She was "Jane Roe" in that ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit. The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research into Sister Cathy's murder. She wanted to do more than she was able to do within the confines of the order, Radakovic says. 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. An autopsy revealed Cathy Cesnik had been struck on the back of her head, there was a hole the size of a quarter in her skull, and there were strangulation marks on her neck. They scared the living hell out of us.'. 2021 Updates on The 50-Year-Old Unsolved Murder Case of Sister Cathy Cesnik | by Rameen Zeeshan | Lessons from History | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Authorities said results will take up to six more weeks. One of them told Nugent, I saw her on the ground. Charles FranzIn "The Keepers," Charles Franz came forward as one of Maskell's abuse victims in the 1960s. In the 1990s, Jean Wehner came forward and alleged that Father Maskell had sexually abused her and allowed other men to do the same. Detectives traveled to the Seattle area to interview the man, but without any solid evidence they were unable to elicit a confession. Radakovic still tears up when she talks about Cesnik, who died more than 46 years ago. James Maskell, A. Joseph Maskells uncle, is a similarly powerful and threatening figure that deserves to be prodded harder. White describes Radakovic as very brave, very outspoken, very direct and now, I would say, very, very driven to get answers.. On occasion, they will attempt to combine all three, as there really isnt too much to life overall than fear, love, and laughter. Its possible Flaherty and Maskell had some deeper connection at the time that has simply been completely overlooked. RELATED:10 Best True Crime Shows On Netflix. And you know it really just began as us with our camera, taking these trips to Baltimore not knowing that it would ever even become anything.. Sharon May states firmly and rudely in her interview that she had absolutely no involvement in any sort of cover-up. True crime is only getting more popular, and Netflix never misses an opportunity to contribute to the zeitgeist, giving us The Keepers. 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. There is one living suspect in Cesniks homicide, according to police spokeswoman Elise Armacost. [7] She cashed a paycheck at First National Bank in Catonsville that night. 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. Her unsolved murder served as the basis for the Netflix documentary series The Keepers in 2017. The Baltimore Sun reported in late 2016 that since 2011 the archdiocese has paid out settlements to Maskell's alleged victims. Mine isdifferent than Gemmas theory, but we were all looking at the various versions of the truth and deciding what we believed was true. He was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun and has written investigative reports for Mother Jones, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. She was described as a tall, thin girl -- standing about 5 feet, 7 inches and weighing 112 pounds. ', One former student, Teresa Lancaster, told WJZ-TV in Baltimore, that Sister Cathy had 'confronted' Maskell 'and she lost her life for it. "The Christmas after Sister Cesnik disappeared, Ed gave me this necklace as part of a Christmas gift. I think it's pretty undeniable by the end of The Keepers that they are, and Jean is the nexus of that, White said. An autopsy soon revealed the victim was Sister Cathy Cesnik, a beloved 26-year-old nun who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School and had vanished two months earlier during a Friday night shopping trip. Tweet. They filed a $40 million civil lawsuit against him, the Baltimore Archdiocese, the sisters who ran the school, and a local gynecologist. I always felt like there was some reason for me to be here and I didn't know what it was. Do not sell or share my personal information. The Baltimore police has since reopened its investigation. Netflix's documentary series "The Keepers" dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may . 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. Meteorological records also reveal that temperatures during the week in question were warm enough for maggots to hatch. Since then, he's been tracking and investigating the story over the years and is one of the investigators of her death in "The Keepers.". Former students of the Catholic school have maintained that the priest was somehow involved in Sister Cathy's murder. Tom Nugent, author of the acclaimed Death at Buffalo Creek, and an investigative journalist, has been writing about Sister Cathys case since 1994, and recently in his online publication, Inside Baltimore.. It is still in the process of dealing with the legal fallout, and atoning for the deeds of those who preyed on the most vulnerable. Nearly 10 years ago the filmmakers started to meet with her; this was long before Netflix got involved. 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. Another woman, Teresa Lancaster, also came forward. Some are calling it The Next Making a Murderer' what is your response to that? I think this is it, Hoskins said, in a recent interview. But officials have declined to identify that person. Nicole Mello is an author of horrors, romances, and comedies. 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. We did it slowly it took three years. 