Feb 28, 2020. Phillips never saw her roommate again after she left that evening, and even a store clerk couldn't confirm Cesnik's presence there that night. All Rights Reserved. Something was clearly wrong, and so, according to the Baltimore Sun, Helen Russell Phillips called on the help of a few friends revs. When she didnt come home, her roommate reported her missing the next day. 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. She Was Found Fatally Beaten Two Months After Disappearing in 1969. Its possible Flaherty and Maskell had some deeper connection at the time that has simply been completely overlooked. And the oldest was in her 20's.. More: Every Original Series Cancelled By Netflix. With that came the ominous warning "You see what happens when you say bad things about people?" Father A. Joseph Maskell was a person of interest for a reason, it seemed. One night, he invited Wehner into his car, only to take her to see Cesnik's dead body, long before it was discovered. But when he was questioned by the police, he had an ironclad alibi for the night of Sister Cathy's disappearance. She had choke marks around her neck, maggots in her throat and a hole in the back of her skull. Details. NEXT:10 Creepy Documentaries To Watch If You Loved The Keepers. It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. It's hard to say what's true. 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. The body was in poor condition but an autopsy revealed that Sister Cesnick died from a blow to her left temple by a blunt . They have internal records on everyone including A. Joseph Maskell. The show is responsible for initiating a deeper look into the case of A. Joseph Maskell and Sister Cathy Cesnik, as Baltimore County Police start investigating again due to a public outcry. And this update involves Father Joseph Maskell. (Handout photo courtesy of Netflix), Catherine Cesnik, a 26-year-old nun, disappeared after leaving her Southwest Baltimore apartment to go shopping in November 1969. Photo of Sister Cathy Cesnik (Image Source: Daily Mail) On November 7, 1969, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik disappeared. Her case has remained open ever since, Armacost said. But investigators found only a few inconsistencies in some statements, and detectives were unable to find any damning evidence against the priest. 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. An undated photo of Sister Cathy Cesnik, whose body was found at a dumping area Jan . She was last seen just before leaving . Given that Catherine Cesnik actively fought against Joseph Maskell's abuse by standing up for the girls, as well as Maskell's propensity toward really terrible threats, it's easiest to assume that the motive for her murder laid somewhere in that area. The Maryland Attorney Generals office has been investigating sexual abuse in the catholic church for nearly four years. The Huffington Post reported that Maskell told Wehner, "You see what happens when you say bad things about people?"[1]. Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was 26 when she disappeared in 1969; her body was found weeks later, Baltimore County Police exhumed the body of a priest for DNA testing in the case. On January 3, 1970, the body of Catherine Cesnik was found by two hunters. 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. Maskell was a police chaplain and he knew people in high places that's how they got away with it. The Murder Of Catherine Cesnik, The Nun Who Knew Too Much. Because of the condition of Cesnik's corpse, police were unable to tell if she had been sexually assaulted. In general, he exploited 1960s counterculture, offering a relaxed environment and a willing ear regarding sex, drugs, alcohol, and the like all things that the students' strictly religious parents detested. In 1994, two women identified only as 'Jane Doe' and 'Jane Roe' alleged that Maskell had raped them when they were students at Sister Cathy's school. Sharon May states firmly and rudely in her interview that she had absolutely no involvement in any sort of cover-up. The Baltimore Sun is republishing archived coverage of the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, which is the subject of a Netflix documentary series set to debut May 19. Soon they were linking that abuse to Sister Cathy's murder, and speculation that she was going to blow the whistle and tell all. They revealed themselves in "The Keepers" thanks to documentary filmmakers Ryan White and Jessica Hargrave. Sister Cathy was left in a remote area of Lansdowne, near a garbage dump. What we do know is that the FBIs continuing failure to contribute meaningfully to this case has negatively impacted any chance at an ending to the story. I think that the impact of The Keepers has far exceeded our expectations, Hargrave said. catherine cesnik autopsy photos. On February 28, police opened the grave of Rev. by Caralynn Lippo. They scared the living hell out of us.'. And that wasn't the only time he threatened to expose his victims, saying he would get one of the girls expelled and sent to a facility for having done drugs a secret she'd confided in him because she'd thought he loved her. Sharon Mays husband, V. Eric W. May, Sr., was a state cop while Sharon was a prosecutor, providing the two of them even more opportunity to participate in a cover-up. Potential suspects seem like they should shed some light on a case, but that wasn't the case here, as Huffpost documents. Students, parents and the local media buzzed about the 26-year-old's disappearance. Every bit of it, vividly. I do believe in so many other things than I ever did before. Her body was found in Lansdowne, south of Baltimore, on January 3, 1970. He later became a Methodist minister, but before that (and before Cesnik had taken her final vows as a nun), he'd asked her to marry him. "The Keepers" premieres on Netflix May 19. One of the friends Helen Phillips had called upon, Koob had been dating Catherine Cesnik at the time. . Leads dried up quickly and no one came forward with information about Cathy's whereabouts, and the search dragged on for months. Police dropped him as a target before he died. 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. One of the major theories that The Keepers hypothesizes is that Maskell either killed Sister Cathy or had her killed. Born in Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1942, reports the Baltimore Sun, Cesnik was described by her younger sister as devoted and rather ambitious. The girl left but the next day, she later claimed, Maskell waved a gun at her, warning he'd kill her and her family if she revealed the abuse. Shortly before her disappearance, he'd called her again, telling her that he was still in love with her. On Nov. 13, 1969, six days after Sister Cathy Cesnik vanished, not to be found murdered for two long months, a second young woman20-year-old Joyce Maleckiwas found strangled and stabbed to death in a small creek located on the U.S. Army's Fort Meade military base in Anne Arundel County, only a few miles from where Cesnik's body would . Their work is featured prominently, in "The Keepers.. Sister Catherine Cesnik is pictured with her father, Joseph Cesnik. Cesnik attended St. Mary's School on 57th Street and St. Augustine High School, both in Lawrenceville. