Gerald Robinson: Jury Convicts Priest of Nun’s 1980 Murder

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A priest was convicted Thursday of stabbing a Roman Catholic nun to death as she prepared for Easter services at a hospital 26 years ago, a murder prosecutors say was steeped in religious ritual.

Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was stabbed 31 times through an altar cloth, with the punctures forming an upside down cross. Her killer then anointed her with a smudge of her blood on the forehead to humiliate her in death, prosecutors said.

The Rev. Gerald Robinson, now 68, had worked closely with Sister Pahl at the Mercy Hospital chapel, where her body was discovered on April 5, 1980.

He had been early suspect, but he wasn’t charged until two years ago. His attorneys argued that the nun’s underwear and fingernails had traces of DNA that that wasn’t from Robinson, and that there were no witnesses to place Robinson at the crime.

Prosecutors suggested that Robinson had a strained relationship with the nun, a strict taskmaster, and that he had reached a breaking point with her that day.

The jury deliberated for six hours before finding him guilty of murder, and Judge Thomas Osowik immediately sentenced him to the mandatory term of 15 years to life in prison.

Robinson, who wore his priest’s collar throughout the trial, had no visible reaction as the verdict was read.

Afterward, a courtroom deputy handcuffed him behind his back and lead him away.

“Let us hope that the conclusion of the trial will bring some measure of healing for all those affected by the case as well as for our local church,” Leonard Blair, bishop of the Toledo Diocese, said in a statement. “The diocese has remained steadfast in the work of the Church and its ministries throughout this trial, and will continue to do so.”

The verdict came after nine days of testimony during which witnesses linked a sword-shaped letter opener found in Robinson’s room with the nun’s wounds and blood stains found on the altar cloth that covered her body.

The case relied heavily on forensic evidence because prosecutors presented no direct evidence that Robinson killed Sister Pahl, the caretaker of the hospital chapel.

Two forensic experts testified that a dime-sized medallion with the image of the U.S. Capitol on the letter opener appeared to be the source of a faint stain on the altar cloth.

In a videotaped interview with police just after he was arrested in April 2004, Robinson said he was stunned when he walked into the chapel and the hospital’s other chaplain accused him of murder.

Jurors watched the tape during the trial and also saw how Robinson, left alone in a small room for a few minutes, fold his hands and began to whisper in a barely audible voice. He whispered the word “sister” and then prayed again with his head bowed, at one point saying, “Oh my Jesus.”

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