Plea to dig up body of paedophile priest

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

Keith Moor
From:Herald Sun
December 25, 2012

DEAD paedophile priest Father Anthony Bongiorno is the only suspect in the 1980 murder of Thornbury bookshop owner Maria James who hasn’t been cleared by DNA.

His sister has refused to provide police with her DNA so her brother can either be linked to the death or eliminated from a new probe into the unsolved killing.

Ms James’s son Mark yesterday urged police to dig up the disgraced Catholic priest’s body so DNA can be extracted from it.

“There is enough circumstantial evidence that he was involved in the murder of my mother to warrant his body being exhumed,” Mr James said.

He said he told his mother Father Bongiorno had attempted to lure him into the parish headquarters with chocolate bars and he believed his mother later confronted the family priest with the paedophilia allegations.

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