The Boston Archdiocese had been regularly making private settlements, paying for silence when it came to reports of abuse by priests. Sister Cathy's life and death have both deeply inspired and haunted Gemma in a number of ways, and she's made it her life s purpose to uncover what really happened on that November night in 1969. He'd mostly target students who were struggling, either academically or at home, calling them in for "therapy," where he used his charms to manipulate them into believing he knew what was best for them. Sister Cathy Cesnik & Joyce Malecki. Though the documentary includes much of the story, director Ryan White doesnt include every piece of evidence, and some of the most crucial information gets left out. In the 1990s, Jean Wehner came forward and alleged that Father Maskell had sexually abused her and allowed other men to do the same. Koob had an alibi for the night he'd been out at a movie with another priest and claimed not to know anything. According to Armacost, in 1994 one of the students who claimed abuse by Maskell when she was in high school said that he took her to a remote dumping area and showed her Cesniks decaying body as a warning of what would happen if she told anyone about him. Much like the government, the Catholic Church has their own internal system for keeping track of the people who make up their organization. One night, he invited Wehner into his car, only to take her to see Cesnik's dead body, long before it was discovered. While police were never able to bring charges against the priest, Caine said that 16 people who said Maskell abused them have since received money from the archdiocese as part of financial agreements. For us, our bar was more about bringing these womens experiences to light and starting this conversation.. The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research into Sister Cathy's murder. When she was reported missing later that night, several dozen cops and half-a-dozen dog teams unsuccessfully searched a wide swath of Baltimore's southwest neighborhood searching for clues to her whereabouts. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. Now, WJZ has learned Baltimore County Police may be closer than ever to solving the murder of 26-year-old Sister Cathy Cesnik. The investigation into her disappearance and death revealed rampant abuse at her place of employment, Keough High School, a prominent Catholic school in Baltimore, Maryland. Outwardly, it seemed like there was little wrong with him. Phillips never saw her roommate again after she left that evening, and even a store clerk couldn't confirm Cesnik's presence there that night. It's hard to say what's true. The most terrifying though? Nicole Mello is an author of horrors, romances, and comedies. Really, the whole thing raises a lot of questions, summarized by Huffpost. The seven-episode docuseries explores the 1969 death of Catholic nun and Baltimore schoolteacher Sister Cathy Cesnik and touches on 20-year-old Joyce Malecki's murder mere days later. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The student let herself out right away but could tell that Maskell knew what was happening. Several days later, on November 13, 1969, the body of Joyce Malecki, a 20-year-old woman who looked like Wehner, was discovered by two hunters in the same wooded location where Maskell had driven Wehner. Nearly 10 years ago the filmmakers started to meet with her; this was long before Netflix got involved. Hoskins and Schaub looked into each of those tips, and the tips have kept coming in for the past five years. We had no idea that people would still be talking about it five years later, and that people would still be watching it five years later.. Jan. 3, 1970, changed that. One of the students was actually there to talk about Maskell the night before Cesnik disappeared, only for Maskell himself to barge into the apartment. On occasion, they will attempt to combine all three, as there really isnt too much to life overall than fear, love, and laughter. Reunion on 'Blue Bloods', 'Sister Wives' Star Meri Brown Clarifies Her Sexuality After Split From Kody. Sister Catherine Cesnik, a nun from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, a teaching order, began her career at Archbishop Keough High School, a private, all-girls Catholic School. [10], Wehner says that, two months before Cesnik's body was discovered, and only a day or two after Cesnik disappeared on November 1969, Maskell drove her to a wooded site near Fort Meade and showed her the body. Jean and other former students of Sister Cathy believe that the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the authorities covered up Sister Cathy's murder after she suspected Father Maskell was sexually abusing several young girls at the school. Discovery Company. And we hope that someone will be able to come forward with conclusive information about the murder. When he was removed from the ministry he fled to Ireland, where he lived for a time before returning to the Baltimore area, according to police. Source:https://www.spreaker.com/user/americancrimecast/sistercathy-1Join Gemma Hoskins and Shane Waters in this new podcast series about the unsolved murder . The show is responsible for initiating a deeper look into the case of A. Joseph Maskell and Sister Cathy Cesnik, as Baltimore County Police start investigating again due to a public outcry. The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki. But that argument didn't fly in the 90s. If the Archdiocese is willing to blatantly lie about this, what else are they lying about? It's one of those terrible truths of the world that bad things happen to good people. No one really knows exactly what happened to Cesnik. He'd even leave his position as a priest and marry her, if only she would agree. [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. 