I can still feel her touch my cheek, said Hargadon-Wehner, in a recent interview. Some are calling it The Next Making a Murderer' what is your response to that? Days later, after an engagement party with her then-fiancs family, Radakovic got a call from her mother. For us, our bar was more about bringing these womens experiences to light and starting this conversation.. All rights reserved. Either way, theyre lying and withholding information that would be helpful to the case. Some suspect the same person killed both women, but authorities have never been able to find a link in their cases. As The Keepers details, Radakovics engagement may have been one of the last things on Cesniks mind before she vanished while shopping on Nov. 7, 1969. And just kind of came up behind me and put it on my neck." Read aloud by Cesnik's younger sister Marilyn Cesnik Radakovic, the poem is a glimpse at the inner life of the young woman whose tragic death was the focus of the series. 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. They have internal records on everyone including A. Joseph Maskell. But hes only willing to share a slice of it. As it turned out, he had close ties to the police: his brother was a lieutenant, and Maskell was chaplain for the Baltimore County force, along with the state police and the Maryland National Guard. [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. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. She suffered blunt force trauma to her head and the case remains open to this day. However, the material was never entered into evidence. 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. Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was last seen alive on November 7, 1969. ', He theorized that because there had been no signs of a struggle, 'it looked too clean. Because the federal government keeps stalling and refusing to release information under the FOIA regarding Joyce Maleckis murder, there are likely countless pieces of possibly helpful evidence related to the homicides of both Joyce Malecki and Sister Cathy. One former student, Teresa Lancaster claims she was sexually abused by Father Maskell as well as members of Baltimore police who took her to a wooded area and raped her in a car, Lancaster (right) said Maskell got away with his crimes by'power and fear.' In "The Keepers," Davidson said he called a radio show years later and said he had information about the case. [7] She cashed a paycheck at First National Bank in Catonsville that night. 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. 102, September Term 1995, "Baltimore Archdiocese Pays Settlements to a Dozen People Alleging Abuse by Late Priest", "Netflix's 'The Keepers' generates interest in other Md. I thought they would have been more participatory. She had brown hair and brown eyes. 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. Sister Cathy Cesnik's Sister on Her Murder, The Keepers - Peoplemag He and his friend and fellow priest, Peter McKeon, discovered Sister Cathys car parked at a strange angle across the street from her apartment. [13], Netflix produced a seven-part documentary series about the case called The Keepers, which debuted on May 19, 2017. However, this is a small step towards justice. [2] Her paternal grandparents, John (Jan) and Johanna Tomec esnik, were Slovenians who emigrated from Yugoslavia,[3] while her maternal grandfather, Joseph Omulac, came from Yugoslavia and maternal grandmother, Martha Hudok, came from Austria. But officials have declined to identify that person. 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I mean, my mother loved eating chocolate, and I remember distinctly my mother said, Im gonna give up chocolate until Cathy comes home and then Im gonna eat chocolate until I get sick. . Father Neil MagnusAnother of the administrators at Keough, Magnus was accused of participating in sexually abusing students along with Maskell. I was so drawn to Gemma right when I met her, she had such a unique way. Sister Cathy was a teacher at Archbishop Keough High School and went missing in Baltimore in 1969. Spitz did the official autopsy back in 1970. Who killed the nun still remains a mystery today, but . The Baltimore Sun reported in late 2016 that since 2011 the archdiocese has paid out settlements to Maskell's alleged victims. 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. (Handout photo courtesy of Netflix) Catherine Cesnik, a 26-year-old. They have another project scheduled to come out later this year. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. 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. ', He claimed that the detectives were told to either charge the priest 'or let him go. Sharon A.H. MayThe Baltimore State's attorney working on the Maskell case in 1994. Hoskins says at a minimum she wants to see records on Father Maskell. But through Gemma and Abbie, we talked to about 25 for the documentary. That documentary series, The Keepers, premiered on Netflix on Friday with Radakovic as a key participant. I'm determined that if there is something I can do in my lifetime to change things, I think the keepers has already changed society quite a bit, Hoskins said. Amateur sleuths have continued tracking the famous cold case in a new podcast series. However, theres even more to the story to be considered: Sharon Mays husband used to be a state cop. Giangrasso, pointing to the discovery of the car, and the fact that it was returned close to where Sister Cathy lived, theorized that the killer was someone who she knew and possibly whom she trusted. Were not going to let this go, Hoskins said. What the show doesnt get into is that the FBI has pushed back the date even further now. Cold cases", "About the BCoPD Cold Case Unit and the Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik Homicide", "Police: Exhumed Priest's DNA Does Not Match Evidence from Crime Scene Killing of Sister Cathy", "Priest's Body Exhumed from Randallstown Cemetery in Investigation of Baltimore Nun's Decades-Old Killing", "The Dead Nun, the School Sex Scandal, and the Amateur Detectives Fighting for Justice", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Catherine_Cesnik&oldid=1117759661, This page was last edited on 23 October 2022, at 12:23. She moved into an apartment with another nun and was weighing her options. He was said to have allowed girls at the school to talk about sex and drugs in his office, and even permitted alcohol and cigarettes during gatherings in his rectory living quarters. The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research into Sister Cathy's murder. 