Chatham Priest Searched for Criminal Record of Man Accused in His Killing, Investigator Says, by Ben Horowitz, The Star-Ledger , May 3, 2011

Chatham Priest Searched for Criminal Record of Man Accused in His Killing, Investigator Says

By Ben Horowitz
The Star-Ledger
May 3, 2011

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/chatham_priest_searched_for_cr.html

Jose Feliciano is accused of stabbing to death the Rev. Edward Hinds, a Chatham priest.

The Rev. Edward Hinds’ computer was used to search for information on Jose Feliciano and his criminal record during the two months before the former church custodian allegedly killed the former Chatham priest, an investigator testified today.

Hinds’ computer, taken from the rectory at St. Patrick Church, listed three working accounts, all using versions of Hinds’ name, Sgt. Chris Then of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office testified.

Between Aug. 18 and Oct. 2 of 2009, the computer was used to search for information on Feliciano and also looked at criminal records in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, said Then, who works in the prosecutor’s computer crimes unit. Feliciano, now 66, of Easton, Pa., allegedly stabbed Hinds to death on Oct. 22, 2009.

Sgt. Then acknowledged that while his investigation revealed the computer had been used to search a Pennsylvania state criminal database, he could not tell what information had been searched.

Sgt. Then testified during a hearing in which the prosecution attempted to gain permission to introduce Feliciano’s prior criminal record at his trial to show it provided his motive. At the time Hinds was stabbed, Feliciano was a fugitive from a 1988 Pennsylvania charge of indecent assault.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. contends Feliciano killed Hinds because the priest was preparing to fire Feliciano after learning of the Pennsylvania charge.

The two-day hearing, held in Superior Court in Morristown, ended today. Judge Thomas Manahan told the attorneys to submit written briefs by May 17.

Also testifying today was Detective David Frisk of the prosecutor’s office, who prepared the arrest paperwork for Feliciano after the Chatham killing.

Frisk said that at the time of the arrest, he learned that Feliciano had “an open matter” pending in Pennsylvania.

Feliciano had provided Pennsylvania authorities with a birth date of 1948, but gave New Jersey officials – including the leaders of St. Patrick Church – a birth date of 1945, Frisk said. Fingerprints taken in the two states matched, he said.

Frisk said Feliciano, a onetime Philadelphia resident, was supposed to have appeared in a Philadelphia court on May 11, 1988 in the indecent assault case.

Feliciano’s attorney, public defender Neill Hamilton, has argued there is no evidence Hinds ever discussed the Pennsylvania charge with Feliciano.

In a video-recorded interview, Feliciano said he stabbed Hinds during an argument after the priest threatened to fire him for ending a four-year sexual affair.

McNamara has called that confession “self-serving” and has argued it could be used to prove the stabbing was a manslaughter and not a murder.