BishopAccountability.org
	The Teacher, with the Knife, in the (Catholic) Parish School? By Matt C. Abbott Renew America November 5, 2009 http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/091105 In response to my Oct. 22 column about the suspicious suicide of Father Waclaw Jamroz, whose body was found bearing more than 20 stab wounds, two readers brought up the Father Alfred Kunz case. Father Kunz, of the Diocese of Madison, was murdered in 1998 — his throat was cut — and the case remains unsolved. While there have been no recent developments per se, media reports last year indicated that investigators have had at least one "person of interest" they've been monitoring the past few years. Who is that person of interest? From what I understand, it's the teacher who "discovered" Father's body. In journalist Chuck Nowlen's 2001 article The Devil and Father Kunz, the most thorough article on the case to date, Catholic attorney Peter B. Kelly (whose new "factional" novel I've featured in this column, this column and this column), a good friend of the late Fathers Charles Fiore and Kunz, was quoted as being skeptical that the teacher could have committed the murder. But presently, Kelly doesn't have that same skepticism. "I guess it's fair to say that while at the time I was skeptical about the teacher's guilt, and while I have not been shown the evidence collected at the crime scene by the police or witnessed their interviews with the teacher, I think the teacher certainly should be on the short list of suspects for this particularly devastating murder," Kelly said in an e-mail. A motive, while murky, reportedly does exist. Obviously, investigators won't reveal what that motive is or any other details of the case. At this point, it appears that prosecutors believe the case simply isn't strong enough to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt." Hence, no arrest. As for the more conspiratorial theories surrounding Father's murder, it seems investigators have all but discounted them over the last several years. Reports have indicated that whatever evidence was collected at the crime scene has led investigators to their present course. Does DNA evidence exist? Quite possibly. However, since the teacher "discovered" the body, he would have an easy explanation for how his DNA got there. Now, had the teacher not been the one to discover the body, and had he told investigators that he had been in, say, Timbuktu when the murder occurred — yet his DNA was found at the scene and he couldn't explain that — well...case closed. I still hold out hope that Father Kunz' murder will one day be solved. And I think Detective Kevin Hughes of the Dane County Sheriff's Office may be the one who, directly or indirectly, solves it. Interestingly, we see in the case of the New Jersey priest who was recently murdered — stabbed 32 times — the janitor who had worked in the parish for many years has been arrested and charged with the murder (click here for the story). That case, unlike Father Kunz' murder and many others, was solved quickly.
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