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- [00:01]
Carter Roy
Hey, it's Carter.
- [00:02]
Narrator/Promoter
If you're enjoying Murder True Crime Stories, there's a new crime house show for
- [00:06]
Carter Roy
you to check out.
- [00:07]
Narrator/Promoter
It's called the Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah is an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose own sister disappeared in 2001. And Courtney is a true crime storyteller who has seen firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, examining the moments just before a person disappears. The routines, the timelines, the small details that often get overlooked because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal.
- [00:45]
Carter Roy
Until it doesn't.
- [00:46]
Narrator/Promoter
Listen to and follow the Final Hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or
- [00:52]
Carter Roy
wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:54]
Narrator/Promoter
New episodes drop every Monday.
- [01:06]
Carter Roy
This is crime house. Breaking cold cases in real life is a lot more difficult than the stuff they show on tv. More often than not, detectives spend years investigating. But even with advancements in forensic testing, sometimes true justice is impossible. Memories fade, witnesses pass away, and evidence degrades. To catch a killer, it takes patience, devotion and care. That's exactly how police solved the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Paul. 26 years after the nun was brutally stabbed near the chapel of a Toledo, Ohio hospital, her killer was finally put behind bars. None of it was easy. At times it seemed like detectives were fighting a losing battle against people with a lot more power than them. But as they say, God works in mysterious ways and the devil always gets his due. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end, but you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending. Hi, I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come out every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Friday's episodes covering the cases that deserve a deeper look. Thank you for being part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review and follow the show and for early ad free access to every episode. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This this is the second of two episodes on the 1980 murder of 71 year old sister Margaret Ann Paul. Please note, this episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and may not be suitable for all audiences. Last time I discussed Margaret's life in the Catholic Church and her career at Mercy Hospital, she spent decades working in healthcare to fulfill her sacred vows. Then, a day before Easter, she was murdered next to the hospital's chapel. The killer Carved an inverted cross into her abdomen, leading some to believe the slaying was part of a satanic ritual. Today I'll talk about why the initial investigation stalled, even though police identified a strong suspect. It took 26 years and several global scandals for the truth to finally come to light. But by then, Margaret's killer might have already targeted several other victims. All that and more coming up.
- [04:33]
Hank
Hey, Sal. Hank.
- [04:35]
Carter Roy
What's going on?
- [04:36]
Hank
We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car, Cavana. And it was so easy.
- [04:40]
Carter Roy
Too easy.
- [04:41]
Hank
Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana. Just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.
- [04:57]
Jennifer
Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.
- [05:03]
Carter Roy
Ugh.
- [05:03]
Jennifer
Could this vintage store be any cuter?
- [05:06]
Carter Roy
Right.
- [05:06]
Jennifer
And the best part? They accept. Discover. Accept discovery in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer.
- [05:13]
Carter Roy
Oh, yeah? Huh?
- [05:14]
Jennifer
Discover is accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants? These are making a comeback, I think.
