by Fred Rosen
Mandros deliberately did not call Damon as a witness. That would have opened her to a withering cross examination, in which the defense would have intensely questioned her about her charges of satanic abuse and the lack of direct evidence to support it. That might have effectively impeached the believability of the person who, whether she likes it or not, got the ball rolling in Jerry Robinson’s direction.
April 2007
The National District Attorney’s Association (NDAA) had spoken. Dean Mandros had made it to the major leagues.
Nominated by Lucas County prosecutor Julia Bates, Mandros and his team of assistant prosecutors had been selected by the NDAA for induction into the prodigious Home Run Hitters Club. Each year, only a few prosecutors across the country are selected to reward work in “complicated and difficult high-profile cases.”
Baseball bats and plaques recognizing their work were awarded to Mandros and his team. Dr. Henry Lee, however, did not fare nearly as well.
May 2007
Judge Larry Fidler was presiding over the Phil Spector murder trial in Los Angeles. It was in the middle of the trial that he cast doubt on the conduct of the chief defense witness, Dr. Henry Lee. Fidler heard testimony that Lee picked up what appeared to be a piece of fingernail at the crime scene, Spector’s estate, where “B” movie star Lana Clarkson was blasted into oblivion.
“I find the following,” Fidler said. “Dr. Lee did recover an item. It is flat, white, with rough edges. I cannot say if it is a fingernail. It has never been presented to the prosecution.”
Lee denied the finding but Fidler ruled that prosecutors could present evidence to jurors that Lee had concealed the evidence. The missing piece of “whatever” was relevant because the prosecution’s theory of the case was that the item Lee took from the crime scene “was a piece of fingernail with the trace of a passing bullet that would show Clarkson resisted having a gun placed in her mouth. Her right thumb was missing a piece of acrylic fingernail after her death,” reported the Associated Press. That left open the possibility that in future cases, Lee’s expert testimony could possibly be impeached by bringing in Judge Fidler’s finding.
And Toledo? It was business as usual. With the TV cameras diligently rolling, on the one-year anniversary of Robinson’s murder conviction, Vercellotti announced that she had asked the city of Toledo to remove honorary street signs designating a stretch of St. Clair Street as “Monsignor Jerome Schmit Way.”
In a statement, Toledo Diocese communications director Sally Oberski said that “for over fifty years, Monsignor Jerome Schmit served our community and the people of the Diocese of Toledo with an unblemished record, developing the Catholic Youth Organization and as a founding board member of the Toledo Mud Hens…Responsible Toledo Police Department authorities have never claimed that Monsignor Schmit obstructed justice in the Sister Margaret Ann Pahl case, and no charges were ever brought against Monsignor Schmit.”
What was left undisputed was that Monsignor Schmit personally escorted Father Robinson out of that interrogation room long ago, avoiding a murder charge. Robinson kept walking almost into retirement and well into the millennium, where he was finally made to account on this earth for his violation of the Sixth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill.
By then, Jerry Robinson had already violated the First through Fourth Commandments. During both murder investigations, he also lied to police, violating the Ninth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Lie. That made a total of six broken commandments out of ten, a clear majority. Curiously, the Lucas County Courthouse, where Robinson was tried, has a monument of the Ten Commandments on its grounds. He went by it every day on his way into court.
As for Schmit, his street sign still stands. The city of Toledo politely declined Vercellotti’s request.
Acknowledgments
Will Hinton did an absolutely brilliant job editing this book. I thank him, especially for taking out the esoteric references.
HarperCollins has been the most supportive publisher I have ever worked with. The freedom they have given me is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Their professionalism in all stages of the editorial process is like none I have ever been privileged to be a part of.
Thanks to Lori Perkins for bringing this story to my attention, and Carl Denaro, who urged me to dig into the story’s satanic angle. Both Jim DeFelice and Laura James constantly challenged me to look ever more closely at the evidence.
The people of Ohio owe retired Toledo police officer Dave Davison a tremendous debt of gratitude. It was Davison’s preservation of the official record of the crime scene and his insistent lobbying that kept the case alive. Without his help, not only would this book not have been written, there would have been no prosecution. Whatever someone’s feeling on the verdict, there was more than enough to indict, and a grand jury should have done its job and heard the charges twenty-seven years ago.
