Some suspect the same person killed both women, but authorities have never been able to find a link in their cases. 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. Well, for all the fans with remaining questions, there has been an update in the murder case. 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. Nearly 10 years ago the filmmakers started to meet with her; this was long before Netflix got involved. 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'. But I can whole-heartedly say, Cathy has been very much a part of all this.. 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. [12] After obtaining permission from the state's attorney's office, the BCPD exhumed the body of Maskell, who died of a major stroke in 2001, but did not find a DNA match to evidence from the crime scene. 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. It was early 2016 and the couple was at the California apartment of Radakovics mother, who had recently died. As documentary-maker Ryan White asserted: 'What we discovered during the filmmaking process is that everything wasn't as it appeared to be. Lil Hughes KnippAnother of the women who were abused at Keough, Lil Hughes Knipp did not come forward until years after the 1994 lawsuit. One of those calls went to a retired Baltimore County teacher, Gemma Hoskins. "The Christmas after Sister Cesnik disappeared, Ed gave me this necklace as part of a Christmas gift. ', One former student, Teresa Lancaster, told WJZ-TV in Baltimore, that Sister Cathy had 'confronted' Maskell 'and she lost her life for it. There are countless untold stories backing up the accusations made against A. Joseph Maskell and the Catholic Church that the docuseries doesnt even begin to explore. More: Every Original Series Cancelled By Netflix. And as long as youre alive, Cathy will be alive and dont ever forget that.. Were you scared of taking on the Catholic Church? His remains were exhumed in February of this year and reports in recent days have stated that a DNA sample from Maskell was not a match from a DNA sample retrieved from evidence from the murder scene in 1969. 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. There, on the ground, still clad, her face covered with maggots, was the body of Sister Cathy. The spot was not easily accessible to a casual passerby. Here's our quick guide to all the people in "The Keepers" you need to know. 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. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. I've talked to the hunter that found Cathy, and he said that since the day he found her the police have never talked to him. Marilyn Cesnik Radakovic's journey to find out what happened to her older sister, who died nearly 50 years ago, began last year when she read a news article with the headline "Buried in. 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. And I had spent time trying to convince my parents, Shes alive, lets find out what the letter says, shes tellin us where she is, we need to go, we need to find her, we need to help her. , I dont think we thought she was dead, Radakovic remembers. Season 2 of the podcast " Out of the Shadows ". Hoskins and Schaub looked into each of those tips, and the tips have kept coming in for the past five years. Cesniks body was found on Jan. 3, 1970. 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. We would go to Baltimore every two months for the last three years, so people started to feel comfortable around us Survivors would reach out to us on Facebook. Maskell denied involvement in any form of abuse. Published on May 18, 2017 10:03 AM. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Detective Gary ChildsBaltimore County Police Detective Childs is assigned to the cold case file for Sister Cathy's murder at the time of "The Keepers. 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. Both had . I would hang on to her, and she was like, Youre gonna get me thrown out! , And shed tell Cesnik, Thats what Im trying to do, Cathy, Im trying to do. Id say to my dad, Get the car, well steal her. . In the nearly two months between that discovery and her disappearance, Radakovic, then 20 years old, remained certain her sister was alive somewhere. Our focus was definitely on the survivors of Keough, but many Maskell victims cameafter Keough, and its horrifying. According to the autopsy, she had been struck on the back of her head by either a hammer or a brick, there was a hole the size of a quarter in her skull , and there were strangulation marks on her neck. Regardless of why the school is closing, the walls will never be able to talk now. Father Joseph Maskell, who died in 2001, was widely accused of sexually abusing girls at the school where Sister Cathy worked and is believed to be involved in her murder. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. [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. Unfortunately, Russell is . [10], Wehner says that, two months before Cesnik's body was discovered, and only a day or two after Cesnik disappeared on November 1969, Maskell drove her to a wooded site near Fort Meade and showed her the body. Though they had an age difference of about six years, the two girls were very close growing up, even sharing the same bedroom. In 1994, Fr. According to the Baltimore Sun, as evening fell on Nov. 7, 1969, Sister Catherine Cesnik left her unassuming apartment, heading to the Edmondson Village Shopping Center around 7:30 p.m. As far as her roommate, Sister Helen Russell Phillips, could tell, she was headed out to buy an engagement gift for her sister, as well as run a few errands. Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America. After the series premiered, messages started to arrive from around the world with new information. He was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun and has written investigative reports for Mother Jones, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. However, she didnt want to go on the record. But he never found the killer of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik; he died of complications from diabetes on June 10, at age 79. As for filmmakers Ryan White and Jessica Hargrave, after The Keepers they produced a documentary with Dr. Ruth, and then another one about the two women who assassinated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's brother. And everything ends with, I want you to do your job. . There are six survivors showcased in the documentarybut we had many conversationswith other survivors who werent featured in the documentary. 