(Radakovic was, in many ways, her sisters first student.) White: My access point was personal connection: My aunt went to Archbishop Keough High School and was Sister Cathys student, so she always had a personal connection. Kathy HobeckIn addition to Wehner and Lancaster, Kathy Hobeck is one of six abuse victims who appears in "The Keepers." Sharon May states firmly and rudely in her interview that she had absolutely no involvement in any sort of cover-up. Maskell left Baltimore for Ireland where he obtained amployment as a psychologist. The series delves deeply into sexual abuse allegations and a lawsuit against Father Maskell brought by Jane Doe, now identified as Wehner, and Jane Roe, since identified as Teresa Lancaster. Nine months later, when Radakovic got married, she didnt throw her bouquet, instead leading everyone to the cemetery to put the bouquet on Cesniks grave. Information in The Keepers suggests Sister Cathy might have been killed because she found out that priests at Keough were sexually abusing students. Hoskins and Schaub looked into each of those tips, and the tips have kept coming in for the past five years. A lot of power. [6] Residents at the apartment complex noticed Cesnik in her car at approximately 8:30 that night, and others spotted her car illegally parked across the street about two hours later. She chose not to charge Maskell, saying the case lacked evidence. He was never charged with Sister Cathys murder. However, the Catholic Church is completely unwilling to share these documents, even though White says he would love for them to be transparent and show the world what they have.. True crime is only getting more popular, and Netflix never misses an opportunity to contribute to the zeitgeist, giving us The Keepers. Making a Murderer was sucha phenomenon and if we have a fraction the popularity of Making a Murderer, I will be a happy filmmaker. Do not sell or share my personal information. ', Asked how they could get away with such a crime, Lancaster told the TV news interviewer, 'Power and fear. According to the autopsy, she had been struck on the back of her head by either a hammer or a brick, there was a hole the size of a quarter in her skull , and there were strangulation marks on her neck. Published on May 18, 2017 10:03 AM. However, theres even more to the story to be considered: Sharon Mays husband used to be a state cop. Caine says the church believes Maskell who overlapped with Cesnik while at Keough, where he worked as the school chaplain and counselor from 1967 to 1975. was sexually abusive. ', After Maskell's death, Jean Wehner came forward and revealed she was the student who the priest had taken to view Cesnik's body at the dump before her remains were officially found, Wehner claims the only nun at the school who sought to help the abused girls was Sister Cathy, The crime haunted the local community for decades. Jean is the most incredible survivor that Ive ever witnessed. Though she spent years in the dark, Radakovic is now regularly in touch with cold-case detectives after first meeting with them in the spring of 2016. It seems that either the Archdiocese is lying about having investigated the accusations, or the Archdiocese is lying about having internal records on A. Joseph Maskell. The church first learned of the allegations in 1992 and removed Maskell as a priest in 1994, as soon as it had corroborating accounts of his abuse, according to Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. [11] Cesnik's body was not found until January 3, 1970, and its discovery by two hunters was not in the wooded location near Fort Meade, but on the open hill trash dump of a small business property in Lansdowne. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. The prime suspect in Sister Cathys murder was a priest, the late Father A. Joseph Maskell. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. His aunt was also friends with Jean Wehner, one of multiple people in the documentarywho say they were sexually abused by Father Joseph Maskell in the Baltimore, Maryland area. But a Facebook message ultimately connected them, and Radakovic features prominently in the later episodes. They encourage everyone reading this to question everything, stay hydrated, and treat others with kindness. If the Archdiocese is willing to blatantly lie about this, what else are they lying about? On January 3, 1970, nearly two months after her vanishment, the brutally beaten and mutilated body of Sister Cesnik was located in a field in Lansdowne, Maryland, by a man and his son who were. ', He theorized that because there had been no signs of a struggle, 'it looked too clean. (Handout photo courtesy of Netflix) Catherine Cesnik, a 26-year-old. Wehner alleged that there was frequent sexual abuse at Sister Cathy's school. She may have made a purchase at Muhly's Bakery in Edmondson Village, since a box of buns from that bakery was found in the front seat of her car. "[9], Wehner said that Cesnik once came to her and said gently, "Are the priests hurting you?" She also thinks Sister Cathy was murdered because she knew about Maskells abuse and was going to come forward. Radakovic still tears up when she talks about Cesnik, who died more than 46 years ago. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. Cesnik attended St. Mary's School on 57th Street and St. Augustine High School, both in Lawrenceville. In 1994, two victims, known then as Jane Doe and Jane Roe, attempted to sue the Catholic Church and Maskell for alleged abuse, but the case was thrown out because of Marylands statute of limitations. Shes so driven to find out what happened to her teacher. The grisly case has inspired the Netflix docu-series The Keepers, The beloved nun who was an English and drama teacher at Archbishop Keough High School is believed to have been killed by someone in the church in an attempt to keep her quiet, Like a scene out of a horror movie, the high school junior was driven to a garbage dump by the school's 30-year-old spiritual counselor, Father Joseph Maskell - who died in 2001 - and reportedly told the 16-year-old student: 'You see what happens when you say bad things about people?'. She was comfortablewith that the long length of production actuallyhelped her comfort level. The filmmakers said they were not trying to solve the murder of Sister Cathy, or the murder of Joyce Malecki, which is also featured in the series. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. And I looked at my husband and I said, Oh my God, Radakovic remembers now. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. However, with each day that passes, internet sleuths and hard-boiled detectives alike unveil a new connection or a potential piece of evidence that had been overlooked before in the case. However, Spitz, who worked on the case, later confirmed that there had been maggots in both the victim's mouth and trachea when found. Jean is the reason I made The Keepers I had a five-hour conversation with Jean and I left saying, I need to do something with this womans story. She, to me, was one of the most compellingpeople Ive ever met. Often, survivors would choose to remain anonymous, and the crew of The Keepers respected that choice and removed their stories, names, and/or faces from the series. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. We would go to Baltimore every two months for the last three years, so people started to feel comfortable around us Survivors would reach out to us on Facebook. And I no longer need to have validation from others about what I witnessed during the crimes that were committed against me and others., The victim added that the archdiocese of Baltimore has been hiding behind the statute of limitations.. There is no word on whether the Attorney General's investigators will gain access to those records. I have deep gratitude for the detectiveswho sat down with me and had complete transparency in opening their crime scene photos and investigation. [1] Her body was discovered on January 3, 1970, near a garbage dump in the Baltimore suburb of Lansdowne. She wanted to be more. What we tried to do in the editing was present all various narratives. Father Maskell was also, for a time, an assistant pastor at St. Clements Church in Landsdowne. And as long as youre alive, Cathy will be alive and dont ever forget that.. Sister Helen Russell PhillipsSister Cathy's roommate in 1969 when she disappeared. The Baltimore Sun reported in late 2016 that since 2011 the archdiocese has paid out settlements to Maskell's alleged victims. It would be two months later, on January 3, 1970, that a couple of hunters came upon Sister Cathy's decomposed, frozen and mutilated body, and notified police. Amateur sleuths have continued tracking the famous cold case in a new podcast series. Tom Nugent, author of the acclaimed Death at Buffalo Creek, and an investigative journalist, has been writing about Sister Cathys case since 1994, and recently in his online publication, Inside Baltimore.. White is unconvinced that the DNA found at the scene on a cigarette butt would match A. Joseph Maskells DNA, but he remains positive that, eventually, someone will catch whoever murdered Sister Cathy and theyll finally figure out why. Sister Joanita (Cathy) requested permission to take a sabbatical from the Order. The mysterious Brother Bob is, in many ways, even more chilling a figure than A. Joseph Maskell. A 1994 story in the Baltimore Sun, revealed that she had information about Cesnik's murdered condition, such as the maggots on her face, known only to the cops. But now, because of witness testimony, and a multi-part documentary about the Cesnik murder to be aired on Netflix beginning on May 19, there is hope that her killer may be identified and the case finally be put to rest. After Maskell died in 2001, the two women decided to go public, using their real names. They have another project scheduled to come out later this year. Catherine (Cathy) Cesnik was a Catholic sister and taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough (later renamed Seton Keough), an all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore. He then left to work as pastor of a church in Baltimore, but later returned to his duties after an archdiocese investigation failed to support the abuse allegations. The next time the young nun was seen, it was by a female student from Cesnik's school, Archbishop Keough High School. The documentary investigates whether Maskell had. Today, almost a half-century later, the murder of Sister Cathy who was once compared to Julie Andrews' character in 'The Sound of Music' because of her beauty and bubbly personality is still one of law enforcement's most mysterious cold cases. Nicole Mello is an author of horrors, romances, and comedies. And the oldest was in her 20's.. Schaub was previously a nurse. "Buried in Baltimore: The Mysterious Murder of a Nun Who Knew Too Much", "Justice for Sister Cathy is Long Overdue", "With New Lead, Police Reopen Old Murder Case", "Timeline: The Sister Catherine Cesnik Case", "Sister Catherine Cesnik Case: Missing Nun's Body Found in Lansdowne", "Baltimore Priest Victim: Police Were in on Sexual Abuse", "Jane Doe et al. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. 'There were a lot of layers that if you peeled them back went a lot deeper. I hope this documentary can be a tool of healing, but its about to be very triggering for the survivors, saidWhite. Eluding police questioning, Maskell eventually ran off to Ireland in 1994 to work as a priest. After the complaints were made to the archdiocese, Maskell was temporarily removed from his post at the school for psychological evaluation. She was just 26 at the time of her death. She doesnt recognize that of course she lives small. And they just paid settlements to the survivors its not that they deny it happened. The documentary was produced by Ryan White. Except for that day, she said. And although the seven-episode seriesexplores through its lead investigators Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub three main suspects, including Father Maskell, who diedin 2001, White does havehis own theory on who abducted and murdered the nun. The comments below have not been moderated. He claims he interviewed more than 100 girls in the case who knew of or were involved in sexual abuse. But he never found the killer of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik; he died of complications from diabetes on June 10, at age 79. But in interviews conducted before his death, he found these. They scared the living hell out of us.'. What do you think happened to Sister Cathy? Abbie SchaubAnother former student of Sister Cathys, Schaub and Hoskins combined forces to try to uncover what happened to Sister Cathy in 1969. ", All the people you need to know to follow Netflixs sprawling documentary series The Keepers. I was raised Catholic and I had a very positive experience. In the nearly two months between that discovery and her disappearance, Radakovic, then 20 years old, remained certain her sister was alive somewhere. When you say survivors, how many are there? Whoever dumped Sister Catherine's body on a snowy piece of isolated waste ground (now completely overgrown) in Lansdowne had to know the area well. The Keepers, a 7-part documentary, is currently available to stream on Netflix. She didnt know Jeanhad gone through that abuse. v. A. Joseph Maskell et al.
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