Priests Decline To Talk To Prosecutors
Two priests at Holy Cross Academy refused to talk to prosecutors investigating the murder of a nun – and allegations of sexual abuse against the pair – unless they were given immunity, according to sources familiar with the criminal investigation.
Father Abbot Gregory Wendt and Father Damian Gibault were asked to come in voluntarily and talk with prosecutors Monday, the sources said. The two men declined.
Neither their lawyers nor lawyers for the school returned calls Tuesday night.
It’s not unusual for lawyers representing possible targets of criminal probes to advise their clients not to speak to authorities, experts say.
”It’s good practice for their lawyer to keep them out of trouble,” said Bruce Winic, University of Miami law professor. ”That’s a lawyer’s function – to keep clients out of trouble, particularly if they are going to be asked questions that could incriminate them.”
A student monk at the Byzantine Catholic school has confessed to the March 25 killing of Sister Michelle Lewis. Eighteen-year-old Mykhaylo Kofel told detectives he got drunk and stabbed the nun because she was verbally abusive.
At the time of his arrest, Kofel also told detectives that Wendt and Gibault sexually molested him periodically since he arrived from the Ukraine four years ago. The two men are the highest-ranking officials at the West Kendall school.
They have adamantly denied the accusations.
Earlier this month, a member of the school’s board refused to answer prosecutors’ questions. Joseph Blonsky – who also represents the school as an attorney – met with prosecutors but would not answer even simple questions such as whether he knew Wendt or who had hired him, according to sources.
Neither Blonsky nor Assistant State Attorney Gail Levine would comment.
Blonsky cited laws guarding attorney-client confidentiality in declining to answer prosecutors’ questions, the sources said. Levine has since asked a judge to compel Blonsky to cooperate with her investigation.
The case began when the nun’s partly clothed body was
found in a bedroom of the house where she lived on the school grounds.
Noticing a nearby blood trail, detectives knocked on the door of the house where Kofel and four other Ukrainian student monks lived on campus during part of the week.
Detectives immediately noticed cuts on Kofel’s hands and face. Under questioning, he later told detectives he stabbed Lewis because she treated him and the other four student monks harshly.