By Peggy Wright
Daily Record
May 2, 2011
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110502/NJNEWS/110502028/Suspect-priest-s-murder-never-got-background-check-diocese-attorney-says-?odyssey=nav|head
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| Jose Feliciano |
The general counsel for the Diocese of Paterson testified Monday he learned a day after the murder of the Rev. Edward Hinds in Chatham that the suspected killer, a church janitor, was never fingerprinted or put through a background check.
Attorney Kenneth Mullaney was called to testify at a pretrial hearing in Morristown on whether prosecutors can use suspect Jose Feliciano's past against him at his upcoming trial for the Oct. 22, 2009, fatal stabbing of the pastor of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church.
Prosecutors contend that Feliciano, now 66, was motivated to kill the 61-year-old cleric because Hinds had learned of criminal charges filed against him in Philadelphia in the 1980s and meant to terminate his longtime employment as a St. Patrick's church custodian.
Feliciano never appeared in court in Philadelphia to address a charge of improper sexual conduct with a girl. He used different birthdates, names and Social Security numbers to remain a fugitive for the past two decades, authorities contend.
Mullaney testified he was traveling on Oct. 23, 2009, and got a call from the diocesan superintendent of schools who relayed that a series of people working or volunteering at St. Patrick's had not been fingerprinted or put through background checks, including Feliciano.
The diocese, which has 111 parishes including St. Patrick's, was in the process at that time of trying to comply with a church directive that all employees and volunteers who had contact with children had to satisfy three requirements. Those were fingerprinting, adherence to a code of pastoral conduct, and training in a special program of protecting children and young people.
Defense lawyer Neill Hamilton pressed Mullaney on whether Feliciano truly had regular contact with children at the church and was required to satisfy the requirements. Mullaney said the custodian did have to meet those requirements.
Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. also called office Sgt. Robert McNally to testify about an entry in a diary kept by the slain cleric in 2009. The entry referred to "Jose'' and the date 10-23, and said, ""last day, 10-31,'' an indication authorities believe of Hinds' intent to terminate Feliciano.
The hearing continues today before Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morristown.
Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@gannett.com
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