- [05:26]
Pharmaceutical Announcer
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- [05:36]
Carter Roy
On April 5, 1980, nuns working at Mercy Hospital in Toledo Ohi found the body of Sister Margaret Ann Paul next to the chapel at around 8am The 71 year old had been strangled and beaten mercilessly in the sacristy. That's the room where the priest's robes, sacred books and supplies for Holy Communion were stored. Margaret's underwear was around her ankle and her dress was pulled up past her chest, revealing nine deliberate stab wounds on her abdomen. Together they formed the sign of an upside down cross, a possible indication of satanic worship. Over the next 11 days, police hunted for Margaret's killer. Nothing of value was missing from the chapel, which eliminated robbery as a possible motive. None of the witnesses reported seeing any suspicious strangers near the scene of the crime. And after looking into the patients at the hospital that day, officers ruled out the idea that this was a random attack. Based on the brutal nature of the crime and the way Margaret's body was posed, detectives believed the murder was personal. The killer was probably someone who knew Sister Margaret well. The problem was no one could say who the guilty party might be. Margaret was an elderly, hard working woman. While she wasn't the most social sister at the hospital, it was hard to believe someone hated her enough to kill her. The only thing the police could do was investigate the employees at the hospital. One by one, they focused on the nuns who knew Margaret best, along with the two priests who held daily mass in the chapel. On the one hand was Father Jerome Schifionatecki, a large, boisterous man who was well liked and went out of his way to get to know his co workers. On the other was 42 year old father Gerald Robinson, a small, thin man known for his aloof personality. After checking everyone's alibis, police were left with only one real suspect. Every nun they spoke to could verify their whereabouts during Sister Margaret's murder. So could Father Sophia Natecky. Only Father Robinson remained unaccounted for. On April 18, 1980, police interrogated the priest at the Toledo police station. Father Robinson stuck to his story, insisting he was in his apartment on the hospital's fifth floor all morning. He said he was just stepping out of the shower when he got the call that Sister Margaret was dead. That contradicted the statements of another witness, an intern at the hospital named Dr. Barron. He told a detective he spotted Robinson near the chapel right after the murder. Murder. Robinson denied it and eventually the police decided to pause their interrogation. But before they let Father Robinson go for the night, they searched his apartment at Mercy Hospital and found a dagger shaped letter opener in his desk. The length and shape of the blade matched the potential murder weapon. At the time, the authorities believed they'd found the culprit. As chilling as it was, it seemed like a priest had killed a nun in some kind of ritualistic murder. The next day, April 19, experts ran forensic tests on the letter opener. While waiting for the results, police called Father Robinson to the station for a lie detector test and another round of questioning. The polygraph was ultimately inconclusive and the second interrogation was suddenly cut short. About an hour. In a major breach of the department's unspoken protocol, the deputy chief of police, Ray Vetter, interrupted the detectives after Father Robinson's lawyer showed up at the station with a man named Monsignor Jerome Schmidt. Monsignor Schmidt was a highly connected Catholic priest in the Toledo area. He was also a personal friend, a Vedder. According to the deputy chief, he called the monsignor about the case. Once the police narrowed their focus to Father Robinson. Given Schmidt's position in the church, Vedder hoped he might be able to convince the priest to talk. But after leaving the station that afternoon with Father Robinson, the mone senior never officially reported anything that Robinson told him. For many of the officers, that silence wasn't surprising. It was an open secret that the department had a special relationship with the Catholic Church. Officer Gene Foder, who served on the Toledo PD between 1960 and 1987, later spoke about it. He insisted there was no way a rank and file officer would have been allowed to arrest a Catholic priest. Though he never worked on Sister Margaret's case, he said that any officer who arrested a priest would have been fired. And while that may sound like an exaggeration, Officer Fodor insisted that Toledo PD had a history of looking the other way when it came to Catholic scandals. According to him, in 1960, a local priest named Alexander Pinter was publicly accused of sexually assaulting several altar boys. Fodor said multiple citizens directly complained to him about Father Pinter's crimes, but he wasn't allowed to make an arrest. Instead, he claimed his supervisors met in secret with the local bishop to strike a private deal. Afterward, Father Pinter was taken to some kind of treatment center in Canada. Later in his life, Pinter was allowed to teach at theological schools and eventually took up a post as a priest in Louisiana. He died without ever being arrested or charged. The very next year, in 1961, another priest named Leo Welch was accused of similar crimes just an hour away from Toledo. When the allegations went public, the Catholic Church removed Welch from the church, but denied the