MICHIGAN
The Detroit News
One of the three people killed in a multi-car crash this week at a Livonia intersection was a former priest at several Metro Detroit Catholic parishes who was defrocked over sex abuse allegations.
Joseph Sito, 80, of Livonia, who died in the Monday accident, was laicized by the Vatican in 2004, said Ned McGrath, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Detroit. By laicizing Sito, the Vatican returned him to the status of layman and severed his ties with the archdiocese.
“It’s a tragic accident,” McGrath said Wednesday. “I guess he had a medical event. Three people are dead. It’s a terrible thing.”
According to police, Sito was westbound on Five Mile about 4 p.m. Monday when he crossed the center line and his car struck an eastbound Ford Focus. A Ford minivan also was involved in the crash, which also killed two occupants of the Focus: Suzanne Wernette-Robb, 67, of Redford Township, and Bernadine Karby, 88, of Livonia.
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