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. He would eventually commit suicide. Before that, Gemma spent 37 years as an elementary school teacher. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. His family believes he may have had something to do with Cathy's death, along with his brother, Ronnie, and an unknown man called "Skippy." It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. 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. In spite of the Freedom of Information Act, the federal government has continuously neglected to provide Gemma Hoskins with this information. 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.
Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. The theory that people in position of authority and power are ableto decide what we as the populous know or dont know or whether survivors of abuse are validated or not I also liked the institutional meaning of The Keepers.. She was a member of the Keough class of 1971. The youngest I've talked to myself was three, Hoskins said. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. ', 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'. On January 3, 1970, nearly two months after her vanishment, the brutally beaten and mutilated body of Sister Cesnik was located in a field in Lansdowne, Maryland, by a man and his son who were. 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. Father Joseph Maskell's body was exhumed from a Baltimore cemetery earlier this year as part of the investigation into the unsolved slaying. She was found dead two months later. I ran over, bent down and began wiping maggots off her face. 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. Nugents insights on the matter will be featured in the Netflix series. Did you face any hurdles? 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. Sister Cathy was a teacher at Archbishop Keough High School and went missing in Baltimore in 1969. It. [1] Hoskins and Schaub looked into each of those tips, and the tips have kept coming in for the past five years. A lack of information about his life at the time has made deeper research difficult; however, viewers now know that Robert Flaherty was accused in a separate sex abuse scandal, as well. Brother BobA third abuser who "Jane Doe" remembers from her days at Keough, but whose face she cannot recall. The prime suspect in Sister Cathys murder was a priest, the late Father A. Joseph Maskell. Koob says that he and McKeon went to the movie "Easy Rider" the night of Sister Cathy's disappearance. An autopsy soon revealed the victim was Sister Cathy Cesnik, a beloved 26-year-old nun who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School and had vanished two months earlier during a Friday night shopping trip. In the immediate aftermath, as they made preparations for her funeral, Radakovic was given a piece of advice by the head of Cesniks convent: It is your job, Marilyn, to always keep Cathy alive. He later returned to the U.S. and died in 2001. I was shocked, I was so shocked, Radakovic tells PEOPLE. On January 3, 1970, the decomposed body of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was discovered at a dumping area on Monumental Avenue in Halethorpe, 21227. [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. 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?
What Happened To Sister Russell Phillips? 'The Keepers' Isn't Only While the case remains open, allegations of sexual abuse by Father Maskell, and Sister's Cathy's plan to blow the whistle along with a possible cover up by the Catholic Church with close ties to law enforcement are at the heart of the horrendous case. One of them, Jean Wehner, was the student who claimed Maskell had taken her to view Cesnik's body in the dump. Shes so driven to find out what happened to her teacher. Nugent reported that three Keough graduates, who each received settlements from the Archdiocese of Baltimore for injuries of $40,000 or more as parties to this case, during the past years have told Inside Baltimore that they were also raped by policemen with the approval of the depraved Father Maskell. The idea that he terrorized many, and that the Catholic Church chose not to stop him. Baltimore's Metro Crime Stoppers has republished the reward for information about the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik. Gerald KoobA close friend of Sister Cathys, who says his relationship with her was almost romantic. Gemma Hoskins has helped dozens of victims get in touch with their investigators. We know this speculation about the circumstances is not false, because Jean Hargadon Wehner tells us in the show that she has evidence proving otherwise. [13], Netflix produced a seven-part documentary series about the case called The Keepers, which debuted on May 19, 2017. Radakovic still tears up when she talks about Cesnik, who died more than 46 years ago.
Still wondering what happened to Sister Cathy? Podcast continues Sister Cathy went missing on Nov. 7, 1969, but her body was only discovered on Jan. 3, 1970. He was never charged with Sister Cathys murder. 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.. We did it slowly it took three years. Obviously, it has other meanings one other meaning was the idea of gatekeepers. 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. Bob ErlandsonBob Erlandson was a journalist working for the Baltimore Sun in 1993. At this point, Im so disenchanted with my church its really disappointing. Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may . He said that when he told his mother of the abuse, she told the Baltimore Archdiocese in 1967 -- two years before Sister Cathy's murder. She didnt know Jeanhad gone through that abuse. My access point was a personal connection: My aunt went to Archbishop Keough High School and was Sister Cathys student, White told TheWrap. What we tried to do in the editing was present all various narratives. They made the right decision in participating it wasntalways easy to persuade someone to take part. Detectives revealed on Wednesday that after weeks of testing, Maskell's DNA did not match evidence found from the murder scene nearly 50 years ago. They have internal records on everyone including A. Joseph Maskell. As documentary-maker Ryan White asserted: 'What we discovered during the filmmaking process is that everything wasn't as it appeared to be. As in, a three-year-old who remembers it. White tells us there is some dogged reporting happening right now in Ireland, digging deeper into the time that A. Joseph Maskell spent there, in addition to his time spent in the United States. 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.
Catherine Anne Cesnik was born on November 17, 1942, in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. . Also Read: 'The Keepers': What's Behind the Name of the Netflix Documentary Series? Cesnik was born in 1942 and grew up to become a nun at the all-girls Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, where . In the 1990s, Jean Wehner came forward and alleged that Father Maskell had sexually abused her and allowed other men to do the same. Regardless of why the school is closing, the walls will never be able to talk now. Cathy's Ford Maverick, which she had recently purchased, was found just a block from her apartment parked illegally in a no parking area and unlocked. Mom Found Next to Her Car with Toddler Son Inside, Wife Wrote 'Letter from the Grave' Before 2008 Death Now Husband Is Guilty of Poisoning Her with Antifreeze, Body of Missing Md. 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. 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. - May 30, 2017 05:42 pm EDT. But through Gemma and Abbie, we talked to about 25 for the documentary. And we hope that someone will be able to come forward with conclusive information about the murder. She moved into an apartment with another nun and was weighing her options. When her daughter was born five years after that, Radakovic named her Catherine. Something has happened to your sister. . More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. Her body was found January 3, 1970. Edgar DavidsonAccording to his first wife, who speaks in the documentary under condition of anonymity, Davidson talked about being involved in Sister Cathy's murder in 1969. Some suspect the same person killed both women, but authorities have never been able to find a link in their cases. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. I never grew up knowing her teacher had been murdered. 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..
Sister Catherine Cesnik: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Baltimore nun Cathy Cesnik, 26, vanished while out on a shopping trip in November 7, 1969. Maskell was a police chaplain and he knew people in high places that's how they got away with it. Nicole currently resides in Massachusetts with their husband and two best friends. The series delves deeply into sexual abuse allegations and a lawsuit against Father Maskell brought by Jane Doe, now identified as Wehner, and Jane Roe, since identified as Teresa Lancaster. RELATED:Everything Available At Launch On HBO Max. We went through Christmas with Cathy being missing, and that whole time because I had gotten that letter I was sure she was alive, Radakovic says. I think it's pretty undeniable by the end of The Keepers that they are, and Jean is the nexus of that, White said. Schaub was previously a nurse. She also thinks Sister Cathy was murdered because she knew about Maskells abuse and was going to come forward. James Maskell, A. Joseph Maskells uncle, is a similarly powerful and threatening figure that deserves to be prodded harder. Our focus was definitely on the survivors of Keough, but many Maskell victims cameafter Keough, and its horrifying. A lot of power. Sister Cathys battered body - she had been beaten over the head - was discovered off Monumental Avenue, in a Landsdowne, Baltimore County, Maryland, garbage dump by hunters, on January 3, 1970.