Carter Roy (35:09)
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.
