Man jailed for murdering Irish nun

A man was beginning a life sentence in the United States today after he admitted kidnapping and murdering a 67-year-old Irish nun.

Sister Philomena Fogarty’s body was found on Virginia Beach. Her head, hands and feet had been cut off.

Adrian Robinson, 25, could have faced the death penalty if convicted at a trial. Prosecutors agreed to the plea deal because it was what another nun abducted with Sister Fogarty, Lucie Kristofik, said she wanted.

Robinson had killed his father, shooting him 16 times at their house in Hamilton, Georgia, before abducting the nuns from their home nearby. He still faces murder charges in Georgia.

Sister Kristofik, 72, said Robinson stole (€820) in cash, tied them up, put them in their car and drove to Norfolk, nearly 600 miles away.

She was left at a motel there after two days, but Robinson disappeared with Sister Fogarty.

The nun’s mutilated body was found on March 26 in a car park. Robinson was arrested several hours later at a fast food restaurant.

Both nuns were members of the order of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. Sister Kristofik was formerly a missionary in Pakistan, while Sister Fogarty had worked as a missionary in Japan.

Hamilton is about 90 miles south of Atlanta. Residents of the tiny community where Sister Fogarty lived described her as a saint who fed the hungry, counselled inmates and sold clothes to pay for pensioners’ utility bills.

The Rev Ronnie Madden said the nuns had lived alone in a mobile home near Christ the King Catholic Church.

Fogarty had lived in Hamilton for about 16 years and was well-known in the community, Madden said.

“Sister Philomena was a saint,” he said. “She is probably one of the greatest women I have ever met in my life.”

Fogarty would have celebrated her 50th anniversary as a nun this year.

“She was considered the Mother Teresa of Harris County,” said police Chief Dan Colberg.