'The Keepers' Update: New DNA Evidence Found In Sister Cathy Cesniks Murder Case, 'Yellowstone' Fans Shocked at Series' Reported Demise, Jessica Biel Reacts to Elizabeth Olsen's Candy Montgomery Show 'Love & Death', 'True Lies' Stars Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga Talk Stunts, Style, and the Iconic Beverly D'Angelo Ahead of New CBS Action Series Premiere (Exclusive), 'The View' Hosts Defend Marjorie Taylor Greene: 'I Have to Say, I'm on Marjorie's Side', Eugene Levy Gives Hope to Potential 'Schitt's Creek' Revival, 'Today' Show Fans Concerned as Hoda Kotb's Week-long Absence Continues, Tom Selleck and Larry Manetti Reunite for 'Mangum, P.I.' The murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik remains unsolved to this day. Leads dried up quickly and no one came forward with information about Cathy's whereabouts, and the search dragged on for months. Whats worse than considering the fact that A. Joseph Maskell terrorized one community? And the oldest was in her 20's.. Pamela Lynn Conyers, 16, was last seen at the shopping mall in Glen Burnie on October 16, 1970, police said. Regardless of why the school is closing, the walls will never be able to talk now. And that often involved stripping them of their clothes, touching them in his "godly manner," or forcing them to pose for nude photos while he and the school's religious director watched with, wellunrestrained pleasure. [5], In the fall of 1969, Cesnik was teaching drama and English at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland,[6] a school for girls that had opened in 1965. Her body was left out in the open on a slight rise. NEXT:10 Creepy Documentaries To Watch If You Loved The Keepers. She was valedictorian at the graduation of her high school class in 1960, after being the May Queen and the president of the senior class and the student council. In general, he exploited 1960s counterculture, offering a relaxed environment and a willing ear regarding sex, drugs, alcohol, and the like all things that the students' strictly religious parents detested. Sandra Onorati Rzucek, Shan'ann's mother, described Shan'ann as a "fireball". And I can hear Cathy saying 'I told you I'd take care of this' and I said, I didn't think you meant 20 years later. ', The comments below have not been moderated, By This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Sister Catherine Cesnik is pictured with her father, Joseph Cesnik. Something was clearly wrong, and so, according to the Baltimore Sun, Helen Russell Phillips called on the help of a few friends revs. The Keepers was an intense docu-series on Netflix about an unsolved murder, and here are some bits of evidence the show has left out. Police then announced that the DNA taken from A. Joseph Maskell was not a direct match to the DNA found at the two-month-old murder scene, where 26-year-old Sister Cathy was found decomposing in 1970. They already knew the murderer, but looking further would unearth information he wasn't supposed to know. Part 1 - Victim Featured in The Keepers Tells Story of Survival in New Book, Part 2 - Attorney Believes Criminal Charges A Possibility in Sex Abuse Investigation. In spite of the Freedom of Information Act, the federal government has continuously neglected to provide Gemma Hoskins with this information. [4] Cesnik had three siblings. 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.. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki. Rather, people actually trusted him a lot, reportsHuffpost. (Handout photo courtesy of . Prior to the funeral, the city of Frederick put purple ribbons [Shan'ann's favorite color] all over the city. Catherine Anne Cesnik SSND (born November 17, 1942; disappeared November 7, 1969) was an American Catholic religious sister who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Its possible Flaherty and Maskell had some deeper connection at the time that has simply been completely overlooked. What the show doesnt get into is that the FBI has pushed back the date even further now. (just outside Baltimore), covered in snow and partially hidden by a nearby embankment. Sean Caine, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said the archdiocese removed Maskell from his post as soon as they learned of the allegations in 1992, in order to conduct their own investigation. Granted, there was the argument that this was, technically, still within three years Jean Wehner and Teresa Lancaster had just recovered those memories. Because of the condition of Cesnik's corpse, police were unable to tell if she had been sexually assaulted. All of them took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s generally around the Baltimore area, with many of the crime scenes and bodies sharing physical characteristics. Her cousin was soon to be married and Sister Cathy wanted to shop for an engagement gift, she told her roommate, Sister Helen Phillips, with whom she shared a small garden apartment in Southwest Baltimore, a blue-collar area of the city. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. One of the initial persons of interest was a Jesuit priest who had been romantically involved with the pretty nun, and had once asked her to marry him, before she took her vows. 'Father Maskell picked me up, took me to a wooded area where there was a lot of policemen gathered around, he left me in the backseat and two policemen abused me while Maskell stood next to the car. They have another project scheduled to come out later this year. As the next morning rolled around, Catherine Cesnik still hadn't returned to the apartment, and her roommate became very concerned. A headline in a Baltimore newspaper blared: 'City Police Fail To Find Missing Nun.'. Jean claims that Father Maskell took her to Sister Cathy's body and said to her, "See what happens when you say bad things about people.". According to Armacost, Baltimore County police in 1994 took the alleged victims statement seriously and interviewed Maskell, himself once the chaplain for the Baltimore County Police and other area law enforcement agencies. And when those kids got older, Maskell would give them rides home or to appointments. Malecki's body was even found near Fort Meade, where Maskell was a military chaplain. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Except for that day, she said. Did you encounter any technical issues? On the show, we see how long its been taking to get the FBI to honor the requests for documentation under the Freedom of Information Act. In The Keepers another Keough graduate - Jean Hargadon-Wehner - talked on camera about her abuse by two priests, Neil Magnus and Joseph Maskell, and other men at the school. The plaintiffs appealed. . In 2013, Facebook page was started by an alum of the school, and more women told of their abuse at the hands of Maskell and others. There is no word on whether the Attorney General's investigators will gain access to those records. Determining whether Maskells DNA matches the evidence remaining from the crime scene is a box that must be checked, said Armacost. "For now, we've pretty well reached the end of the road when it comes to forensic evidence," Elise Armacost, a spokesperson for the Baltimore County Police Department said. The theory that she was killed because she knew something about abuse that was going on by priests within the church continues to be a theory, but is not the only theory. They were always invited to come to her apartment, where she checked in on the situation regarding Maskell. The case remains open and unsolved. She had choke marks around her neck, maggots in her throat and a hole in the back of her skull. When Wehner could only nod in reply, Cesnik promised that she would take care of it (though Maskell did continue to abuse students after that, too). And you know it really just began as us with our camera, taking these trips to Baltimore not knowing that it would ever even become anything.. . [12] After obtaining permission from the state's attorney's office, the BCPD exhumed the body of Maskell, who died of a major stroke in 2001, but did not find a DNA match to evidence from the crime scene. Viewers of The Keepers do not fondly reflect on Sharon May, the prosecutor in charge of the Maryland State Attorneys Office Sex Abuse Unit. It's been almost five decades since 26-year-old nun and teacher Sister Cathy Cesnik was senselessly murdered back in 1969 and to this day, those closest to her are still looking for answers . 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. Its important to take this confession from Koob with a grain of salt, as he is proven in the show to be less than the most reliable of witnesses, but, as White says, I dont know where the truth lies.. But, somehow, that evidence vanished, never making it to court. Instead, it made more sense if someone Catherine Cesnik already knew coerced her from the car. Read on to learn about the victim. On January 3, 1970, the body of Catherine Cesnik was found by two hunters. It's just a theory one that makes sense, but also one that the police actually can't prove. ', Giangrasso also believed Sister Cathy's killing was church-related, telling the Huffington Post: 'I personally thought it was in-house, within her social network the priests and the religious order.'. Many believe a quiet cover-up orchestrated by the Catholic Church and . There are countless untold stories backing up the accusations made against A. Joseph Maskell and the Catholic Church that the docuseries doesnt even begin to explore. One of them, Jean Wehner, was the student who claimed Maskell had taken her to view Cesnik's body in the dump. The women have since been more vocal about the abuses they suffered at Joseph Maskell's hands, and all the stories are universally awful (via Huffpost). Police have also looked into whether Cesniks death is related to the deaths of three other young women in the Baltimore area around the same time. The same happened in 1994. The scandals were always covered up by reassigning the offending priests to new parishes or just saying they were "on sick leave.". On the evening she disappeared, Sister Cathy was reportedly counseling one of the abused girls when Maskell unexpectedly showed up. None of these cases have been solved. Gerard Koob it depends on the report) found her car unlocked around 4:40 a.m. on the day after her disappearance. In the 1990s, sexual assault and abuse allegations began to surface against Maskell, who had served as a chaplain at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore. And to end. Source:https://www.spreaker.com/user/americancrimecast/sister-cathy-cesnik-part-5-if-i-told-i-wThis episode may not be appropriate for all listeners. RELATED:Everything Available At Launch On HBO Max. It was a name he kept hearing in interviews with other priests, and the man had worked with Cesnik while she taught at Keough. The service at the at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina lasted 1 hour. A search of the park turned up nothing, and there was no lead on her whereabouts for almost two months. [15] The series features interviews with women who were Cesnik's students, with some who say they were sexually abused by Maskell and others.[16]. Wehner says she remembers trying repeatedly to brush off the maggots crawling on Cesnik's face while frantically repeating the words, "Help me, help me." RELATED:16 TV Shows Too Disturbing To Binge-Watch, Most dont believe Gerry Koob when he talks, but a member of the police force, Detective Roemer, claimed that Koob confessed to having a sexual relationship with Sister Cathy before her disappearance. This begs the question, though, that if White says he included everything he knew, and we know he had to remove names for legal reasons where in the documentary does he reveal these hidden suspects? She left for Baltimore at 18 to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame, eventually going on to teach at Archbishop Keough High School. ', The cop, who died in 2009, said it was a shame because he was certain the priest 'knew more than he was telling. See more ideas about catherine, documentaries, unsolved murders. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. Nearly 20 years ago, Nugent had been calling many former students from the now-closed Archbishop Keough High School, for a story on Sister Cesnik, who was murdered in 1969. 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. Her body was found a few months later, discarded unceremoniously in a garbage dump. Their work is featured prominently, in "The Keepers.. RELATED:10 Best True Crime Shows On Netflix. 'After that we had to break away from him. She was warm and energetic, always ready to engage with her students, writing musicals for them to perform on stage, or inventing games to encourage them to teach each other new vocabulary. Her body was discovered on January 3, 1970, near a garbage dump in the Baltimore suburb of Lansdowne.Her unsolved murder served as the basis for . Five years learned Baltimore County Police may be closer than ever to solving the murder of Sister Cesnik! 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