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. ', 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.'. He had been a chaplain and counselor at Archbishop Keough while she taught there. [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. 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. The only evidence that she had been out, were the buns she had bought at the bakery. So-called Grandma Nancy Drew Gemma Hoskins has spent years asking for the federal case files on Joyce Maleckis murder. Tricky geometry baffles the internet - but can YOU train your brain to solve how many triangles are in this image? As in, a three-year-old who remembers it. Cesniks body was found on Jan. 3, 1970. 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?'. It. Since her mothers death last year, Radakovic has been her familys point of contact with Baltimore investigators, who tell PEOPLE the homicide case is quite active.. Were you scared of taking on the Catholic Church? And they just paid settlements to the survivors its not that they deny it happened. She had brown hair and brown eyes. The Baltimore Archdiocese reached a $35,000 settlement with VonDenBosch in 2016. 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. I'm not going to name names right now but they know stuff. Donna VonDenBoschDonna VonDenBosch also has come forward as one of Maskell's abuse victims as a member of the Keough class of 1974. 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. The case remains open and unsolved. Also Read: 'The Keepers': Sister Cathy's Medical Examiner Also Worked on JFK, JonBenet Ramsey Cases. In addition to the six abuse victims featured in the documentary, director Ryan White told TheWrap there are at least 40 victims in total, some from after Maskell's stint at Keough. Hoskins did write about her theory on the killer in her book "Keeping On: How I came To Know Why I Was Born.. I never grew up knowing her teacher had been murdered. In fact, people around the world were so distraught at learning about Sister Cathys case that they started flooding the Baltimore County Police with calls. We shared a room until she went into the convent. She wanted to be more. 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. On November 7, 1969, Cesnik disappeared. ", All the people you need to know to follow Netflixs sprawling documentary series The Keepers. She was a member of the Keough class of 1970. He first reported on Sister Cathy's story because of Wehner's accusation that Maskell was involved in her murder. Though she spent years in the dark, Radakovic is now regularly in touch with cold-case detectives after first meeting with them in the spring of 2016. Im also not a journalist or a detective but I borrowed a lot of skills from Gemmas skillset over the years. The spot was not easily accessible to a casual passerby. ', 'Before I knew it, there was a big man on top of me and then I thought that would be it and another policeman came in and I could hear Maskell in the distance talking and laughing. Regardless of why the school is closing, the walls will never be able to talk now. During his interview in "The Keepers," however, he denied any involvement. 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. Later in 1994, authorities exhumed boxes Maskell had buried in a Baltimore cemetery and found one to contain child pornography. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. There was another twist to come: After Radakovic buried her mother, she dug deeper into her sisters case and found that a documentary team was already doing the same thing, and had been for more than a year. The homicide remains unsolved, and for decades Radakovic believed Cesnik was the victim of a wrong place, wrong time crime. They talked about Radakovics impending college graduation and that she might move to Baltimore and stay in Cesniks apartment. In one scene, Jean told her friends, we are the keepers of the secrets, and I knew that had to be the title. The only way to do that was to find people who were involved. Except for that day, she said. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. 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.". 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. Father Maskell was also, for a time, an assistant pastor at St. Clements Church in Landsdowne. Mom Found Next to Her Car with Toddler Son Inside, Wife Wrote 'Letter from the Grave' Before 2008 Death Now Husband Is Guilty of Poisoning Her with Antifreeze, Body of Missing Md. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Supposedly, according to White and Jean Wehner, the Archdiocese opened an investigation into A. Joseph Maskell, and so, those records should exist. Information in The Keepers suggests Sister Cathy might have been killed because she found out that priests at Keough were sexually abusing students. Here's our quick guide to all the people in "The Keepers" you need to know. 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. 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. However, with each day that passes, internet sleuths and hard-boiled detectives alike unveil a new connection or a potential piece of evidence that had been overlooked before in the case. [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. 