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[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. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, 'The Keepers' Filmmaker: Father Maskell Abused 40 Victims, Not Just the 6 in Netflix's Doc. Meanwhile, Baltimore city homicide detectives are continuing. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Whats worse than considering the fact that A. Joseph Maskell terrorized one community? Later in 1994, authorities exhumed boxes Maskell had buried in a Baltimore cemetery and found one to contain child pornography. Obviously, the story grew and grew and one of our first access points was Gemma. With new evidence cropping up recently, this article has been updated to reflect evenmorefacts and clues that the docuseries overlooked. Her mutilated remains were found on January 1970 and her murder is still unsolved. Something has happened to your sister. . 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. There is even more to this than meets the eye; White said there are about thirty-five other survivors just like her, and more reaching out all the time. Cesnik attended St. Mary's School on 57th Street and St. Augustine High School, both in Lawrenceville. ", court of Appeals of Maryland, No. 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. 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. Sister Cathy's battered body - she had been beaten over the head - was discovered . And now the streaming, seven-part Netflix documentary, The Keepers, has investigated the case and will feature interviews with victims of the school abuse, and new revelations. He first reported on Sister Cathy's story because of Wehner's accusation that Maskell was involved in her murder. ', 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.'. Frightened and feeling threatened by the strapping, dominating clergyman who was popular with churchgoers for his Sunday masses the girl decided to keep secret her gruesome discovery. This family evidence of anger problems, assaults on others, using a position of power over others to avoid punishment, and the assault on a young woman much like Sister Cathy all point towards a potential pre-existing rage in A. Joseph Maskell that nobody has ever explored. Her body was found in a wooded area two days later. She believes they might contain the names of people who were complicit in his crimes, or in covering them up. One of them told Nugent, I saw her on the ground. 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. Woman Found Nearly One Month After Disappearance, Former Husband of Woman Whose Murder Remains Unsolved Is Now Accused of Assaulting Current Partner, 'I Lied': What Casey Anthony Believes Actually Happened to Her Daughter Caylee, Toddler Found Alive in Apartment After His Mother and Grandfather Were Shot to Death, The Mysterious Murder Victim Known as the 'Lady of the Dunes' Identified After Nearly 50 Years, Netflix Documentary Looks at Vanessa Guillen's Murder and Family's Fight for Answers from Military. 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 remained shrouded in mystery until those close to Sister Cathy started sharing their experiences and theories last year, They were told to 'stop harassing him,' he said. I don't understand what happens on the other side, she said. Joyce MaleckiThe 20-year-old Baltimore woman went missing on Nov. 11, 1969. But some thirty women soon came forward with accounts of sexual abuse at the school. [8], In 1995, Teresa Lancaster and Jean Wehner (ne Hargadon), former students at Keough who say they were sexually abused by Maskell, filed a lawsuit against him, the school, gynecologist Christian Richter, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and William H. Keeler. I think he's dead, but I may be wrong. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. 'The Keepers': What's Behind the Name of the Netflix - TheWrap Hoskins did write about her theory on the killer in her book "Keeping On: How I came To Know Why I Was Born.. We did it slowly it took three years. But I do think that there are individuals who are still living who know exactly what happened, she said. And she has not stopped looking into the murder of her former teacher. Audiences reacted poorly to how cold, smarmy, and arrogant Sharon May appeared to be, and with good reason: they have every reason to believe she was very much involved in a cover-up for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, evident enough from her complete inaction throughout the case. She said Maskell knew people in high places and would allegedly 'allow girls at the school to talk about sex and drugs in his office'. Nearly 10 years ago the filmmakers started to meet with her; this was long before Netflix got involved. 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. That was the first time I had learned of any of this.. The reward is up to $7,000 for informati. Maskell was a police chaplain and he knew people in high places that's how they got away with it. In the nearly two months between that discovery and her disappearance, Radakovic, then 20 years old, remained certain her sister was alive somewhere. She still spends at least part of every day trying to find those people. One of them, Jean Wehner, was the student who claimed Maskell had taken her to view Cesnik's body in the dump. Throughout the series,the devastation experienced bysurvivors is laid bare,as is theirstrength in confronting unthinkable childhood horrors. Magnus died in 1988 and was never charged with any crimes. Jean is the most incredible survivor that Ive ever witnessed. On January 3, 1970, the decomposed body of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was discovered at a dumping area on Monumental Avenue in Halethorpe, 21227. He later returned to the U.S. and died in 2001. 