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	Detective: Crime Report Went to Chatham Priest Days before He Was Killed By Peggy Wright Daily Record September 15, 2011 http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110915/NJNEWS/309150021/Morris-detective-testifies-Chatham-priest-accessed-Pa-criminal-records-just-before-he-was-killed Jose,jpg Jose Feliciano is accused of stabbing the Rev. Edward Hinds 32 times on Oct. 22, 2009, because the cleric had learned of his past. / Daily Record 2010 Records that show Jose Ramon Feliciano was wanted in Philadelphia on a charge of indecent assault on a child were mailed to the Rev. Edward Hinds just 16 days before Feliciano allegedly killed him, according to court testimony Thursday. Morris County prosecutors allege that Feliciano, the now-66-year-old former custodian of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, stabbed the priest 32 times on Oct. 22, 2009, because the cleric had learned of his past while conducting a long-overdue background check and planned to fire him. At a pretrial hearing before Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morristown, Prosecutor’s Office Detective Supervisor Christopher Lombardi testified that investigators learned that Hinds on Aug. 25, 2009, accessed a public criminal records website maintained by Pennsylvania State Police. While trying to comply with a Catholic Church mandate that all volunteers and workers with access to children go through background checks, the 61-year-old priest requested a records check on Feliciano, who at that time had been employed as church custodian for 17 years. No record was immediately found because the priest used a birth date for Feliciano that authorities later learned was false. State Police then investigated further, and ultimately, a record was found for Jose Feliciano with the correct Social Security number and birthdate. The record showed that Feliciano had been wanted in Philadelphia since 1988 on charges of indecent assault, simple assault and corruption of minors, Lombardi testified. With jury selection for Feliciano’s trial under way, defense lawyer Neill Hamilton has been struggling to limit or keep out altogether any reference to Feliciano committing a crime against a child. County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi and Assistant Prosecutor David Bruno say the information points to a motive to kill because Feliciano knew his job was gone if the church learned his past included a crime against a child. To date, the judge has ruled that if a sufficient foundation for it is laid at trial, prosecutors can bring out that Feliciano was a fugitive wanted for a crime against a child in Philadelphia. The allegation is that he fondled a 7-year-old girl, fled and used various birthdates and Social Security numbers over two decades to dodge prosecution. The defense has contended that while Hinds may have been searching over the Internet for records on Feliciano, there is insufficient proof that the priest actually got his hands on any records. But Lombardi’s testimony Thursday bolstered the state’s theory that Hinds in all likelihood did have solid evidence against the janitor. Lombardi said a credit card record shows Hinds paid $10 in 2009 for the Pennsylvania criminal history check on Feliciano. The detective said that Pennsylvania State Police also provided proof they mailed Hinds information about the outstanding warrant on Oct. 6, 2009. But Hamilton made a point of noting that police never found any documents about the warrant when they searched Hinds’s home and administrative offices at the church. Bruno countered by eliciting from Lombardi that police didn’t find the murder weapon at Hinds’s home, either. Jury selection is expected to resume Monday in Morristown. Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com
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