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. But I can whole-heartedly say, Cathy has been very much a part of all this.. More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder is still unsolved. On November 7, 1969, Cesnik disappeared. I was so drawn to Gemma right when I met her, she had such a unique way. The reward is up to $7,000 for informati. 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. 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. And she has not stopped looking into the murder of her former teacher. Caine says the church believes Maskell who overlapped with Cesnik while at Keough, where he worked as the school chaplain and counselor from 1967 to 1975. was sexually abusive. There are many questions swirling around the death of Sister Catherine "Cathy" Cesnik, a beloved 26-year-old nun and teacher in Baltimore found . But in interviews conducted before his death, he found these. Jean is the most incredible survivor that Ive ever witnessed. His aunt was also friends with Jean Wehner, one of multiple people in the documentarywho say they were sexually abused by Father Joseph Maskell in the Baltimore, Maryland area. 'After that we had to break away from him. We met Gemma in a Home Depot parking lot, a few blocks from where Sister Cathys car was found. Much like the government, the Catholic Church has their own internal system for keeping track of the people who make up their organization. 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. I have deep gratitude for the detectiveswho sat down with me and had complete transparency in opening their crime scene photos and investigation. She still spends at least part of every day trying to find those people. I don't understand what happens on the other side, she said. Just a few days before she vanished, the priest reportedly called her and, once again expressing his love, had asked her to marry him. In the ensuing years, the sisters stayed in touch via letters and phone calls. Published on May 18, 2017 10:03 AM. Sister Cathy went missing on Nov. 7, 1969, but her body was only discovered on Jan. 3, 1970. 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. Netflix documentary series explores the 1970 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik. Find out what it is in TheWraps Q&A with White below. How did the women keep their faith and how were they able to move on and have kids after what they went through? 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. Also Read: 'The Keepers' Filmmaker: Father Maskell Abused 40 Victims, Not Just the 6 in Netflix's Doc. She also thinks Sister Cathy was murdered because she knew about Maskells abuse and was going to come forward. Shes so driven to find out what happened to her teacher. Koob was a Jesuit priest at the time of Sister Cathys murder. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. We werent actively looking at what he was doing after Keough but obviously, Charles [another abuse victim] played a narrative in the abuse. 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.. Something has happened to your sister. . When she decided that this would be a healthy step, we went ahead with it. [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. She was just 26 at the time of her death. It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. 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. 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. They did stuff. 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. As documentary-maker Ryan White asserted: 'What we discovered during the filmmaking process is that everything wasn't as it appeared to be. 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 think that the impact of The Keepers has far exceeded our expectations, Hargrave said. 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. [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. If you were part of the Facebookgroup, people got to know us very well. She may have made a purchase at Muhly's Bakery in Edmondson Village, since a box of buns from that bakery was found in the front seat of her car. But when he was questioned by the police, he had an ironclad alibi for the night of Sister Cathy's disappearance. Advocates, filmmakers say they have not given up. Cathy's Ford Maverick, which she had recently purchased, was found just a block from her apartment parked illegally in a no parking area and unlocked. Spitz did the official autopsy back in 1970. Who killed the nun still remains a mystery today, but . 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.. 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. Unfortunately, Russell is . Butpeople from the outside that intercept withher realize the power of the survivor story in her. Schaub was previously a nurse. Hoskins says at a minimum she wants to see records on Father Maskell. Father Joseph Maskell's body was exhumed from a Baltimore cemetery earlier this year as part of the investigation into the unsolved slaying. Does he ever reveal them? More: Every Original Series Cancelled By Netflix. All rights reserved. 'There were a lot of layers that if you peeled them back went a lot deeper. 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. 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. 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. 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. Moreover, she said that along with the priest, she was abused by police officers. 'The Keepers': What's Behind the Name of the Netflix Documentary Series? 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.