rumors that he had done anything wrong. Years later, Welch admitted to going too far and being too affectionate with teenage boys. He characterized his behavior as sexual experimentation, but he never faced any legal consequences. So in 1980, the church's close relationship with the Toledo police may have impacted the way they investigated Sister Margaret and Paul's murder. But another crucial element was the forensic evidence, or lack thereof. Despite an extensive search for, police weren't able to get many fingerprints or fiber samples from the crime scene. That might have been because several nuns and medical professionals rushed inside the sacristy and tried to revive her. Though they were trying to save Margaret, they may have accidentally contaminated the scene. Which meant there was just one solid piece of evidence left. After Father Robinson's first interrogation, experts bet everything on the dagger shaped letter opener found in his desk. The diamond shaped blade matched the profile of the stab wounds on Sister Margaret's stomach. The ones that formed an inverted cross. The medical examiner had determined she was probably sexually assaulted by the same kind of blade. But in the end, the letter opener wasn't the smoking gun detectives had hoped for. A criminologist named Josh Franks ran a battery of tests on the item. One of the first things he noticed was that the Letter opener was incredibly clean. There were no fingerprints anywhere. Not on the handle, the blade, or the insignia on the hilt. To him, it looked like it had either just come off the assembly line or or had been carefully polished. So Franks tried digging deeper. He brushed it with phenolphthalein, a chemical that turns purple when it comes into contact with blood. Nothing happened. If there were ever traces of blood on the outside of the letter opener, they had been obliterated. At that point, Franks turned his attention to the center of the handle where there was an inch long metal medallion that read Wax Museum, Washington D.C. using a thin piece of metal, he was able to pry the medallion out of the letter opener. It was a long shot, but it was possible some blood had seeped into the gap during the murder. When the tiny metal coin hit his desk, he didn't see any signs of blood, even under a microscope. But he brushed the gap in the handle with phenolphthalein anyway. And there in the space where the medallion had been, a tiny pinprick of purple appeared. It was a positive result, but not an ideal one. There wasn't enough of a sample to run further tests. And phenolphthalein can sometimes react with substances that aren't blood. In the end, Franks concluded, the letter opener gave a weak positive result. It might have been the murder weapon, but on its own, his report was not strong enough to arrest Father Robinson. That was exactly why the police needed to put pressure on the priest and question him a second time. But when Monsignor Schmidt arrived at the station with a lawyer for Father Robinson On April 19, 1980, they lost a crucial shot at getting more information. That single interruption changed the course of the investigation forever. RULA makes therapy feel actually doable. There was a time when I was completely stressed out. Work, life, everything just piling up. And I knew I needed to talk to someone. But every therapist I found online either didn't take my insurance or the cost was just too high. It felt like getting help was out of reach. RULA solves that. They partner with over 100 insurance plans, which makes the average copay just $15 per session, sometimes even $0, depending on your benefits. No frustrating back and forth, no wait lists. You can book appointments as soon as tomorrow and they stay with you throughout your jo to make sure your care is helping you move forward. 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- [18:03]
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Therapy/Meditation Guide
Ask your doctor about eglis and visit epgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.
- [19:06]
Carter Roy
Starting on April 18, 1980, the investigation into Sister Margaret Paul's death stalled. 42 year old father Gerald Robinson was still considered the strongest suspect, but his lawyer and probably Monsignor Schmidt discouraged him from sitting for another interrogation. Luckily, Robinson had already agreed to come back to the station for a second lie detector test a week later. Changing his mind after the fact would have looked suspicious. So at the end of the month, the priest sat down for another polygraph. The results ended up being similar to the first one, inconclusive, but the notes were more revealing. The examiner said the priest was highly emotional and gave inconsistent responses to questions about Sister Margaret. But at that point Robinson was done answering questions. The lead detective on the case, Sergeant Arthur Marks, did his best to keep the case alive and pursue other options. For the next year, he chased down a series of anonymous tips, trying to follow several leads that didn't involve Father Robinson. None of them bore any fruit. Privately, many officers were confident the priest was guilty. They were so sure of it that they didn't really see the point of digging into other possibilities. That meant the investigation was essentially frozen. Without strong new evidence that justified an arrest, they had no choice but to let Father Robinson walk free. But the police weren't the only ones who believed Father Robinson was guilty. Many of Sister