Oct 26, 2009 1:45 pm US/Central
Could The Slain N.J. Priest Have Been Saved?
New Jersey State Police Investigating Disconnected 911 Call Moments Before Priest's Grisly Murder
CHATHAM, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Father Edwards Hinds was murdered inside St. Patrick's Church in Chatham, N.J. on Oct. 23, 2009. He was 61.
CBS
There are new questions in connection with the murder of a parish priest in New Jersey.
Could the victim have been saved, if a 911 operator hadn't been disconnected? Police in New Jersey are investigating the emergency call made during the attack.
As Father Ed Hinds was fighting desperately to save his life, he called 911 for help, reports CBS station, WCBS-TV. But the line went dead, according to the Morris County prosecutor, just as the Chatham priest was allegedly being stabbed 32 times by janitor Jose Feliciano.
The operator tried to call back twice. The operator's first attempt went straight to voicemail, according to the prosecutor. The second call was answered by the janitor, who said there was no emergency. No police officers were sent to follow up.
The investigation into the handling of the cellphone call was just one of many new developments as parishioners at Saint Patrick's come to grips with the double tragedy.
Both the priest and the janitor were well-loved. Feliciano's children attended school at St. Patrick's and his wife Marisol picked him up from work everyday. The prosecutor now confirms that Father Hinds and Feliciano, who worked at the church for 17 years, may have been arguing over Feliciano's future employment at the financially-strapped church, although the prosecutor says there are other possible motives as well.
"We have no idea. We have to keep silent," said Reverend Owen Moran.
"We can hope that there are some answers," said parishioner Maureen Haggerty. "Our parish is in great shock. It'll be a long time before we realize the effect of the loss, this double tragedy."
New Jersey State Police would not comment on the 911 call, except to say that they are investigating whether proper procedures were followed.
Meanwhile, the janitor is hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. There is no word on when he will be arraigned on murder charges.
Police say Feliciano confessed to the killing.
"Jose seemed always a very kind, kind man, deeply loved by people in this community, so we have deep shock," Rev. Moran added.
"Just knowing Father Ed, he would want us to forgive him," parishioner Carol Breheny said. "That's very difficult given the situation."
Feliciano was one of the first people who found the priest's body with 32 stab wounds, and investigators say he was considered a possible suspect from the start. He was arrested after police say they found the knife, bloody rags and Father Hind's cell phone in and around Feliciano's home in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Feliciano's son graduated from St. Pat's school last year, his daughter is currently in the eighth grade there, and there are rumors swirling about what the fatal argument could have been over.
"There's a rumor that he had gotten dismissed," parishioner Nancy Wyatt said.
Many parishioners believe the 64-year-old Feliciano, who had some health issues, snapped because he didn't know how he would support his family if he lost his job at the church.
The 61-year-old is being held on $1 million bail.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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