NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5
By Sergio Bichao May 12, 2016
CHATHAM BOROUGH — A church janitor serving a life sentence for brutally stabbing a Catholic priest to death has lost an appeal that argued that his punishment is cruel and unusual and that he was denied a fair trial.
Jose Feliciano, now 71, was convicted by a Morris County jury in 2011 of killing St. Patrick’s Church pastor Edward Hinds in a fit of rage on Oct. 22, 2009.
Hinds was stabbed at least 44 times throughout his entire body. Police the next day found his cold corpse lying in a mess of blood in the rectory kitchen.
During the struggle, Hinds tried to call 911 on his cell phone, but Feliciano grabbed it and told the dispatcher that no help was needed.
Feliciano admitted to the slaying, telling police that Hinds had carried on a sexual relationship with Feliciano for several years after threatening to fire him from his job. Feliciano said voices in his head urged him to stab Hinds after the priest told Feliciano that he was terminating his employment.
But authorities said Hinds was letting Feliciano go because he had discovered in a background check that Feliciano was a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania after failing to appear in court back in 1988 on charges that he molested a 7-year-old girl.
Feliciano was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison for murder and also 20 years for robbery and five years for hindering.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.