Claudia Vercellotti opened her mind and her heart. She is a wonderful advocate for those who claim clerical abuse. Michael Price offered his expertise on Satanism. Many thanks to Mark Reiter, a splendid reporter in the great American tradition. And James Wolfe for the vetting and the line.
Appendix Would You Make the Jury?
This is the juror questionnaire that every prospective juror in the Pahl homicide case had to fill out before being seated for the voir dire.
COURT STAFF ONLY:
JUROR #
Hearing requested yes–no
JUROR QUESTIONNAIRE
STATE OF OHIO V. GERALD ROBINSON
Please answer the following questions fully and truthfully to the best of your ability. If necessary, use the back of a page to complete your answer. Please indicate the question number. Please note that the sole purpose of this questionnaire is to help the Court and the lawyers select a fair and impartial jury.
Answer all the questions to the best of your ability. Pursuant to a Ohio Supreme Court decision: State ex ref Beacon Journal v. Bond, 98 Ohio St. 3d 146, Except for your telephone number, all information on this form may be publicly disclosed. If you believe your privacy interests will be hurt by answering any of the following questions, you may leave the response blank and, once you are in the courtroom, ask for a hearing to state your reasons for leaving the answer(s) blank.
The hearing will be held is the Judge’s office, on the record, with the court reporter and counsel present. The judge may require you to answer the question(s).
Full Name:
Place of Birth:
Race:
In what community do you live?
Marital status? Single _ Married _ Widower_
How many years of education have you had?
Beginning with High School, please list every school you have attended, degrees you have received, if any, your major study, and the years attended:
Have you ever served in the military? If yes, please indicate the branch, years of service, rank attained, and whether you enlisted or were drafted and the nature of your discharge:
Are you currently employed? If so, where and how long have you been with this employer?
and please give your job title and a brief job description.
10. If you are married, what is your spouse’s occupation?
11. List the name and occupation of any adult children within the family.
12. What is your religion?
13. Are you a member of a church? If yes, what is the name of your church?
14. Have you developed any opinions and/or bias on the sexual molestation charges and/or convictions within religiou(s)?
15. Have you ever worked in a law enforcement or security field? If yes, please describe the dates you were employed.
16. Do you have any close friends or close relatives who have ever been employed in any aspect of law enforcement or security? If so, identify the person and relationship to you.
17. Have you or any member of your family ever been convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain.
18. Have you or any close r
elatives or close friends ever been the victim of a crime? If so, state who, what happened, and when?
19. Have you ever been previously called for jury duty? If so, state what Court and when.
(Please indicate whether you served as a juror or an alternate, and whether you deliberated to a verdict.)
20. Have you ever served on a Grand Jury? If so please indicate what Court and the dates of your service.
21. What newspapers do you read?
22. What magazines do you read?
23. What television programs do you like to watch?
24. What do you do in your spare time (hobbies, leisure time)?
25. Is there any reason, such as health problems, handicap, family concerns, economic or job related concerns, that might impair your ability to serve as a juror in this case? Yes No
If yes, please explain:
26. Would you characterize yourself as a leader or follower?
27. In your opinion, who is (was) the greatest American to ever live? Why?
28. In your opinion, who do you most admire? Why?
29. Do you have any concerns or strong opinions about the Roman Catholic Church or members of the Roman Catholic clergy?
PLEASE SIGN HERE:
I do solemnly swear/affirm that the answers to the foregoing questions are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief:
(Signature) (Date)
About the Author
For his book The Historical Atlas of American Crime (Facts on File), Mr. Rosen won the Library Journal “Best Reference Source 2005” award. The award cited it as a “pioneering resource” in which Mr. Rosen “describes how geography, population shift, and new methods of commerce, transportation, and weapons technology have impacted crime” from 1592 to the present.
A former New York Times columnist, Mr. Rosen received the personal assistance of President Jimmy Carter for his true crime book Did They Really Do It? (Avalon, 2005). He is the author of many works of true crime, including the classic Lobster Boy. In that case it was Mr. Rosen’s detective work that led to the conviction of the killer.
Mr. Rosen’s 2004 memoir/popular history, Cremation in America (Prometheus), also garnered rave reviews. He can be reached at www.fredrosen.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
By Fred Rosen
WHEN SATAN WORE A CROSS
THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD
Copyright
WHEN SATAN WORE A CROSS. Copyright © 2007 by Fred Rosen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Microsoft Reader September 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-154727-0
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