By Ben Horowitz
The Star-Ledger
November 9, 2011
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/alleged_killer_of_chatham_prie.html
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| Jose Feliciano, seated, of Easton, Pa., former custodian of St. Patrick Church in Chatham, appears in Superior Court, Morristown, for a status conference hearing on charges that he murdered Rev. Edward Hinds in the church rectory in October 2009. Morristown, NJ Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger |
MORRISTOWN — The jury in the Jose Feliciano murder trial heard from two witnesses today that the church custodian was not his usual, jovial self on the day he allegedly killed the Rev. Edward Hinds at St. Patrick Church in Chatham.
In a transcript of a statement to investigators that was read to the jury, Feliciano's 14-year-old daughter said that on Oct. 22, 2009, her father was 15 minutes late getting back to the car at the end of the day. He was apparently stabbing the priest during that time, according to testimony.
After finally getting to the car, Feliciano would only say he had been "busy" and during the ride home to Easton, Pa., he was quiet, not telling jokes and stories as usual, his daughter said.
A father who worked occasionally as a lunch volunteer at St. Patrick School said Feliciano normally was "upbeat and happy" at lunch, giving out milk to students and cleaning tables.
That day, however, Feliciano was sitting with his head down, "not helping in any way. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders," Robert Kajor testified.
Hinds may have fired Feliciano that morning, according to the schedule on the priest's planner, which listed a meeting with Feliciano at 9:45 a.m. with the notation, "Jose last day 10/23," indicating the next day would be his last on the job.
Feliciano's public defender, Neill Hamilton, has admitted the janitor stabbed the priest, but said it was manslaughter, not murder, because the priest provoked the janitor by making him perform unspecified acts.
The prosecution contends Feliciano stabbed Hinds after the priest fired him when he learned of his criminal background.
Feliciano's daughter, who was an eighth-grade student at the school, said her father normally sat in the front of the car, but that day he sat in back while his wife drove. "He said he was tired, so we gave him an Advil," she testified.
Feliciano's mood improved later after they arrived home and he took a shower and walked the dog, the daughter said.
During the dog walk in the park across the street, Feliciano apparently threw out Hinds' cell phone along with towels and paper towels that contained blood with Hinds' DNA, according to testimony.
The daughter said her father had been "worried" about losing his job, after a fellow custodian had been fired the previous year. "But he said everything was going to be okay," she testified.
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