By Peggy Wright
Asbury Park Press
June 24, 2010
http://www.app.com/article/20100623/NEWS/100623118/1001&source=rss
MORRISTOWN — The church janitor charged with stabbing the Rev. Edward Hinds to death last October in Chatham has another secret from his past: a court case that has been sealed in New York.
Murder suspect Jose R. Feliciano, 65, was brought before Superior Court Judge David Ironson Wednesday for a status conference on his charge of killing Hinds, the pastor of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, on Oct. 22 in the kitchen of the rectory.
Hinds was stabbed 32 times.
Prosecutors first disclosed on Oct. 29 at a bail hearing for Feliciano that they learned there is a 1988 warrant for Feliciano's arrest out of Philadelphia charging him with committing indecent assault without consent, simple assault, and corruption of minors on March 31, 1988.
 |
| Jose Feliciano during his arraignment in Morristown on the charge of murdering the Rev. Edward Hinds of Chatham. Jose Feliciano during his arraignment in Morristown on the charge of murdering the Rev. Edward Hinds of Chatham. |
A longtime custodian for St. Patrick's Church, Feliciano had not disclosed this charge to his employer, the Diocese of Paterson. Philadelphia authorities have not released details of these charges to the media, instead referring calls to a court website that merely lists the outstanding charges.
Before Ironson on Wednesday, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. revealed that his office has learned of a sealed court case in New York that he is trying to get a judge to unseal.
Neither McNamara nor defense attorney Neill Hamilton would comment on the nature of this case or how old it is, but McNamara said the Philadelphia and New York cases are particularly relevant in the slaying of the 61-year-old cleric.
"The prior conduct of Mr. Feliciano is relevant to motive" in the Hinds case, McNamara said.
Authorities previously said they believe that Feliciano argued with Hinds over his continued employment at the church, where he had worked for 17 years. In the months before Hinds was killed, the diocese had doubled its efforts to make sure all employees and volunteers with regular contact with children had undergone criminal background checks and were trained in a "Protecting God's Children" program.
Diocese attorney Kenneth Mullaney said Wednesday he was not aware of the existence of a New York case against Feliciano.
 |
| The Rev. Edward Hinds |
When prosecutors learned of the Philadelphia charges, they found that Feliciano had used different birth dates and Social Security numbers and had gone by other names, such as Carlos Feliciano.
McNamara said he would file a legal brief in six weeks with the court that will outline past criminal events — also called "prior bad acts" — that the state will seek to use against Feliciano at trial.
Hamilton said he expects to retain a psychiatrist or psychologist to evaluate Feliciano, a father of two, but that it was premature to say whether a psychiatric defense would be pursued.
The priest's body was discovered around 8 a.m. Oct. 23 when he failed to appear for morning Mass. Feliciano, a resident of Easton, Pa., was among those who "found" the pastor, and he fell under near-immediate suspicion for the homicide.
Contact: pwright@gannett.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.