Baltimore History: Archbishop Keough High School and The Keepers

[Mike from back east]

Finished all 7 episodes last night, here's my take on what I think is the case.

To start, I have to dismiss Joyce Malecki’s death from any association to Sister Cathy’s death. Unless I missed it, I saw no connection between her and any of the others. Yes she lived two blocks from Maskell when he was at St. Clements in Lansdowne, MD (where I lived at the time) but it did not say if she went to Keogh or Lansdowne high school or if she went to church at St. Clements. Unless I missed something I’m going with my original ‘bad date’ theory and that Joyce's murder just happened at the same time. My bad date theory is that she drove down to an area we knew as Boomtown, just outside the gates of Ft. Meade. I suspect she went to a bar to find a soldier to hook up with and that is who I think killed her and dumped the body in the woods near the Little Patuxent River. I doubt the Lansdowne crowd knew the back roads on Ft Meade, MD.

For Sister Cathy, I think she was killed by Billy Schmidt and Ed Davidson, both of whom came home to their wives with blood on their clothes. This was 20 years before DNA evidence became a thing. Even though these guys came home with bloody clothes, and they knew Sister Cathy was missing, neither wife called the police. IIRC it was Billy who told his wife that the reason he drank was because he just killed a woman and IIRC he was the one who kept a mannequin in the attic dressed in a nun’s habit. He eventually killed himself after six or seven tries and claimed he couldn’t take it any more. Billy’s family home was in Halethorpe near where the body was dumped so Billy knew the area well. Both of these guys were at Sister Cathy’s apartment and IIRC were there the night she died. Billy lived next door to Cathy, how convenient. If Sister Russell (Sister Cathy's roomie) was a witness, she probably was scared into silence and took any knowledge of the crime to the grave, as did Billy and Ed Davidson and the two priests.

The two priests were at Sister Cathy’s apartment the night before the murder. Did they visit Billy and plant in his mind that Sister Cathy was a threat to them with her “lies” about abuse? IIRC Billy adored Father Maskell and as such he may well have done the deed to protect his hero. My sister thinks one of crooked cops killed Sister Cathy with his nightstick and the Billy and Ed just dumped the body.

The city and county police were in bed with Maskell and crooked as hell. Maskell's brother was a city cop and Maskell was chaplain to both the city and county PDs. The city police said they lost the evidence box -- pure BS, it was destroyed on purpose. The church covered up everything they were very powerful in local affairs, still are.

The whole case sucks. It’s been 51 years and will never be solved as the various persons pass away.

But by coming forward the two women who did the investigation have warned parents to teach their children about abuse and how to prevent it. At least I hope so.

What I also take away is that in 1969 most kids had almost no sex education; they were ignorant and vulnerable to manipulations by people like Maskell. Back then, far too many parents didn’t teach their kids about all these bodily functions and almost all religions still demonize sex as a sin and always seem to blame the girls, not the boys.

I agree that The Keepers was simply outstanding and I loved the pix of stuff around that area where I spent the first 26 years of my life...Catonsville HS, class of 66, and lived in Arbutus, Relay, Halethorpe, Lansdowne and Maidenchoice areas.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Finished all 7 episodes last night, here's my take on what I think is the case......

Mike, I appreciate your insight into Joyce Malecki's murder, and agree it was unrelated to the Cathy Ceslik case.

I thought the murder was done by a cop. The head wound was shaped like what a night stick would do. The other two guys, Ed and Billy seemed unlikely to have the brains or motivation to kill someone. But I believe they did dispose of the body.

I also agree the evidence was lost on purpose. The fact the the killing probably occurred in the city, and the body was dumped in the county further obscures the chain of evidence.

The women who did the sleuthing did a great service. However, one of the victims may be confusing a dream of seeing Sr. Cathy's body with reality. I find it hard to believe that Father Maskell would show a girl the place where Cathy's body was just to silence her. Hopefully, kids will not be subject to this kind of abuse again, or at least will feel free to speak out. On the whole, the film-makers did a great job of depicting this period in Baltimore's history.

I agree that the killer will not be found after all this time unless someone make a death-bed confession.

[Cruzincat]

First, I think this series put Spotlight to shame.

I also think Malecki's case was probably unrelated, but still, it has put another bad light on the FBI for, apparently, failing to investigate it at all.

In addition to the BPD and BCPD, the former State's Atty, May, has a lot to answer for.

As far as the Archdiocese of Baltimore is concerned, I don't necessarily blame them for the fact that they have pedophiles in their midst, as they can be anywhere. But the way they kept them in the system and lied about it, ruining more lives, even costing some lives, is beyond the pale.

[Cruzincat]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

A talking head on the radio yesterday read a 2007 AP article which reported the data on pedophilia in the nation's public school system and concluded that such abuse dwarfs what takes place in the Catholic school system. Perps involved were teachers, administrators, principals, even janitors.


However, Catholic educators are and should be held to a higher standard of behavior, having taken vows to a belief system in which even private masturbation with few exceptions is still condemned as a grievous offense.


Still the public school data were surprising.

In the case of the Catholic Church, though, the story is more about the cover up as opposed to the actual bad acts by individual priests. The cover ups allowed the problem to continue in place or simply get moved around until found out again, ad infinitum.