We devote considerable time and energy to exposing child-molesting clerics in this space. However, there’s a kind of criminal who arguably does even more harm than a sexual predator. A murderer. This week, a Buffalo newspaper reported that Fr. John D. Lewandowski was sent to a church mansion (where several abusive priests lived), where homicide detectives questioned and fingerprinted him as a suspect in the murder of a fellow priest. Fr. Lewandowski now faces at least four civil child sex abuse lawsuits. That got us thinking about other murders that are associated with predator priests. There are a surprising number of such cases.

1. In 2022, Fr. Ryan Erickson was listed on a Michigan Diocese’s ‘credibly accused’ list. A special hearing in 2005 found there was ‘probable cause’ to rule he likely murdered Dan O’Connell and James Ellison. (Fr. Erickson admitted the killings to a…