A Sordid Tale of Murder and Cover-ups

Priest to be tried in nun's 1980 slaying

This story, which has been discussed at various times in the past, is in the news again as today, the Rev. Gerald Robinson, 68, goes on trial for murder in the case of the death in 1980 of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl who was found strangled and stabbed in a hospital chapel.

Robinson was the Roman Catholic chaplain at Mercy Hospital and a popular priest in this blue-collar city of about 300,000, where a quarter of the residents are Catholic. He was especially well-liked in Polish neighborhoods because he delivered some sermons and heard confessions in Polish.

Sister Margaret Ann, 71, was the caretaker of the hospital chapel. She was stabbed 30 times.

Robinson was an early suspect because he had been near the chapel at the time of the killing. Police questioned him for hours and found in his room a sword-shaped letter opener that prosecutors now believe was the murder weapon.

But Robinson was not arrested until two years ago...Investigators reopened the murder case in December 2003 after prosecutors got a letter about a woman's claims that she had been molested by priests for years as a child. Among the names she mentioned was Robinson's.

Prayers for all involved in this case are needed. If it be God's will, the truth will be known and justice will be served...

Link to article here...