Slain Chatham Priest Told School Principal He Might Lay off Janitor Accused in Homicide Probe, The Star Ledger, October 27, 2009

Slain Chatham Priest Told School Principal He Might Lay off Janitor Accused in Homicide Probe

The Star-Ledger
October 27, 2009

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/slain_chatham_priest_said_he_m.html

Concerned parents wait for their children outside the St. Patrick School in Chatham after the school was placed on lock down Friday, the day Fr. Ed Hinds' body was found. Court documents show the slain priest had told the school principal that the suspect, Jose Feliciano, was missing a background check that could have led to the janitor's firing.
Photo by Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger

CHATHAM BOROUGH -- Two days before he was found stabbed to death in a church rectory, a New Jersey priest told a school principal a missing background check might force him to lay off the parish janitor, who was later charged in the priest’s slaying, according to court documents.

Father Edward Hinds, 61, pastor at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, on Oct. 21 told Marianne Hobbie, principal of St. Patrick School, he might "let go" of 64-year-old Jose Feliciano because his employment record indicated he hadn’t passed a background check, according to the court records filed today at district court in Wind Gap, Pa.

Hobbie told police Hinds provided no further information, the document said.

Kenneth Mullaney, an attorney for the Paterson Diocese, said he was unaware of any recent background check performed on Feliciano, but since Feliciano was an employee of the church, rather than of the diocese, he would not necessarily have been informed of it.

Mullaney, who had previously indicated the layoff could be due to money problems, said failing a background check could lead to dismissal.

"If a criminal history background check that was recently conducted demonstrated this guy had some type of a past, some type of a disqualifier, he would have been finished, and there would have been no discretion involved in it."

Hinds’ body was found Oct. 23 in the church rectory, stabbed 32 times with a kitchen knife. Feliciano was arrested the following day and charged with Hinds' murder. Police say Felicano, a janitor at the church since 1992, confessed to the killing.

Feliciano has been held in custody in lieu of $1 million bail since his arrest. He suffers from various ailments and has remained hospitalized since Friday.

A scheduled bail hearing was abruptly postponed Tuesday, and Feliciano was transferred from Morristown Memorial Hospital to the Ann Klein Forensic Center, a psychiatric hospital, two officials said.

Capt. Jeffrey Paul, spokesman for Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, would not say why the hearing was being postponed and would not confirm that Feliciano was being transferred to Ann Klein.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, left, holds a photo of Jose Feliciano, who was arrested in the murder investigation of Father Edward Hinds, of St. Patrick church in Chatham.
Photo by Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger

Hinds’ body was discovered at the church rectory at 8:03 a.m. after he failed to show up in church for an 8 a.m. Mass.

Feliciano, who is accused of beating and stabbing Hinds to death Thursday around 5:30 p.m., feigned surprise at discovering the priest’s body, authorities have said.

Feliciano’s half-hearted attempts at CPR on the priest aroused suspicion of church members and police, and he immediately became the prime suspect, Bianchi has said.

The court records filed in Wind Gap reveal the results of a search warrant executed at Feliciano’s home in the 100 block of Ann Street, Easton.

Authorities seized computers, clothing, faucets and sinks. Bloody rags were also recovered from a trash can at a nearby park.

Authorities on Saturday said they recovered Hinds’ cell phone, which was traced and led to Feliciano. The phone wasn’t included in an inventory of items seized.

A call was made from the phone at 5:27 p.m. on Thursday, court records say, and the caller requested emergency assistance on Washington Avenue, where the church is located, before the call ended.

A return call from a state police dispatcher went unanswered, according to the records. The records say the dispatcher called again and the person who answered said no help was needed.

Police played a recording of the second return call for Hobbie, the school principal, who “believed” the person who answered was Feliciano, records say.

Authorities traced 57 calls from Hinds’ phone to a cell phone tower in the 400 block of Northampton Street in Easton, court records say. Two of those calls were to Richard Conk, Hinds’ close friend, who told authorities no one spoke when he answered.

The U.S. Marshals Service, under a data communications warrant, determined the phone was in the 100 block of Ann Street or in a park 50 yards from there, records say.

Police began searching the home and the park on Saturday. The search ended Monday.

Police sought evidence of a homicide, of Feliciano’s relationship with Hinds and “any items suggesting motive to harm,” according to the records.

In a request for a search warrant, the cell phone was the first item police listed.

Funeral arrangements have been scheduled for Hinds for Friday and Saturday.

A ceremony, the Rite of Reception of the Body, will take place Friday at 11 a.m. in St. Patrick Church. The viewing will continue until 10 p.m. An evening prayer service will be celebrated at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. in the church. Interment will be private.