Tom NugentFreelance journalist Tom Nugent covered Sister Cathy's death starting in 1994. A headline in a Baltimore newspaper blared: 'City Police Fail To Find Missing Nun.'. However, Spitz, who worked on the case, later confirmed that there had been maggots in both the victim's mouth and trachea when found. ', Sister Cathy was reportedly counseling an abuse victim earlier on the day she went missing and many believe she was murdered before she could report the crimes, People close to the nun believethat Sister Cathy had 'confronted' Maskell 'and she lost her life for it'. As one of the Baltimore detectives who initially worked on the case, Nick Giangrasso, told a reporter for Huffington Post: 'The Catholic Church had a lot of input into the police department. However, theres even more to the story to be considered: Sharon Mays husband used to be a state cop. She said that Maskell showed her Sister Cathys body. Marilyn Cesnik RadakovicSister Cathy's younger sister, who joins the investigation with Hoskins and Schaub during "The Keepers.". The only evidence that she had been out, were the buns she had bought at the bakery. Jane Doe (Jean Wehner) is quoted as recalling a man she knew only as Brother Bob, who she can hardly remember from being traumatized so badly by him, whispering to her that he was the one who had killed Sister Cathy. [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. The youngest I've talked to myself was three, Hoskins said. And we hope that someone will be able to come forward with conclusive information about the murder. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. He would eventually commit suicide. Hoskins says at a minimum she wants to see records on Father Maskell. "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. My access point was a personal connection: My aunt went to Archbishop Keough High School and was Sister Cathys student, White told TheWrap. The Oldest Irish American Newspaper in USA, Established in 1928, Bonds Between Irish America And Ireland Remain Strong: Survey. I can still feel her touch my cheek, said Hargadon-Wehner, in a recent interview. They did stuff. Moreover, she said that along with the priest, she was abused by police officers. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Obviously, it has other meanings one other meaning was the idea of gatekeepers. Catherine Anne Cesnik was born on November 17, 1942, in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their interactions have sometimes been fraught, and she tells PEOPLE, Theres a lot that we still would like to see them do.. Her unsolved murder served as the basis for the Netflix documentary series The Keepers in 2017. Cesnik was found on a freezing January day in 1970 in Baltimore County, nearly two months after she vanished near her apartment. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. She was a member of the Keough class of 1971. [1] The pair lived in the Carriage House Apartments building instead of at the convent, in an attempt to get closer to the secular world to better serve their students. Were you scared of taking on the Catholic Church? The tour features the Pic of Day: There was more disruption at Dublin Airport Thursday due to a drone sighting, one of half a dozen such incidents in recent weeks. Find out what it is in TheWraps Q&A with White below. Cesniks body was found on Jan. 3, 1970. After Maskell died in 2001, the two women decided to go public, using their real names. She was comfortablewith that the long length of production actuallyhelped her comfort level. 'The Keepers': Sister Cathy's Medical Examiner Also Worked on JFK, JonBenet Ramsey Cases, director Ryan White told TheWrap there are at least 40 victims in total, The Baltimore Archdiocese reached a $35,000 settlement with VonDenBosch in 2016. Friday, Nov. 7, 1969 - Sister Cesnik, 26, left her Baltimore apartment for Edmondson Village Shopping Center in the early evening, according to her roommate, Sister Helen Russell Phillips. He was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun and has written investigative reports for Mother Jones, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. I've talked to the hunter that found Cathy, and he said that since the day he found her the police have never talked to him. The Baltimore Archdiocese reached a $35,000 settlement with VonDenBosch in 2016. In 1994, two women identified only as 'Jane Doe' and 'Jane Roe' alleged that Maskell had raped them when they were students at Sister Cathy's school. They have another project scheduled to come out later this year. I would hang on to her, and she was like, Youre gonna get me thrown out! , And shed tell Cesnik, Thats what Im trying to do, Cathy, Im trying to do. Id say to my dad, Get the car, well steal her. . But I do think that there are individuals who are still living who know exactly what happened, she said. Gerald KoobA close friend of Sister Cathys, who says his relationship with her was almost romantic. They filed a $40 million civil lawsuit against him, the Baltimore Archdiocese, the sisters who ran the school, and a local gynecologist. At this point, Im so disenchanted with my church its really disappointing. ', 'Before I knew it, there was a big man on top of me and then I thought that would be it and another policeman came in and I could hear Maskell in the distance talking and laughing. I mean, its a survivor story at its core. All rights reserved. She was not part of the 1994 lawsuit but came forward later. And this update involves Father Joseph Maskell. As for filmmakers Ryan White and Jessica Hargrave, after The Keepers they produced a documentary with Dr. Ruth, and then another one about the two women who assassinated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's brother. In spite of the Freedom of Information Act, the federal government has continuously neglected to provide Gemma Hoskins with this information. But when he was questioned by the police, he had an ironclad alibi for the night of Sister Cathy's disappearance. Gemma connected us with so many people in The Keepers.. He wrote that the evidence, all circumstantial, shows that Sister Cathy was probably killed because she was ready to blow the whistle on widespread sex abuse at Keough by Father Maskell and others, in the late 1960s. 