Though they had an age difference of about six years, the two girls were very close growing up, even sharing the same bedroom. 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. Police dropped him as a target before he died. Either way, theyre lying and withholding information that would be helpful to the case. Also Read: 'The Keepers': What's Behind the Name of the Netflix Documentary Series? And we hope that someone will be able to come forward with conclusive information about the 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. This is huge news regarding Sister Cathy's case. Nugents insights on the matter will be featured in the Netflix series. Were you scared of taking on the Catholic Church? 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. Still wondering what happened to Baltimore's Sister Cathy? Her body was partially naked and her head had been bashed in, but there was little physical evidence at the scene. They say they were trying to find enough evidence for viewers to conclude that the nun's murder, and the sexual abuse must be related. The Keepers/Netflix On its website, the department offers a timeline of Cesnik's death and the case involving allegations against Maskell, who died in 2001. They made the right decision in participating it wasntalways easy to persuade someone to take part. She was a member of the Keough class of 1970. He died in 2006. Well, for all the fans with remaining questions, there has been an update in the murder case. We still remain optimistic that its possible for us to clear this case, Armacost says. I dont know how they do it I dont think she knows. Hoskins did write about her theory on the killer in her book "Keeping On: How I came To Know Why I Was Born.. Cesnik attended St. Mary's School on 57th Street and St. Augustine High School, both in Lawrenceville. 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. There, on the ground, still clad, her face covered with maggots, was the body of Sister Cathy. But a Facebook message ultimately connected them, and Radakovic features prominently in the later episodes. It deals with, among other subjects, the unsolved brutal murder on November 7, 1969, of a popular nun, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, known to many as simply "Sister Cathy.". Nasal spray reduces risk of infection 86% - nearly DOUBLE protection given by shot in arm, Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' Anyone who saw The Keepers remembers former priest Gerry Koob and his story about the police bringing in Sister Cathys genitals wrapped in newspaper and tossing them on a table in front of Koob. Exposs on the Catholic Church have been steadily being released, with more and more people coming forward over time, but the Church refuses to make a clear statement in the case of A. Joseph Maskell. ', He claimed that the detectives were told to either charge the priest 'or let him go. The idea that he terrorized many, and that the Catholic Church chose not to stop him. During his interview in "The Keepers," however, he denied any involvement. It. Ryan White's aunt attended Archbishop Keough High School, and had stayed in touch with Jean Hargadon-Wehner. For more on Sister Cathys mysterious death and the secrets she may have been killed to keep, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this weeks issue, on newsstands now. Amateur sleuths have continued tracking the famous cold case in a new podcast series. The investigation into her disappearance and death revealed rampant abuse at her place of employment, Keough High School, a prominent Catholic school in Baltimore, Maryland. There are six survivors showcased in the documentarybut we had many conversationswith other survivors who werent featured in the documentary. 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. One of the initial persons of interest was a Jesuit priest who had been romantically involved with the pretty nun, and had once asked her to marry him, before she took her vows. Though, of course, they insist theyre doing everything they can to help victims of abuse, on the subject of Maskell, they remain as vague and unhelpful as ever. Whats worse than considering the fact that A. Joseph Maskell terrorized one community? How did the women keep their faith and how were they able to move on and have kids after what they went through? After the complaints were made to the archdiocese, Maskell was temporarily removed from his post at the school for psychological evaluation. She had brown hair and brown eyes. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. 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. accessed ), memorial page for Sr Catherine Anne "Cathy" Cesnik (17 Nov . 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. The pair lived in the Carriage House Apartments building instead of at the convent, in an attempt to get closer to the secular world to better serve their students. Sister Catherine CesnikA nun and teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in 1968, Sister Cathy was murdered in Nov. 1969, although her body wasnt discovered until Jan. 3, 1970. Koob was a Jesuit priest at the time of Sister Cathys murder. Her mutilated remains were found on January 1970 and her murder is still unsolved. The church has denied the charges, but it has settled dozens of sexual abuse cases in the matter of Father Maskell. A Pittsburgh native, Cesnik headed to Baltimore at 18 to join the School Sister of Notre Dame, a religious order whose nuns had taught her in grade school. There are many questions swirling around the death of Sister Catherine "Cathy" Cesnik, a beloved 26-year-old nun and teacher in Baltimore found . Supposedly, according to White and Jean Wehner, the Archdiocese opened an investigation into A. Joseph Maskell, and so, those records should exist. 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. - May 30, 2017 05:42 pm EDT. "For now, we've pretty well reached the end of the road when it comes to forensic evidence," Elise Armacost, a spokesperson for the Baltimore County Police Department said. 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. Savvy internet sleuths have found evidence that James Maskell, a former patrolman, got a woman named Sarah Nell sentenced to a year in prison for biting him while he attempted to assault her. Gemma Hoskins has helped dozens of victims get in touch with their investigators. 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. But officials have declined to identify that person. The prime suspect in Sister Cathys murder was a priest, the late Father A. Joseph Maskell. 