By Peggy Wright
Daily Record
December 1, 2011
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20111201/NJNEWS/312010027/Chatham-priest-slaying-trial-Prosecutor-questions-janitor-on-inconsistencies-in-statements-
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| Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi cross- examines Jose Feliciano in state Superior Court on Tuesday about the death of the Rev. Edward Hinds. / BOB KARP/staff photographer |
Ex-janitor Jose Feliciano told a jury Thursday that his version of the 2009 killing of the Rev. Edward Hinds differs now from his confession two years ago because he was medicated then and rambling from a hospital bed.
Appearing fatigued at times on his fourth day in the witness stand, Feliciano, 66, was battered with questions from Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi on why key parts of his account of Hinds’ fatal stabbing on Oct. 22, 2009, are inconsistent.
The inconsistencies include:
Feliciano told jurors that Hinds, pastor of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, summoned him to the rectory on Oct. 22, 2009, to tell him he was fired from his church custodial job. In 2009, Feliciano told a detective that he initiated a talk with the priest and demanded that Hinds quit sexually abusing him. He claimed in 2009 that he killed Hinds when the priest told him, “If it ends, it’s gonna end your job also.”
Feliciano testified that Hinds knew he planned to retire in March 2010 but betrayed him by firing him months earlier. Feliciano stated in 2009 that he never discussed retirement with the pastor.
Feliciano told jurors he found the steak knife used to stab Hinds 44 times on a table in the rectory and impulsively grabbed it. In 2009, he insisted he got the knife from the kitchen of a school on the parish grounds.
Bianchi zeroed in Thursday on multiple discrepancies in the trial account and 2009 statement, leading Feliciano to say he wasn’t thinking completely clearly when he confessed.
The priest’s body was found around 8 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2009, in the rectory. Feliciano was at work and after a quick attempt to perform CPR on the priest, he fell ill and was taken to Morristown Medical Center. On Oct. 24, 2009, he was charged with the killing after police found bloody rags and part of the priest’s cell phone in a park across the street from Feliciano’s home in Easton, Pa.
Noting that he confessed from his hospital bed, Feliciano said Thursday: “When I was at the hospital I was just rambling and talking. I was just saying things. I was back and forward. I was just rambling and giving him (the detective) all sorts of answers.”
Bianchi also elicited from Feliciano that he listed acting on his resume as a hobby. The prosecutor has alleged that Feliciano enjoys casting himself as a victim when he wants to manipulate someone.
“I wish I was an actor. If I was an actor, I’d have a good job,” Feliciano said in response to Bianchi’s comments on his resume.
Feliciano’s assertion that he was medicated and rambling in the hospital when he confessed led to a discussion, after the jury was dismissed for the day, on whether the videotape of his 2009 statement should be played for jurors so his demeanor can be assessed. No decision was made as of Thursday on whether it would be played, but Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan previously ruled that the confession was voluntarily and freely made by Feliciano after he waived his right to remain silent.
The trial will continue Monday in Morristown. Prosecutors are seeking a conviction for murder while defense lawyers contend the killing was a manslaughter, committed under passion or provocation.
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