he also confessed, authorities said.

Feliciano was charged Oct. 24 with killing Hinds during what authorities said was a dispute that arose after Feliciano learned he might be fired due to a problem with his background checks. Feliciano, who was a janitor at the church since 1992, had been arrested in Philadelphia in 1988 on a charge of indecent assault of a minor. However, he never showed up for court and a bench warrant had been out for his arrest ever since, authorities said.

For more than two decades, he covered up his past and lived under fictitious names and with false Social Security numbers and birth dates, authorities said. He remains held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Sally Myers, a 39-year parishioner, said she heard the 911 call and said it "was heartbreaking, it was awful. I can only imagine what he was going through at the time. You could hear him struggling."

"While he was trying to make this call, this gentleman (Feliciano) continued with this crime, and he (Hinds) had no chance," Myers said as she began to weep. "What this poor man, what this poor priest, went through nobody should have to go through. It really hits where it hurts the most — right in the heart."

"It makes a point how horrific this was," Myers said of the 911 call. "How was he even able to push the buttons on the cell phone? The quest for survival, he was going to try to survive. Why didn't police come anyway, even after Jose said, 'No, thank you.' It taught me a huge lesson that if ever I'm in distress, I'll say where I'm calling from, so at least they know where to find me."