It's just a theory one that makes sense, but also one that the police actually can't prove. 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. In the show, the audience briefly hears about the fact that Ireland has claims on A. Joseph Maskell, as well, that the Catholic Church continues to cover up. James Maskell, A. Joseph Maskells uncle, is a similarly powerful and threatening figure that deserves to be prodded harder. Sharon May states firmly and rudely in her interview that she had absolutely no involvement in any sort of cover-up. [6] At 4:40am the next morning, Russell's friends, Peter McKeon and Gerard J. Koob, both Catholic priests, found Cesnik's car, in muddy condition, and illegally parked across from her apartment complex. The autopsy reportedly found that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. 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." The exact area couldn't actually be reached by car, meaning that she would've been forced to walk there, or possibly carried. Expand. 9:08 PM EDT, Tue May 9, 2017, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik; Rev. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. Her life had been threatened and she had allegedly been abused by the priest. Even after Cesnik left her job at Keough and took a position at Western, she still gave the girls a safe space to talk. The body was in poor condition but an autopsy revealed that Sister Cesnick died from a blow to her left temple by a blunt . It just means that there's no link between Maskell and the crime scene. In 2004, a retired Baltimore homicide detective told the Baltimore City Paper that the church lawyers had 'stepped in and they talked to the higher-ups at the police department. 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. Except for that day, she said. 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. The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research into Sister Cathy's murder. And why should they? [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. BALTIMORE "The Keepers" premiered on Netflix, on May 19th, 2017, bringing worldwide attention to the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. But that argument didn't fly in the 90s. The Huffington Post reported that Maskell told Wehner, "You see what happens when you say bad things about people?"[1]. Teresa Lancaster also mentioned times when he would take them to a gynecologist Dr. Christian Richter for check-ups, during which he would occasionally assault them on the table (Richter would later deny being a part of the abuse). 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. Peter McKeon and Gerard J. Koob. But that's where things get hazy. Her account was brought into question by scientific evidence showing that it would have been impossible for maggots to be alive at that time of year. She was found dead two months later. More: Every Original Series Cancelled By Netflix. By 1994, Maskell no longer worked at the high school and was the pastor of Holy Cross Church in Baltimore. Well, for all the fans with remaining questions, there has been an update in the murder case. Detective Nick Giangrasso still thought it was someone tied to the church, though, and began to look into Father A. Joseph Maskell. The Murder. However, they say theres nothing, even though Jean Wehner found many victims willing to come forward simply by sending out letters in the mail. Then there was a Baltimore gravedigger who told the police Maskell had ordered him to dig a hole in 1991 to bury files. No one really knows exactly what happened to Cesnik. The amount of people that have seen The Keepers now is mind-blowing around the world, White said. 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? Grace Elizabeth Montanye, 16, met a stranger at a shopping mall on Sept 29, 1971, northwest of Baltimore, according to police. 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. 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.. Two women anonymous at the time but who later came forward as Jean Wehner and Teresa Lancaster came forward with allegations of abuse, saying he (and some of his associates) had assaulted them while they were students at Archbishop Keough (later Seton Keough) High School (via Baltimore Sun). Regardless of why the school is closing, the walls will never be able to talk now. They scared the living hell out of us.'. They did stuff. I think he's dead, but I may be wrong. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. Locating that stash, investigators found, among other things, nude pictures of underage girls. In Keeping On, Gemma takes readers on a journey of her life, from her childhood and her time as Sister Cathy's student at Archbishop Keough High . (Handout photo courtesy of Netflix), Catherine Cesnik, a 26-year-old nun, disappeared after leaving her Southwest Baltimore apartment to go shopping in November 1969. 2023 Cable News Network. It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. '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. Another time, he pressed his gun to the side of Jean Wehner's head, actually pulling the trigger only for her to realize it was unloaded. She believes they might contain the names of people who were complicit in his crimes, or in covering them up. Their work is featured prominently, in "The Keepers.. She taught English and ran the drama club. Eluding police questioning, Maskell eventually ran off to Ireland in 1994 to work as a priest. It was apparently a fixation for Maskell, who would then perform his own mock "exams" on the girls, flaunting his authority and power. They encourage everyone reading this to question everything, stay hydrated, and treat others with kindness. 