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. She was warm and energetic, always ready to engage with her students, writing musicals for them to perform on stage, or inventing games to encourage them to teach each other new vocabulary. Police took DNA samples from the corpse to check against a DNA profile developed from evidence taken in 1970 from the scene in Maryland where the badly decomposed body of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik had been found by a father and son out hunting. 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. > Licensing inquiries: Email tim.thomas@baltsun.com. One of the students was actually there to talk about Maskell the night before Cesnik disappeared, only for Maskell himself to barge into the apartment. Investigators dug up Maskell's grav to compare the DNA of Maskell, to evidence from the crime scene. By 1994, they and several other students had filed a lawsuit alleging physical and sexual abuse by Maskell through the 1960s and 1970s, according to Armacost. Sister Catherine Cesnik, a nun from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, a teaching order, began her career at Archbishop Keough High School, a private, all-girls Catholic School. Police have also looked into whether Cesniks death is related to the deaths of three other young women in the Baltimore area around the same time. Catherine Anne Cesnik was born on November 17, 1942, in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The car was parked illegally but only a block away from the apartment, and there were no signs of struggle. The Baltimore Sun reported in late 2016 that since 2011 the archdiocese has paid out settlements to Maskell's alleged victims. 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. 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. According to CNN, Bode Cellmark Forensics laboratory in Lorton, Virginia was responsible for comparing the DNA to the sample from the murder scene. There were actually six different murders that might all be connected with each other three teenage girls, a teenage boy, Cesnik, and Joyce Malecki. Then there was a Baltimore gravedigger who told the police Maskell had ordered him to dig a hole in 1991 to bury files. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. In 2016, the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) reassigned the case due to retiring officers, prompting new interviews and further investigation into the alleged sexual abuse at Keough. 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.. The mysterious Brother Bob is, in many ways, even more chilling a figure than A. Joseph Maskell. I don't understand what happens on the other side, she said. And to end. Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik was 26 when she disappeared in 1969; her body was found weeks later. Though the documentary includes much of the story, director Ryan White doesnt include every piece of evidence, and some of the most crucial information gets left out. (Cesnik) was a nun. In 2017, Netflix released an original documentary called The Keepers which reignited interest in the unsolved murders of Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki in 1969. There, on the ground, still clad, her face covered with maggots, was the body of Sister Cathy. However, the material was never entered into evidence. 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. This seven-episode docuseries explores the still-unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Her body was found January 3, 1970. 2023 Cable News Network. Malecki's body was even found near Fort Meade, where Maskell was a military chaplain. 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. What the show doesnt get into is that the FBI has pushed back the date even further now. 9:08 PM EDT, Tue May 9, 2017, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik; Rev. When she was reported missing later that night, several dozen cops and half-a-dozen dog teams unsuccessfully searched a wide swath of Baltimore's southwest neighborhood searching for clues to her whereabouts. . [deleted] 6 yr. ago. ', 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. 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. According to Armacost, in 1994 one of the students who claimed abuse by Maskell when she was in high school said that he took her to a remote dumping area and showed her Cesniks decaying body as a warning of what would happen if she told anyone about him. Her body was left out in the open on a slight rise. But that lead didn't go anywhere. 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. 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.On November 7, 1969, Cesnik disappeared. Two months later, her body was found in a frozen field in Baltimore County. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. But the autopsy results, which were not . Sean Caine, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said the archdiocese removed Maskell from his post as soon as they learned of the allegations in 1992, in order to conduct their own investigation. Friends which, reportedly, also included uniformed police officers. They got in touch with the local police, reporting that Cesnik had gone missing. True crime is only getting more popular, and Netflix never misses an opportunity to contribute to the zeitgeist, giving us The Keepers. She'd spin stories and excuses, telling Maskell that they were studying or otherwise occupied by something that they couldn't get away from. 1 of 40. It came with the threat that he would tell her father that she'd been "whoring around," and that those consequences would be far worse. One of those calls went to a retired Baltimore County teacher, Gemma Hoskins. ', He theorized that because there had been no signs of a struggle, 'it looked too clean. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. While police were never able to bring charges against the priest, Caine said that 16 people who said Maskell abused them have since received money from the archdiocese as part of financial agreements. By William Cannon The Keepers was an intense docu-series on Netflix about an unsolved murder, and here are some bits of evidence the show has left out. The plaintiffs appealed. [7], In 2017, CBS Baltimore reported allegations from three women that during Cesnik's tenure at Archbishop Keough High School, two of the priests, Joseph Maskell and E. Neil Magnus, were sexually abusing the girls at the school in addition to trafficking them to others. As the next morning rolled around, Catherine Cesnik still hadn't returned to the apartment, and her roommate became very concerned. She also talked about what happened after Sister Cathy found out about it. Granted, there was the argument that this was, technically, still within three years Jean Wehner and Teresa Lancaster had just recovered those memories. 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. 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