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	Parishioner Says Priest Was Agitated on Day of Slayings The Associated Press, carried in Appleton Post-Crescent March 12, 2006 http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060312/APC0101/603120594/1003/APC01 HUDSON — A late priest who a judge ruled likely had killed two funeral home workers was "very agitated and acted strange" when he celebrated mass the day the two men died. The comments by Laura Becker, a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, concerning the Rev. Ryan Erickson were in the latest batch of transcripts of interviews released by the Hudson city attorney in the case and reviewed by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Erickson was a priest at St. Patrick's when Dan O'Connell, 39, and James Ellison, 22, were fatally shot on Feb. 5, 2002, at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home. St. Croix County Circuit Judge Eric Lundell ruled last October there was probable cause that Erickson shot the two men. O'Connell was a member of the church, and Dist. Atty. Eric Johnson said evidence suggested he found out the priest was sexually abusing someone, was providing alcohol to minors, or both. Erickson later hanged himself outside St. Mary's Church in Hurley. Becker said during the homily of the Feb. 5, 2002, 6 p.m. mass, Erickson spoke of "cutting off the breasts of Agatha," which Becker said was inappropriate and seemed to have no context. He also asked parishioners to "pray for the O'Connell family," but made no mention of Ellison, she said. In 233 pages of documents released Thursday, the Rev. John Anderson of Ladysmith said he was surprised that Erickson hanged himself because the young priest believed suicide was a "mortal sin."
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