By Laura Silvius
The Patch
May 2, 2011
http://chatham.patch.com/articles/slain-priests-notebook-shows-accused-murderer-was-facing-termination
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A notebook which witnesses said belonged to the Rev. Edward Hinds showed that Jose Feliciano, the custodian at St. Patrick Parish and Hinds' accused murderer, was about to be terminated.
Kenneth Mullaney, the general counsel for the Diocese of Paterson, said he received the notebook from Monsignor James Mahoney, who in turn received it from a parishioner of St. Patrick's. Mullaney testified that he saw that the notebook had notations from Oct. 22, 2009, the last day of Hinds' life, and that he told Mahoney, "We need to turn this over to the prosecutor's office right away."
Det. Robert McNally read the notations from Oct. 22 aloud in court as: "Thurs. 5:45. We/MP. 8:10. Mass/SP. 9 Mass/CTK. 9:45 Jose 10/23 Friday last day. Pay 10/31."
Mullaney testified that in 2009 the Diocese of Paterson, of which St. Patrick's Parish in Chatham Borough is a part, was undergoing an onsite audit of safety standards for employees and volunteers in regular contact with minors.
The Diocese of Paterson, Mullaney said, adheres to the standards set forth in the Dallas Charter, properly known as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, drawn up by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2002 and recognized by the Vatican in 2003. The charter was modified by the USCCB in 2005 and recognized by the Vatican again in 2006.
Among the standards outlined in the charter are that all employees and volunteers who have regular contact with minors pass a full background check, including fingerprints. They must also attend a safe environment program and sign a Code of Pastoral Conduct.
Before 2009, the diocese asked that all 111 parishes within its purview submit information on their employees and volunteers working with children to the diocese directly. The diocese entered the information into a monitoring program.
In March 2009, Mullaney said the diocese decided to ask each parish to appoint a coordinator who would be responsible for adding and updating the information directly instead of sending it through the diocese. "We thought this was a much more accurate way to maintain the database," Mullaney said.
Feliciano was listed in the database as a person who had regular contact with minors but had not fulfilled the necessary Dallas Charter standards, including the background check.
Mullaney said he was given an Excel spreadsheet after Hinds' death entitled "Youth Contact Eligibility List" by John Eriksen, who received it from Marian Hobbie, the principal of St. Patrick School.
According to testimony from Mullaney, this spreadsheet lists the names of various volunteers and employees at the school and parish with corresponding columns to show whether they have been fingerprinted, attended the mandatory training and signed the code of conduct. It also denotes in what capactiy they work in the parish, such as youth ministry, religious education, etc.
The purpose of the list was to identify those who had regular contact with minors and see which of them had completed the requirements of the Dallas Charter, Mullaney said. If they did not fulfill the standards, they were no longer eligible to continue having contact with minors, according to Mullaney.
Feliciano's name appears on this list, but there is no indication that he had passed the required backgroundcheck. Of all the names on the list, approximately one-third had not been fingerprinted, according to defense attorney Neill Hamilton.
"It shows that St. Patrick's in Chatham was grossly out of compliance," Mullaney said.
The list did not have a date on it and Mullaney said he did not know who compiled the information. "I never saw it before Father Hinds' death," he said.
"Before 2009, every parish was required to provide their information to the diocese. This Excel spreadheet was probably how St. Patrick submitted their information," Mullaney said.
Testimony in the hearing was scheduled to continue Monday afternoon.
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