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. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. ', 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.'. On Nov. 13, 1969, six days after Sister Cathy Cesnik vanished, not to be found murdered for two long months, a second young woman20-year-old Joyce Maleckiwas found strangled and stabbed to death in a small creek located on the U.S. Army's Fort Meade military base in Anne Arundel County, only a few miles from where Cesnik's body would . RELATED:10 Best True Crime Shows On Netflix. 'After that we had to break away from him. Does he ever reveal them? By 1994, they and several other students had filed a lawsuit alleging physical and sexual abuse by Maskell through the 1960s and 1970s, according to Armacost. Despite the time, speculation, and later surge of interest in the case, Catherine Cesnik's murder has still gone unsolved. murders for possible connections to Sister Cathy. The mysterious Brother Bob is, in many ways, even more chilling a figure than A. Joseph Maskell. However, White did still get to talk to them he even got to talk to the anonymous student he mentions in the series. Joseph Maskell knew that the victims of his abuse would want to talk (and that they were talking to Catherine Cesnik, at least), so he had to shut that down with violent threats. Joyce Helen Malecki (born June 12, 1949; disappeared November 11, 1969) was a 20-year-old American office worker from Baltimore, Maryland, who was employed at a liquor distributor.She disappeared on November 11, 1969, and was found dead two days later at the Soldier Park training area of Fort Meade.Malecki's murder remains unsolved; the Netflix documentary series The Keepers, released in May . The 26-year-old nun had been missing for nearly two months. It was actual, hard evidence that would at least be enough to arrest Maskell for possessing child pornography. Maskell's DNA did not match the forensic profile from 1970, although investigators noted that this . As the next morning rolled around, Catherine Cesnik still hadn't returned to the apartment, and her roommate became very concerned. The details go on, and none of them are pretty. Supposedly, according to White and Jean Wehner, the Archdiocese opened an investigation into A. Joseph Maskell, and so, those records should exist. Wehner alleged that there was frequent sexual abuse at Sister Cathy's school. Jerry Oppenheimer For Dailymail.com, Pupils take to TikTok as they stage protest at Shenfield High School, Huge urgent police search for missing baby of Constance Marten, King Charles hosts von der Leyen at Windsor Castle, Gabor Mat: No Jewish state without oppressing local population, Putin spy plane before being 'destroyed by pro-Ukraine Belarus group', Amplified jet stream could lead to 'disruptive snow in places', Shocking video shows machete fight playing out in broad daylight, Dashcam captures moment two cars collide on a roundabout, Putin orders intelligence service to find 'scum' who oppose him, Moment supermarket cashier is attacked at work in New York, Police search allotment sheds for Constance Marten's missing baby, Dramatic moment police cars chase driver moments before smash. ', He theorized that because there had been no signs of a struggle, 'it looked too clean. All rights reserved. Its possible Flaherty and Maskell had some deeper connection at the time that has simply been completely overlooked. The weapon that caused it? However, this is a small step towards justice. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. There were actually six different murders that might all be connected with each other three teenage girls, a teenage boy, Cesnik, and Joyce Malecki. Western's principal noted that she was an especially "fine teacher," while others pointed out that she was known for her compassion. The car was parked illegally but only a block away from the apartment, and there were no signs of struggle. See more ideas about catherine, documentaries, unsolved murders. The Keepers centres on the death of 26-year-old nun, Sister Cathy Cesnik, who went missing from Baltimore, Maryland on November 7th, 1969.Her body was found decomposed two months later, but the . Priests regularly got away scot-free. 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. Moreover, she said that along with the priest, she was abused by police officers. Authorities said results will take up to six more weeks. 