Priest accused of murdering nun in ‘ritualistic’ killing

A ROMAN Catholic priest in the United States has been accused of murdering a nun in a ritualistic killing 24 years ago.

A grand jury’s indictment was announced in Toledo, Ohio, yesterday.

Father Gerald Robinson has been in jail since his arrest last month for the strangling and stabbing of Sr Margaret Ann Pahl during Easter weekend in 1980.

The nun’s body was discovered in a chapel at Mercy Hospital, covered by an altar cloth. Investigators have described it as “ritualistic” killing that has the Toledo Diocese looking into claims of satanic sex abuse by priests.

Detectives have said the nun’s death involved some type of ceremony and they believe Robinson acted alone. The priest was arrested after investigators analysed blood patterns and matched them to the murder weapon.

Investigators reviewed the killing after a woman contacted them alleging she was physically and sexually abused as a child by several priests, including Robinson, police said.