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. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. When she first went in [to the convent], they had visitation days and my parents and I always went down for the visitation days, we never missed them, Radakovic says. Her case is similar to Sister Cathys both women disappeared from the same area in the city, both were found in isolated areas not far from one another, both died around the same time in November, and both had marks on their necks that indicated choking. [1] Her body was discovered on January 3, 1970, near a garbage dump in the Baltimore suburb of Lansdowne. I think the really special part of The Keepers is that people arespeaking up for a lot of people who didnt survive it. The letters contents and its link to the case, if any, have never been confirmed by police, though the family turned it over as evidence soon after Radakovic got it. Does he ever reveal them? If you were part of the Facebookgroup, people got to know us very well. RELATED:10 Best True Crime Shows On Netflix. She was described as a tall, thin girl -- standing about 5 feet, 7 inches and weighing 112 pounds. One of those calls went to a retired Baltimore County teacher, Gemma Hoskins. 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? We are no longer accepting comments on this article. [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. Her mutilated remains were found on January 1970 and her murder is still unsolved. 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. However, this is a small step towards justice. I never grew up knowing her teacher had been murdered. For the next 47 years, the case went unsolved until now. In one scene, Jean told her friends, we are the keepers of the secrets, and I knew that had to be the title. The girl left but the next day, she later claimed, Maskell waved a gun at her, warning he'd kill her and her family if she revealed the abuse. 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.. 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. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. Unfortunately, Russell is . She didnt know Jeanhad gone through that abuse. 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. 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. Despite the fact that Father Maskell's DNA does not match the DNA found at the crime scene, Armacost notes that the results don't necessarily clear him as a suspect. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. 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. The Keepers will premiere on Netflix on May 19. People walked to suicide, people are still hiding and keeping their secrets, and I think all of the survivors recognize the power in numbers. The Irish Tenors have been singing together for 25 years and have just embarked on a U.S. tour to mark this standout number. 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. The prime suspect in Sister Cathys murder was a priest, the late Father A. Joseph Maskell. 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. Radakovic, now in her 60s, remains determined. Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may be the source of a cover up and the murder. And everything ends with, I want you to do your job. . For us, our bar was more about bringing these womens experiences to light and starting this conversation.. The case remains open and unsolved. She also thinks Sister Cathy was murdered because she knew about Maskells abuse and was going to come forward. 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. Her body was found a few months later, discarded unceremoniously in a garbage dump. 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. Maskell was a police chaplain and he knew people in high places that's how they got away with it. Police dropped him as a target before he died. Another woman, Teresa Lancaster, also came forward. Unless some brave sleuths or particularly inspired detectives go digging, Keough High School is now, for better or worse, closed to a continuing story. I wont tell you my theory, but I will say: I believe Jean, and I have corroboratedJean, that this is a woman who was telling the truth from the beginning. She still spends at least part of every day trying to find those people. Netflix's latest true-crime documentary The Keepers is a hit and everyone who has watched the series has only one question: who killed Sister Cathy Cesnik? Donna VonDenBoschDonna VonDenBosch also has come forward as one of Maskell's abuse victims as a member of the Keough class of 1974. They scared the living hell out of us.'. Baltimore's Metro Crime Stoppers has republished the reward for information about the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik. The plaintiffs suits are thus barred by the statute of limitation. TheWrap: What was the process ofgetting this documentary together? Source: Justice for Catherine Cesnik and Joyce Malecki Facebook Group, Mysterious 'Lady in the Fridge' Murder Victim Identified After 27 Years, Woman Adopted as Infant Learns that Biological Mom Was Allegedly Murdered by Serial Killers, Ohio Mom Facing Eviction Kills Husband, Son, and Her Father Before Turning Gun on Herself, MMA Fighter Allegedly Stabbed Ex-Girlfriend 17 Times, Stuffed Body in Storage Bin, Hid Her in Closet, Inside the Mysterious Death of a Pregnant Fla. 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. The Keepers filmmaker Ryan White made the new Netflix docuseries that has everyone on the edge of their seats. Every bit of it, vividly. It deals with, among other subjects, the unsolved brutal murder on November 7, 1969, of a popular nun, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, known to many as simply "Sister Cathy.".
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