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. It made sense that she'd gone into some kind of wooded area, and with Leakin Park near where the car was found, it was a place to start. It didn't take long for him to lose his position as a pastor, spending some time in a psychiatric hospital (though he was released shortly after, apparently perfectly fit to work at another church). She was "Jane Roe" in that ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit. Armacost says the timing of Maskells exhumation has nothing to do with the documentary, and opening the priests grave was simply a step that cold-case investigators felt needed to be taken to leave no stone unturned. And the oldest was in her 20's.. Joyce Maleckis murder is explored as much as it can be as being potentially connected to the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, but theres still so much that Abbie, Gemma, and audiences dont know. Either way, theyre lying and withholding information that would be helpful to the case. Her body was left out in the open on a slight rise. Joyce Helen Malecki, 20, disappeared from Harundale Mall a few days after Cesnik; her . 'There were a lot of layers that if you peeled them back went a lot deeper. But some thirty women soon came forward with accounts of sexual abuse at the school. Sharon Mays husband, V. Eric W. May, Sr., was a state cop while Sharon was a prosecutor, providing the two of them even more opportunity to participate in a cover-up. And she has not stopped looking into the murder of her former teacher. Did you encounter any technical issues? She left for Baltimore at 18 to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame, eventually going on to teach at Archbishop Keough High School. She acted like a savior to his victims, and Huffpost compiled a number of those stories. 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. 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. The exhumation of a Catholic priests body by Baltimore County Police could hold the key to solving the 47-year-old cold case of a murdered nun. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. So the case couldn't go forward. Sister Cathy was left in a remote area of Lansdowne, near a garbage dump. However, she didnt want to go on the record. An autopsy found Cesnik died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to police. I do believe in so many other things than I ever did before. The week prior, Sister Cathy Cesnik, a popular young nun who taught English and drama at Keough, had vanished while on a Friday-night shopping trip. Gerard Koob it depends on the report) found her car unlocked around 4:40 a.m. on the day after her disappearance. And to end. Because of the condition of Cesnik's corpse, police were unable to tell if she had been sexually assaulted. Nicole Mello is an author of horrors, romances, and comedies. The only evidence that she had been out, were the buns she had bought at the bakery. Hoskins says at a minimum she wants to see records on Father Maskell. Ultimately, Maskell died in 2001, having never been charged for a thing. And after almost 50 years, Sister Cathy's murder has remained unsolved. The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki. But she wasn't fully happy there, and by 1969, at the age of 26, Cesnik knew she had potential that her order was stifling, knew she could become so much more, and moved out to take a job at Western High School. The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki. Sister Cathy Cesnik was reported missing after she failed to return home from a shopping trip in November 1969. Another woman, Teresa Lancaster, also came forward. The Baltimore Sun reported in late 2016 that since 2011 the archdiocese has paid out settlements to Maskell's alleged victims. ', While the murder of Sister Cathy is in the forefront of the series, White noted that there were other crimes 'happening before and after, and still filter down to today and may be linked to her murder. One of Baltimores most infamous cold cases, Cesniks death is the subject of a new documentary series, The Keepers, which releases May 19 on Netflix. Sister Cesnik had been reported as a missing person on November 7, 1969, from her residence at the Carriage House Apartments in Baltimore City, 21229. Viewers of The Keepers do not fondly reflect on Sharon May, the prosecutor in charge of the Maryland State Attorneys Office Sex Abuse Unit. As in, a three-year-old who remembers it. Her former students believe that Sister Cathy was murdered as part of a cover-up to protect a priest at the school, A. Joseph Maskell, who Cesnik suspected was guilty of sexual abuse of students. But Maskell's case was complicated further by his ties to the police force through his work as a military chaplain. An autopsy revealed a skull fracture caused by a blow to Sister Catherine's left temple by a blunt instrument. On January 3, 1970, her body was found by a hunter and his son in an informal landfill located on the 2100 block of Monumental Road, in a remote area of Lansdowne. Oddly, her Ford Maverick, which she had recently purchased, was found just a block from her apartment parked illegally in a no parking area and unlocked. Sandra Onorati Rzucek, Shan'ann's mother, described Shan'ann as a "fireball". The current team of cold case detectives, assigned the Cesnik case in 2016, began discussing the exhumation of Maskell almost immediately, but it took time to get proper authorization. There might have been more going on here than just bad luck. ', They were told to 'stop harassing him,' he said. Hargadon-Wehner's new book "Walking With Aletheia" details her healing process, and what she's learned from - she says - communicating with several different aspects of her personality. 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