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. Her body was found in a wooded area two days later. Detectives investigating her death believe she may have encountered her murderer outside her apartment since her car was found parked in the complex the day after her disappearance. And they used to it was horrible, it was just horrible, because I hated to leave, hated to leave. 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. . She said that Maskell showed her Sister Cathys body. On the show, we see how long its been taking to get the FBI to honor the requests for documentation under the Freedom of Information Act. . Maskell was never tried or convicted of any crimes, and he died in 2001. Sister Cathy was a teacher at Archbishop Keough High School and went missing in Baltimore in 1969. As I stared at my hands in shock, Father Maskell leaned over and whispered in my ear, you see what happens when you say bad things about people.. In her first interview about Cesnik, Radakovic speaks to PEOPLE about who her sister really was, what the decades after her death have been like and her renewed quest for answers. I have very little doubt at the finish line. I think Cathy was planning to go to the police about what was happening to us girls at Keough, says Jean Wehner, one of her former students, and [she] was killed to keep that from happening.. Kathy HobeckIn addition to Wehner and Lancaster, Kathy Hobeck is one of six abuse victims who appears in "The Keepers." The Keepers, a 7-part documentary, is currently available to stream on Netflix. Though White says he included absolutely all the information he knew in the documentary, he did contradict himself later by saying, The project was heavily vetted by lawyers there were times when I believed we knew somebody that was involved in the abuse, but we couldn't include a name for legal reasons. True crime buffs will know that this often happens, that the law tangles everything up in red tape so details like names and dates will be removed from stories. Radakovic, now in her 60s, remains determined. In The Keepers another Keough graduate - Jean Hargadon-Wehner - talked on camera about her abuse by two priests, Neil Magnus and Joseph Maskell, and other men at the school. 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. I had fond memoriesof the church, but for this, they were so non-participatory with it. "[9], Wehner said that Cesnik once came to her and said gently, "Are the priests hurting you?" Today, almost a half-century later, the murder of Sister Cathy who was once compared to Julie Andrews' character in 'The Sound of Music' because of her beauty and bubbly personality is still one of law enforcement's most mysterious cold cases. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Find out what it is in TheWraps Q&A with White below. Eluding police questioning, Maskell eventually ran off to Ireland in 1994 to work as a priest. They talked about Radakovics impending college graduation and that she might move to Baltimore and stay in Cesniks apartment. It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. I ran over, bent down and began wiping maggots off her face. [7] She cashed a paycheck at First National Bank in Catonsville that night. 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. The grisly case has. They scared the living hell out of us.'. 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. 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. So we didn't want to set that as our bar, Hargrave said. 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. ", Up Next: Netflix Hidden Gems For Sci-Fi And Fantasy Lovers. It would be two months later, on January 3, 1970, that a couple of hunters came upon Sister Cathy's decomposed, frozen and mutilated body, and notified police. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. Also Read: 'The Keepers' Filmmaker: Father Maskell Abused 40 Victims, Not Just the 6 in Netflix's Doc. She chose not to charge Maskell, saying the case lacked evidence. A headline in a Baltimore newspaper blared: 'City Police Fail To Find Missing Nun.'. On November 7, 1969, 26-year-old Sister Catherine Cesnik vanished. She joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame when she was 18. 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. However, this is a small step towards justice. The Huffington Post reported that Maskell told Wehner, "You see what happens when you say bad things about people?"[1]. This seven-episode docuseries explores the still-unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Possibly Missing: 1)An engagement gift 2) $255 cash (minus the rolls and gift?) Gerald KoobA close friend of Sister Cathys, who says his relationship with her was almost romantic. I have deep gratitude for the detectiveswho sat down with me and had complete transparency in opening their crime scene photos and investigation. Obviously, the story grew and grew and one of our first access points was Gemma. True crime is only getting more popular, and Netflix never misses an opportunity to contribute to the zeitgeist, giving us The Keepers. 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? In 1994, two victims, known then as Jane Doe and Jane Roe, attempted to sue the Catholic Church and Maskell for alleged abuse, but the case was thrown out because of Marylands statute of limitations. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. Those who knew her at the time said that she wouldn't allow any conversation about Cesnik's death, saying that was her life before, and that she now had a new life. 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. The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research into Sister Cathy's murder. She was a member of the Keough class of 1971. Wehner alleged that there was frequent sexual abuse at Sister Cathy's school. 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. Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was last seen alive on November 7, 1969. 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. I do believe in so many other things than I ever did before. And after almost 50 years, Sister Cathy's murder has remained unsolved. One of the most famous pieces of evidence from the show is the cigarette butt shown in episode six, found near Sister Cathys body. Tweet. I think he's dead, but I may be wrong. But he never found the killer of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik; he died of complications from diabetes on June 10, at age 79.