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. [4] Cesnik had three siblings. Hoskins and Schaub looked into each of those tips, and the tips have kept coming in for the past five years. On November 7, 1969, Cesnik disappeared. He was never charged with Sister Cathys murder. Sister Cathy Cesnik's disappearance and murder remain an unsolved mystery. 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. Sister Cathy went missing on Nov. 7, 1969, but her body was only discovered on Jan. 3, 1970. Tom NugentFreelance journalist Tom Nugent covered Sister Cathy's death starting in 1994. It seems that either the Archdiocese is lying about having investigated the accusations, or the Archdiocese is lying about having internal records on A. Joseph Maskell. Wehner, who reported her allegations about Maskell to the Baltimore Archdiocese in 1992, claimed that the only nun at the school who sought to help the abused girls was Sister Cathy. In the process of cleaning out her belongings, Radakovic discovered her mom had collected years of articles about the death of her eldest daughter, Radakovics sister, 26-year-old nun Sister Catherine Cathy Cesnik. Here's our quick guide to all the people in "The Keepers" you need to know. It had to be somebody who knew her.'. 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? A 1994 story in the Baltimore Sun, revealed that she had information about Cesnik's murdered condition, such as the maggots on her face, known only to the cops. However, the Catholic Church is completely unwilling to share these documents, even though White says he would love for them to be transparent and show the world what they have.. Also Read: 'The Keepers': What's Behind the Name of the Netflix Documentary Series? I mean, its a survivor story at its core. Whoever dumped Sister Catherine's body on a snowy piece of isolated waste ground (now completely overgrown) in Lansdowne had to know the area well. She thought she had more potential than they were allowing.. The only evidence that she had been out, were the buns she had bought at the bakery. After Maskell died in 2001, the two women decided to go public, using their real names. A retired, unnamed police homicide detective revealed to Nugent that the church authorities had allegedly used influence to impede the police investigation into Sister Cathys murder. Gemma HoskinsA former Keough student who had Sister Cathy as a teacher before her death, Hoskins teamed with Abbie Schaub nearly 45 years later, in 2013, to try to solve the nuns murder. Sister Cathy Cesnik Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock Everything Ive done, Ive really tried since that time which is just a little over a year ago for me Ive tried to give them all the information that Ive learned, she says of working with authorities. She joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame when she was 18. She doesnt recognize that of course she lives small. [15] The series features interviews with women who were Cesnik's students, with some who say they were sexually abused by Maskell and others.[16]. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. The church first learned of the allegations in 1992 and removed Maskell as a priest in 1994, as soon as it had corroborating accounts of his abuse, according to Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. 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. Not every story that Ryan White heard gets told in The Keepers. The Keepers: Pieces Of Evidence The Show Leaves Out - ScreenRant One of the students who was abused told Nugent that Sister Cathy was a very brave women who tried her best to help those who were abused and she paid for it with her life., The victim continued: I honor her spirit and I still feel very close to her, even today. 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. The more peoplewatch it, the more information will come out of the woodwork. [1] Her body was discovered on January 3, 1970, near a garbage dump in the Baltimore suburb of Lansdowne. The Keepers will premiere on Netflix on May 19. We shared a room until she went into the convent. Meteorological records also reveal that temperatures during the week in question were warm enough for maggots to hatch. At this point, Im so disenchanted with my church its really disappointing. Both had . Did you face any hurdles? 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." Jean claims that Father Maskell took her to Sister Cathy's body and said to her, "See what happens when you say bad things about people.". The Keepers filmmaker Ryan White made the new Netflix docuseries that has everyone on the edge of their seats. On occasion, they will attempt to combine all three, as there really isnt too much to life overall than fear, love, and laughter. In the 1990s, Jean Wehner came forward and alleged that Father Maskell had sexually abused her and allowed other men to do the same. She was a member of the Keough class of 1970. '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. Nicole currently resides in Massachusetts with their husband and two best friends. 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? He was well connected to the local community and to the police departments, at both the county and state levels. Father A. Joseph MaskellAn administrator, psychologist and counselor at Keough when Sister Cathy was a teacher there, Maskell has been accused by dozens of students and other children of sexual abuse.