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. I never grew up knowing her teacher had been murdered. Fans of The Keepers may be surprised to hear that Keough High School, where Sister Cathy and A. Joseph Maskell both taught, closed in July of 2017, following confirmation from the Archdiocese of Baltimore that they paid settlements out to students who had been sexually abused by Maskell. In another scenario, James Maskell arrested a man named Phillip Shane after the two of them got into an altercation and Maskell lied about how they came to blows. . Sharon A.H. MayThe Baltimore State's attorney working on the Maskell case in 1994. The Keepers, a 7-part documentary, is currently available to stream on Netflix. As she would discover, there are many people in Baltimore who believe Cesnik was killed because of what she may have known: that the all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore where she had taught English, Archbishop Keough, had a history of sexual abuse. Schaub was previously a nurse. On occasion, they will attempt to combine all three, as there really isnt too much to life overall than fear, love, and laughter. 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. I would say there were at least 40 survivors Thats just 40 from who Gemma and Abbie found, and most of them are no longer alive. He refuses to be identified, allegedly because he fears reprisals from people responsible for the cover-up of Sister Cathy's death and Maskell's abuse. 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. [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. He spearheaded the project because of his personal connection to Sister Catherine Cesnik, a nun who was found murdered in January of 1970 and who serves as the centerpiece of the true crime series. Peter McKeonMcKeon was also a priest, and accompanied Koob to Sister Cathy's apartment when Sister Russell called to say she was missing. This is presumed to be the source of the DNA sample found at the murder scene, but Ryan White knows theres even more that Baltimore County Police arent saying. 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. She believes they might contain the names of people who were complicit in his crimes, or in covering them up. Koob was a Jesuit priest at the time of Sister Cathys murder. Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may . Just Friday, the Archdioceseof Baltimore retweeted something in regardsto documentary, and I was appalledthat the Archdiocese was retweeting something like that and how insulting that must be for our survivors. Its important to take this confession from Koob with a grain of salt, as he is proven in the show to be less than the most reliable of witnesses, but, as White says, I dont know where the truth lies.. The grisly case has inspired the Netflix docu-series The Keepers, The beloved nun who was an English and drama teacher at Archbishop Keough High School is believed to have been killed by someone in the church in an attempt to keep her quiet, Like a scene out of a horror movie, the high school junior was driven to a garbage dump by the school's 30-year-old spiritual counselor, Father Joseph Maskell - who died in 2001 - and reportedly told the 16-year-old student: 'You see what happens when you say bad things about people?'. In the end, The Keepers doesnt solve its biggest question: Who killed Sister Cathy? That was the first time I had learned of any of this.. The Baltimore Archdiocese reached a $35,000 settlement with VonDenBosch in 2016. Jean and other former students of Sister Cathy believe that the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the authorities covered up Sister Cathy's murder after she suspected Father Maskell was sexually abusing several young girls at the school. Many have speculated on the identity of this mysterious Brother Bob, with most pointing to Ed (Edgar Davidson) as being the most obvious answer, but some are now speculating that Father Robert Flaherty is Brother Bob. RELATED:10 Best True Crime Shows On Netflix. Authorities said results will take up to six more weeks. The homicide remains unsolved, and for decades Radakovic believed Cesnik was the victim of a wrong place, wrong time crime. She was very, very, very important to me.. The identity of Brother Bob remains a mystery, although some in The Keepers believe he might be the missing link in the case of who killed Sister Cathy. But some thirty women soon came forward with accounts of sexual abuse at the school. I think that the impact of The Keepers has far exceeded our expectations, Hargrave said. Jean is the reason I made The Keepers I had a five-hour conversation with Jean and I left saying, I need to do something with this womans story. She, to me, was one of the most compellingpeople Ive ever met. There is one living suspect in Cesniks homicide, according to police spokeswoman Elise Armacost. Radakovic, now in her 60s, remains determined. 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. Advocates, filmmakers say they have not given up. RELATED: 10 Exciting New Netflix Originals Still Coming In 2019. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She was a member of the Keough class of 1971. accessed ), memorial page for Sr Catherine Anne "Cathy" Cesnik (17 Nov . "Deep Throat"An anonymous source who was a detective working on the Maskell case in 1994. 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. What do you think happened to Sister Cathy? Meanwhile, Baltimore city homicide detectives are continuing. Maskell was never tried or convicted of any crimes, and he died in 2001. The plaintiffs suits are thus barred by the statute of limitation. 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. 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. He and his friend and fellow priest, Peter McKeon, discovered Sister Cathys car parked at a strange angle across the street from her apartment. They filed a $40 million civil lawsuit against him, the Baltimore Archdiocese, the sisters who ran the school, and a local gynecologist. It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. However, Spitz, who worked on the case, later confirmed that there had been maggots in both the victim's mouth and trachea when found.