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Ohio Priest Pleads Innocent to Nun's Slaying
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic priest in Ohio pleaded not guilty on Friday to murdering an elderly nun 24 years ago in what police investigators have said may have been a ritualistic slaying.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 66, stood quietly as his attorney entered a not guilty plea to the charge of aggravated murder in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in Toledo, Ohio, said Alan Konop, his lawyer.
Robinson is charged in the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, 71, who was killed during Easter weekend 1980 in the chapel of a hospital where she and Robinson worked.
Sister Margaret was strangled, then covered with an altar cloth and stabbed several times along the neck and torso, the Toledo Blade reported citing unnamed sources.
Few details of the investigation that led to Robinson's arrest last month have been released.
The Blade has reported that police re-opened the case after a woman now in her 40s told a church panel investigating sexual abuse by priests that Robinson had been involved in satanic rituals.
Robinson, wearing his priest's collar, spoke only once during the five-minute hearing, to waive his right to attend a May 24 pretrial hearing, Konop said. Robinson was released Monday on $200,000 bond.
Church officials in Toledo stripped Robinson of his public clerical duties after his arrest, barring him from celebrating Holy Communion or any other sacrament.
Robinson's brother and sister-in-law attended the hearing, Konop said.
If convicted, Robinson could be sentenced to life in prison. He is not eligible for the death penalty because it was not in effect in Ohio at the time of the killing. ((Reporting by Brad Dorfman; editing by Diane Bartz; Reuters Messaging: bradley.dorfman.reuters.com@reuters.net; 312-408-8133;bradley.dorfman@reuters.me of
Ohio Priest Pleads Innocent to Nun's Slaying
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic priest in Ohio pleaded not guilty on Friday to murdering an elderly nun 24 years ago in what police investigators have said may have been a ritualistic slaying.
The Rev. Gerald Robinson, 66, stood quietly as his attorney entered a not guilty plea to the charge of aggravated murder in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in Toledo, Ohio, said Alan Konop, his lawyer.
Robinson is charged in the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, 71, who was killed during Easter weekend 1980 in the chapel of a hospital where she and Robinson worked.
Sister Margaret was strangled, then covered with an altar cloth and stabbed several times along the neck and torso, the Toledo Blade reported citing unnamed sources.
Few details of the investigation that led to Robinson's arrest last month have been released.
The Blade has reported that police re-opened the case after a woman now in her 40s told a church panel investigating sexual abuse by priests that Robinson had been involved in satanic rituals.
Robinson, wearing his priest's collar, spoke only once during the five-minute hearing, to waive his right to attend a May 24 pretrial hearing, Konop said. Robinson was released Monday on $200,000 bond.
Church officials in Toledo stripped Robinson of his public clerical duties after his arrest, barring him from celebrating Holy Communion or any other sacrament.
Robinson's brother and sister-in-law attended the hearing, Konop said.
If convicted, Robinson could be sentenced to life in prison. He is not eligible for the death penalty because it was not in effect in Ohio at the time of the killing. ((Reporting by Brad Dorfman; editing by Diane Bartz; Reuters Messaging: bradley.dorfman.reuters.com@reuters.net; 312-408-8133;bradley.dorfman@reuters.me of