Margaret's co workers at Mercy Hospital also blamed him for her death. They gossiped about it in hushed tones in the hallway, accusing him of being a murderer, a secret Satanist, and everything in between. A year after the murder in 1981, Father Robinson was transferred out of the hospital to another parish in Toledo, one in a primarily Polish neighborhood. As the child of Polish immigrants and a fluent speaker, he fit in well in the new environment. But nasty rumors continued to haunt him no matter where he went. Meanwhile, Sister Margaret's family kept their grief private, perhaps out of respect for her strong faith, and they refrained from making any statements about the church to the media. Over time, public interest dwindled, but the crime stayed with many of the investigators who worked on the case. Five years after Sister Margaret was killed in 1986, the deputy chief of police, Ray Vedder, retired as a staunch Catholic. He told a local newspaper, the Toledo Blade, that failing to solve her murder was his biggest regret. He said, we know who committed the crime, but we were never able to come up with enough evidence to arrest anyone. For a while, it seemed like the authorities had simply given up on solving the case. But not everyone forgot about Sister Margaret so easily. Dave Davison was the first officer on the scene after the murder. He was only at the hospital for a few minutes before Sergeant Marks took over the case. Even so, that was enough for the bloody images to be burned into his mind forever. And he didn't believe the investigation was dropped just because there was a lack of evidence. Years later, once Davison had left the department because of an injury, he accused Deputy Chief Vetter of deliberately avoiding an arrest to prevent a church scandal. Davison insisted he had written two police reports on Margaret's murder, a third general report and a long supplemental report that broke down the evidence against Father Robinson. But that supplemental report vanished from the official files. According to Davison, Sgt. Marks explicitly told him and his partner not to put anything in writing about Margaret's death. Though Davison characterized Marks as a good cop, his hands were allegedly tied by Vedder. After Vedder retired, Davison refused to let the matter drop. He repeatedly wrote letters to the police and Church officials from the local bishop all the way to the Pope, begging them to reopen the case. None of the messages did any good. So in 1995, Davison decided to take more aggressive measures. By that time, he was 45 and sister Margaret had been dead for 15 years. That's when he started to record request the police reports from the original investigation. The Toledo department sent him 300 pages of documentation. But once he asked for Margaret's autopsy, the authorities turned on him. Davison said the police thought he was planning to write an expose on the alleged cover up. A local prosecutor even called to intimidate him. He threatened to sue Davison, pledging to ruin his life if he couldn't defend every line of his book in a court of law. Davison was alarmed by the call, but by that point, he wasn't surprised. He wasn't planning on writing a book anyway. His goal wasn't to expose a cover up. It was to lock up Sister Margaret's killer once and for all. Luckily, there had been significant advances in forensic testing by then, and Davison strongly believed the police should use those tests to re examine the evidence in Sister Margaret's murder. Despite his best efforts, the case remained cold and eventually Davison gave up. But Sister Margaret's memory, as well as rumors about Father Robinson, refused to fade into obscurity. And in 2002, the priest was once again accused of doing something horrific. Only this time, it wasn't murder. In January, a nun we're calling Sister Angela to protect her identity, contacted a counselor who worked for the Catholic Church in Toledo. She, like many others, had been following the Boston Globe's Spotlight investigation, which uncovered a series of sex abuse scandals by church officials. The news inspired Angela to come forward with her own story. She told the counselor, Frank Delallo, that decades earlier she was abused by a priest who is now working in Toledo. She requested compensation for the years of therapy she had undergone to process the trauma. Frank told her he would investigate her claims and get back to her. It wasn't until a year later, in June of 2003, that Sister Angelo was called to testify in front of a church review panel. The board included two lawyers, a doctor, a psychologist and a city official. It also included a person who had been abused by a priest in the past. To ensure a victim's voice was heard, Frank told Angela that if the panel found her statements credible, they would pay for her therapy. Sister Angela told them that as a child she had been sexually abused and tortured by a group of people that included included her own Father and grandfather, as well as a priest. The details of her testimony were graphic and extreme. She claimed she was tormented by a satanic cult and was forced to participate in demonic rituals, including being locked inside a Coffin. At age 5, when she was 11 years old, she said she witnessed the group murder a three year old girl. And in high school, she claimed priests paid the group to sexually assault her. One of the alleged abusers she named was Father Gerald Robinson. By the time she was done giving her statements, the church review board was stunned. The nun was