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	Suspect in NJ Priest Murder Given November Deadline to File for Insanity Defense By Peggy Wright Home News Tribune October 18, 2010 http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20101018/STATE/101018044/Suspect-in-NJ-priest-murder-given-November-deadline-to-file-for-insanity-defense CHATHAM — Lawyers for the janitor charged with murdering the Rev. Edward Hinds in Chatham a year ago this Friday have until Nov. 8 to file a court notice that an insanity defense will be pursued. Suspect Jose Feliciano, 65, of Easton, Pa., was brought before state Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morristown this morning for arraignment on a superseding indictment handed up against him by a Morris County grand jury. Feliciano previously was indicted for the Oct. 22 fatal stabbing of Hinds, 61, in the rectory kitchen of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham. The new indictment includes a second count of robbery and omits original language that the priest's murder was committed with depravity of mind. Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. explained the omission occurred because such language usually is meant for ''a thrill kill'' or a killing done for no apparent purpose. In this case, authorities believe Feliciano had a ''clearly defined motive'' to kill the cleric. Authorities believe Feliciano was about to be fired from his long-time job as church custodian as Hinds apparently had discovered the janitor was a fugitive for 21 years out of Philadelphia on a charge of sexually touching a child. The judge set this Thursday for a hearing on a defense motion to dismiss the superseding indictment. The defense also has retained psychiatrist Dr. Robert Latimer who is in the process of preparing a report on whether Feliciano was insane at the time of the killing. In court, Feliciano smiled and greeted his two public defenders, Ana Tent and Neill Hamilton, who entered a plea of not guilty to the indictment on the janitor's behalf. The body of the priest, who was stabbed multiple times, was found around 8 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2009, when he failed to appear to celebrate morning Mass.
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