Jury Hears Closing Arguments, by Peggy Wright, Daily Record, December 16, 2011

Jury Hears Closing Arguments

By Peggy Wright
Daily Record
December 16, 2011

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20111219/NJNEWS/312190014/Jury-hears-closing-arguments-in-trial-of-janitor-accused-of-killing-Chatham-priest

Closing arguments in the Jose Felciano murder trial. Defense attorney Neill Hamilton holds up a knive taken from one of the rectory kitchen drawers to prove that, had Feliciano planned to go back and kill Father Hinds, he could have made a much better weapon choice than the little knife he actually used in the killing. The defense argues that it was a heat of the moment crime of passion and Feliciano grabbed the nearest available weapon. / Photo by Dawn J. Benko

The Rev. Edward Hinds was “slaughtered” with a knife by a narcissistic liar with a criminal past, a prosecutor argued Monday, while a defense lawyer said that ex-church janitor Jose Feliciano killed after the priest topped off years of sexual abuse by firing him.

A Morris County jury heard five hours of closing trial arguments Monday and is expected to receive legal instructions today. Deliberations would then start on whether Feliciano, 66, purposefully murdered the pastor of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham or committed manslaughter in the throes of passion or provocation on Oct. 22, 2009.

Crucial to the case is when Hinds, 61, learned that Feliciano was a fugitive since 1988 from a Philadelphia charge of violating a child. Jurors were never told the exact nature of the charges — that Feliciano was accused of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl — but the defendant acknowledged he knew he could be fired simply because of the nature of the charges.

Defense lawyer Neill Hamilton, who called Hinds “predatory,” argued that Feliciano told the priest in 2004 that he had criminal trouble in his past and wouldn’t withstand a fingerprint check. Hamilton reiterated to jurors that Hinds engaged in a “cover-up” by keeping that background information secret in exchange for seizing chances to sexually molest the janitor, who started at St. Patrick’s in 1991.

“He got aroused by sexually humiliating Jose,” Hamilton said.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said all the evidence points to the priest learning about Feliciano’s past in 2009, not 2004, and deciding to fire him. The evidence includes computer data that shows the priest went online and used a parish credit card to search for records on Feliciano, and that he obtained a copy of the Philadelphia warrant against the janitor in October 2009 from Pennsylvania State Police.

Bianchi said the priest wouldn’t have searched records in New Jersey and Pennsylvania if he already knew about Feliciano’s past. Hinds was concerned that a check of Feliciano’s fingerprints was never completed, and Feliciano didn’t want to comply so the priest undertook his own investigation, Bianchi said.

Closing arguments in the Jose Felciano murder trial. In this photo Feliciano sits in court waiting for the arguments to begin. / Photo by Dawn J. Benko

“Mr. Feliciano is one of those people who’s learned to dodge a couple of land mines in the last 21 years,” Bianchi said. He charged that when Prosecutor’s Office Capt. Jeffrey Paul obtained a confession from Feliciano on Oct. 24, 2009, the janitor began a pattern of “blame, denial and minimization” and has continually altered his version of what happened in the church rectory around 5 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2009.

Feliciano told Paul in 2009 that he asked the priest to quit molesting him and Hinds responded that he was fired if the sex stopped. At trial, Feliciano said the priest told him he was fired for unspecified parish reasons and the priest belittled him when he begged to keep his job. Feliciano claimed a struggle occurred, in which the priest was stabbed 44 times, but Bianchi said the priest was slaughtered while Feliciano had no wounds.

“The guy is just lying as he goes along,” Bianchi said. Only worried about being caught, Bianchi said, Feliciano went into victim mode, talking to Paul about being molested by Hinds and being abused by a priest in Brooklyn as a child.

“While Father Ed was lying on a slab in a morgue, Mr. Feliciano is sitting there spinning the story,” Bianchi said.

The prosecutor has contended that Feliciano actually used two knives to kill the priest, fetching a second blade when one broke. But holding a large butcher knife in his hand, Hamilton argued that Feliciano would have chosen such a weapon instead of a small steak knife if he deliberately planned to murder Hinds. Hamilton said the theory of two knives is unfounded.

Multiple witnesses connected to the parish said there were no signs that the priest had an illicit relationship with Feliciano. A nun who counseled Feliciano between 2004 and 2005, at a time Hinds was supposedly fondling him, testified the janitor never mentioned any unwanted touching from the priest.

Even a close friend and former co-worker of Feliciano’s, John Bongo, testified he never saw anything improper between Hinds and Feliciano.

Hamilton said the janitor could never complain about abuse from the priest because then the Philadelphia past he was trying to keep quiet would be revealed and he would lose his job.

“If Jose talks about it, all the other cards come tumbling down,” Hamilton said. The lawyer also suggested that Hinds only privately terminated Feliciano when he had no choice because he didn’t want an audience in case he mentioned the abuse.

“He didn’t want to get rid of him (earlier) because he had his own vulnerability,” Hamilton said.

The background check on Feliciano emerged as a major issue in 2009 because all Catholic churches were under a mandate to have workers and volunteers with access to children complete a program called “Protecting God’s Children.” The mandate was in response to priest-child sex abuse scandals; the Diocese of Paterson, which oversees the Chatham church, was to be audited for compliance in the fall of 2009.

Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com