in her 40s by then, so these events had allegedly occurred decades earlier. One panelist, a psychologist named Dr. Robert Cooley, argued that they were required to report Sister Angela's statements to the police. She hadn't just accused the cult of sexual crimes, but also of killing a child. The rest of the six member board, including the previous victim of abuse, disagreed. They felt that Angela's allegations were not credible. They said she might have sincerely believed what she was saying, but that didn't mean it was true. But Dr. Cooley stood firm. In September 2003, he got permission from Angela to speak with officials about her allegations. That's how the cold case squad in Lucas county, which included Toledo, learned about Angela's claims. And when investigator Tom Ross read through the report, he recognized a name he hadn't heard in years. Father Gerald Robinson. Back in 1980, Tom worked for the Toledo police. He wasn't part of the original team that investigated Margaret and Paul's murder. The but he still remembered the satanic elements of the case. Aside from the mention of Father Robinson, Sister Angela's testimony didn't have anything to do with Margaret's murder. But she was claiming there was a demonic cult active in Toledo. Based on that, Tom felt it was worth dusting off the old file to take another look at Sister Margaret's death. When he did, he quickly realized there wasn't a lot to go on. All he really had was a bunch of paperwork and a few pieces of evidence. Robinson's letter opener, a bloody altar cloth found near Margaret's body, her clothing and some tissue samples. Even so, forensic analysis had changed a lot in the 23 years since her death. Tom and his partner ordered some new tests on the evidence. Unfortunately, the results weren't ideal. Analysis of the letter opener was inconclusive. But they did find traces of male DNA on the underwear. And an expert on bloodstain patterns believed there was evidence to suggest the letter opener was the murder weapon. That was enough to convince the detectives they were on the right track. Meanwhile, the Church was still in the process of investigating Sister Angela's accusations about the satanic cult and widespread sexual abuse. So far, it seemed like her allegations were genuine. But they hadn't been able to find any evidence to corroborate her story. In February of 2004, the Cold Case Squad spoke to the PIs who were investigating Sister Angela's claims. The Church had hired them to look into her story. But the squad asked them to pause. They worried the PIs would spook Father Robinson before they were ready to arrest him for murder. The private investigators agreed, and for the next few months, Cold Case detectives reviewed hundreds of pages of police reports on Sister Margaret's death and re interviewed every witness they could find. One of the people they spoke to was Dr. Jack Barron. More than 20 years later, he still remembered Father Robinson walking away from the chapel after the murder. That contradicted what the priest had told the police. That he hadn't left his bedroom that morning and was stepping out of the shower when he heard about what had happened. Despite all the time that had passed, Dr. Barron's testimony was unshakable. He told the Cold Case Squad he was certain he could poke holes in the priest's alibi. And luckily, he wasn't the only one.
- [32:41]
Therapy/Meditation Guide
Close your eyes.
- [32:43]
Jennifer
Exhale.
- [32:43]
Therapy/Meditation Guide
Feel your body relax.
- [32:45]
Jennifer
And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast.
- [32:57]
Carter Roy
And breathe.
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Jennifer
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- [33:12]
Narrator/Promoter
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Jennifer
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Lifelock Representative
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Jennifer
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Carter Roy
My refund though. I'm freaking out. Don't worry, I can fix this.
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Jennifer
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Carter Roy
No problem. I'll be with you every step of the way.
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- [33:42]
Carter Roy
Hey, it's Carter.
- [33:44]
Narrator/Promoter
If you are enjoying murder true crime stories, there's a new crime house show
- [33:48]
Carter Roy
for you to check out.
- [33:49]
Narrator/Promoter
It's called the Final Hours and It's hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah is an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose sister disappeared in 2001, and Courtney is a true crime storyteller and investigator who witnessed firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, looking not only at what happened,
- [34:15]
Carter Roy
but what led up to it.
- [34:17]
Narrator/Promoter
Each episode examines the moments just before a person disappears, the routines, the timelines and the small details that often get overlooked. Because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal. A text that doesn't raise concern, a routine that goes unchanged, a door that closes just like it always has.
- [34:42]
Carter Roy
Until it doesn't.
- [34:44]
Narrator/Promoter
The final hours puts those moments under a microscope because when it comes to justice, there's no such thing as over analyzing. Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen. New episodes every Monday.
