By Ben Horowitz
The Star-Ledger
November 10, 2011
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/accused_priest-killer_in_a_hur.html
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| Former church custodian Jose Feliciano, seen here last month conferring with his defense attorney, was acting rushed in the hours before the Rev. Edward Hinds was found dead, a coworker testified. |
A fellow church custodian who worked directly with Jose Feliciano testified today that on the day the parish priest was killed, Feliciano was acting "rushed" at the end of the work day and said he had to leave "quickly" because there was "something he had to take care of."
Feliciano left work at 4:55 p.m., five minutes before his shift ended on Oct. 22, 2009, Maria Luz Cleves testified.
Feliciano apparently stabbed the Rev. Edward Hinds in the rectory at St. Patrick Church in Chatham within the next half-hour.
A 911 emergency call was made from the rectory at 5:26 p.m. and Hinds has been identified as the caller by two witnesses who have testified during Feliciano’s murder trial in Superior Court in Morristown.
Cleves’ testimony appeared to support the prosecution's contention that Feliciano planned the killing.
The defense has acknowledged Feliciano stabbed Hinds but claims the priest provoked him by making him perform unspecified acts and has called the killing a manslaughter, not a murder.
Cleves, testifying through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, said it was the first time she had seen Feliciano acting that way. “He was never in a rush,” she said.
Cleves said she took out the garbage from St. Patrick School at 5 p.m. that day and closed the school facility, duties that Feliciano usually performed.
Cleves said she also noticed that even though Feliciano had left his job, he must have still been somewhere on the premises, because his daughter, a student at the school, was still playing on the playground and his wife was waiting in the car around 5:15. The family drove home to Easton, Pa. together each day, according to testimony.
Feliciano’s public defender, Neill Hamilton, pointed out that in an interview with investigators on Nov. 4, 2009, Cleves said Feliciano’s behavior had not been “strange” on Oct. 22. Cleves said she was “not sure” about that statement.
Under questioning from Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, Cleves said Feliciano was “quiet” that day, as opposed to his normally “happy” demeanor.
Cleves also said that when she learned of Hinds’ death, she didn’t initially suspect Feliciano had been involved. She said she had not seen any unusual behavior or animosity between Feliciano and Hinds.
Also testifying today was Morris County Medical Examiner Ronald Suarez, who performed the autopsy on Hinds.
Hinds suffered a total of 44 stab wounds, although not all were serious enough to kill him, Suarez said.
Noting that Hinds’ wounds were on both his front and back sides, and that blood was splattered all over the area, Suarez said, “This was an ongoing, dynamic event. This was not somebody lying there and being stabbed.
“Father Hinds was moving, and his assailant was moving,” Suarez said. “As he was moving, he was bleeding.”
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