Police hunt killer who decapitated Irish nun and shot his father

POLICE in the US were last night hunting a crazed killer who decapitated a Cork City-born nun after shooting his father 16 times with two different rifles.

Sr Philomena Fogarty, who would have celebrated the 50th anniversary of her vocation this year, and another elderly nun were abducted last Sunday from their mobile home adjacent to Christ the King Catholic church in Hamilton, Georgia.The body of the nun, whose head, hands and feet had been cut off, was discovered yesterday in the neighbouring state of Virginia.

Sr Fogarty was in her mid-60s and had served as a Franciscan Missionary of Mercy (FMM) nun in Japan before moving to the US. She lived in Hamilton for 16 years and was well-known in the community.

“This is just horrific,” said a shocked Ballinasloe-born Fr Ronnie Madden. The local community had been plunged into deep shock and sadness, he said.

Fr Madden, a retired Navy and Marine chaplain, said even with his experience in the armed forces he found it impossible to come to terms with Sr Fogarty’s brutal death.

Hamilton, which is 97% Baptist, was “a very quiet place”. While he did not know the man accused of the killing, Fr Madden said he knew his family and would say the Requiem Mass this weekend for the father killed by his son.

US police last night stepped up their hunt for 25-year-old Adrian O’Neill Robinson who, after the savage slaying of his 56-year-old father, abducted Sr Fogarty and her colleague Sr Lucie Kristofik, 72. Sr Kristofik was left at a Norfolk hotel on Tuesday morning as the killer fled to Virginia with Sr Fogarty.

A security guard found the decapitated body of the nun in a Virginia Beach parking lot early yesterday morning. About 30 minutes earlier, a Norfolk officer had been engaged in a chase with the fugitive, a police spokesman said.

Robinson abandoned his car when chased by the police officer and ran into a marsh area. Sr Fogarty’s severed head was found in the abandoned car.