- [35:09]
Carter Roy
In 2003, cold case investigators in Lucas County, Ohio started looking into the unsolved murder of Sister Margaret Ann Paul. Decades earlier, Toledo police had struggled to find enough evidence to arrest their only suspect, Father Gerald Robinson. But after all these years, witnesses were more candid and during a follow up interview, Dr. Jack Barron stuck to his claim that he'd seen the priest near the chapel after the murder. The authorities already knew about his testimony, but when they spoke to a woman named Grace Jones, they were able to corroborate Barron's story from for the first time, Grace was a laboratory worker at Mercy Hospital when Sister Margaret was killed, and on the morning of the crime, she spotted Father Robinson leaving the chapel around 7am with a duffel bag in his hand. After the murder, she told her boss about what she'd seen. He warned her not to tell the police about it because Robinson was a man of God. He even threatened to fire her if she came forward. So Grace lied to the police to protect her job. The detectives were shocked. For over two decades, Father Robinson had stuck to his story, saying that he never left his bedroom on the morning Sister Margaret died. Now they had two witnesses, Grace Jones and Dr. Barron, who contradicted him. The new testimony convinced detectives that the department was on the right track. All those years ago, they spent months surveilling the priest, now 65 years old, at his home in Toledo. Although they knew it was a long shot, they hoped he might still be hiding evidence of his crime, especially because they had forensics take another look at the autopsy. From those documents, they became convinced that Sister Margaret's killer used some kind of template when they carved an inverted cross into her abdomen. It was possible the murderer still had the crucifix they'd used. Finding that would go a long way towards strengthening their case. On April 23, 2004, investigators finally made their move. They arrested Father Robinson and served him a search warrant. It was the first time a Catholic priest was ever charged with killing a nun in the United States. While police hauled Robinson off to the station, detectives went over his house with a fine tooth combination. They didn't find the cross they were looking for. Instead they discovered something even more disturbing. Above his dresser, Father Robinson kept a cardboard box full of hundreds of photographs. All of them were taken at funerals. Pictures of the dead lying in their coffins. The finding was so strange and unnerving that detectives reached out to another Polish priest to get some some answers. He told them that in Slavic countries it was an old tradition to keep photos from a loved one's funeral. But usually it was only done for family and close friends. Saving pictures of hundreds of coffins was unusual to say the least. And that wasn't the only strange thing the authorities found in Robinson's home. They also uncovered a book on satanic rituals. It looked like it might have been one of the priests favorites. Many of the pages were dog eared, some passages were highlighted and there were handwritten notes scrawled in the margins. By itself that didn't prove anything. The book was published by a Catholic organization and was meant to educate priests about the dangers of the occult. It's possible Robinson only used it as a reference material. Still, combined with the rest of the evidence, the police felt they had a compelling case. So they sat Father Robinson down at the station to confront him with what they knew so far. It had been 24 years since the priest had been in an interrogation room, but his behavior was the same. While he cooperated with the detective's questions, he considered what he said carefully before answering. And like before, he insisted he had just stepped out of the shower when he got news of Sister Margaret's death in 1980. He did share something new about that day with them though. He acknowledged that his co workers at the hospital believed he was involved in Margaret's death. In fact, he said right after her body was found, the other priest, Father Shephionatecki, outright accused him of murder. Robinson was so shocked by the exchange that it left him speechless. In retrospect, he said he should have acted outraged and explicitly denied the accusations. But he claimed he was so taken off guard that he couldn't respond in the moment. He said that was why Everyone thought he was a killer, and the cops didn't buy that he was the victim of a simple misunderstanding. There were just too many tiny discrepancies in his account of the murder. For example, at the beginning of their interrogation, Robinson insisted he kept his apartment at the hospital locked at all times. Later, when asked whether someone else could have taken the letter opener from his desk, he contradicted himself, claiming his apartment door was open. He also initially said that when he heard about Margaret's death, he ran down to the chapel. But later he changed his mind, saying he couldn't have run because his uniform restricted his movement. It was clear he couldn't keep his shoulders story straight, and it only made detectives more confident that they had the right man. After Robinson finished giving his statement, the police booked him down at the jail, and the local media rushed to report on the biggest story of the year. The priest was charged with killing a nun in a possible satanic ritual. And that was especially bad news for the Catholic Church, which had been swamped with scandals over the past few years. The official in charge of the Toledo area, Bishop Blair, told the public he was totally unaware of Sister Margaret's