Toledo priest charged with aggravated murder of nun 24 years ago

Published: 2004-05-04

TOLEDO, Ohio (CNS) -- A Toledo grand jury charged Father Gerald Robinson, a 66-year-old suspended priest of the Toledo Diocese, with aggravated murder May 3 in the 1980 killing of a 71-year-old nun. Mercy Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was strangled and then stabbed more than two dozen times at Toledo Mercy Hospital, where she and Father Robinson both worked at the time of the crime. She was found in the hospital chapel covered with an altar cloth and surrounded by lighted candles. Father Robinson, who has not entered a plea in the case, was released from the Lucas County jail on $200,000 bond May 3. His attorney has said the priest will plead not guilty when required to enter a plea. Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo suspended Father Robinson from all public ministry as a priest April 27 after visiting him in jail. He is allowed to celebrate Mass alone but is not permitted to celebrate any other sacraments.

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