death. Before Father Robinson's arrest, he urged his congregants to pray for the priest and police involved in the case. Ten days later, Robinson was released on bond. And while he and his attorney prepared for trial, the police continue to strengthen their case. Despite the advances made by the cold case team, the prosecution was still worried they didn't have enough hard evidence. Months earlier, forensic experts found traces of male DNA on Sister Margaret's undergarments. But they didn't match Father Robinson's genetic profile. In such an old case, there was only one way to gather more samples. They would have to exhume Sister Margaret's body. So on May 10, 2004, that's exactly what the authorities did. Because the body was so old, they knew they would have to take what evidence they could and lay her to rest as soon as possible. Dr. Diane Barnett, a deputy coroner, was put in charge of examining Sister Margaret. Right away, she noticed a clear triangular wound on the nun's jawbone. The jaw is one of the hardest bones in the human body. It must have taken extreme force for a weapon to leave behind such a distinct impression that said bones were weren't Dr. Barnett's area of expertise. Usually she would have called a forensic anthropologist before making any conclusions about the evidence. But in this case, the consultants she relied on were out of town and time was of the essence. So Dr. Barnett performed her own test. With detectives present, she carefully pressed Father Robinson's letter opener into the jawbone impression. It was a perfect fit. Because of that, Dr. Barnett determined that the letter opener, or a weapon exactly like it, was used to kill Sister Margaret. Her report was a major victory for investigators. For the first time, they had hard forensic evidence that the priest was directly connected to the murder. But not everyone agreed with Dr. Barnett's methods. A forensic anthropologist hired by the defense claimed that she failed to clean the jaw properly before trying to fit the letter opener in the wound. Because of that, the jawbone may have been permanently altered by the insertion, contaminating the evidence. Those findings complicated things for the police, but they were still confident going into the trial. On April 24, 2006, the proceedings began at the downtown Toledo courthouse. 68 year old father Gerald Robinson pleaded not guilty. Over the next two weeks, he sat silently in front of the judge as the prosecution made its case. In the first half of their argument, attorneys focused on the forensic evidence that connected the letter opener and Robinson to the crime. In the last few days, they switched their tactics and called witnesses to the stand who could place him at the scene of the attack. For their part, the defense tried to poke holes in the police investigation, and they believe the authorities were relying too much on circumstantial evidence. But they adamantly refused to put Father Robinson on the stand. And the fact that a priest wouldn't publicly deny killing a nun had a huge impact in court. On May 11, after deliberating for a single day, the jury returned their verdict. They found Father Gerald Robinson guilty of murder. The 68 year old was sentenced to life in prison. After more than two decades, Sister Margaret Ann Paul's killer was finally behind bars. Many of those closest to her had long suspected Father Robinson. For them, the conviction was validating. Sister Angela, the nun who accused Father Robinson of sexually abusing her as a teenager, felt the same way. A year after he was sent to prison, she sued the priest in civil court. In 2007, the lawsuit was dismissed for exceeding the statute of limitations. Sister Angela claims she was abused starting in 1968. So the court determined that her case was filed too late. And they didn't comment on the validity of her accusations or deny that she was harmed. For his part, Robinson maintained his innocence. He appealed his case twice, once in 2008 and again in 2013. Both times his requests were denied. In 2014, the former priest suffered a heart attack in a prison hospital and died at the age of 76. Since then, Sister Margaret's memory has lived on in the hearts of many Toledo natives. As a nun, she gave the Catholic Church a lifetime of devotion, and in all her 71 years, God never failed her. But the institution she trusted did. It took officers like Dave Davison, other victims like Sister Angela, and supporters like Dr. Robert Cooley to finally bring her killer to justice. In some ways, their actions brought her story full circle. Margaret spent decades living by the commandment Love thy neighbor, and in the end, her neighbors were the ones who made sure she could rest in peace. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is True Crime Stories. Come back next time for the story of a new murder and all the people it affected. True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House we want to thank each and every, every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode early and ad free. We'll be back on Friday. True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy and is a Crime House original powered by Page Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertofsky, Laurie Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Tara Wells and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. Hi, it's Carter.
- [50:21]
Narrator/Promoter
If you love Murder True Crime Stories,
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Carter Roy
check out the new Crime House original about disappearances the Final Hours hosted by
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Carter Roy
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