Ukrainian Priest Aids Probe Of Nun’s Murder

A Ukrainian Catholic church with links to Holy Cross Academy has dispatched a priest to Miami to assist in the murder investigation of a nun at the school – and allegations of sexual abuse against two priests there.

The Ukrainian priest came because his church, which helped arrange for local youths to travel to the West Kendall academy for monastic training, is extremely concerned about their well-being, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the ongoing investigation. One of the youths has confessed to stabbing Sister Michelle Lewis to death last month.

Neither the prosecution nor the defense would identify the priest, who was allowed to attend interviews – and briefly ask questions – of three other student monks at the state attorney’s office Tuesday.

The priest also visited 18-year-old Mykhaylo Kofel in his jail cell.

”They talked,” said Assistant Public Defender Edith Georgi, who is representing Kofel. ”[The priest] wasn’t there to conduct an investigation. He was there to give my client religious and spiritual support.”

After his arrest, Kofel told detectives that two priests at the school fondled him on occasion during the four years he has lived and studied there.

Father Abbot Gregory Wendt and Father Damian Gibault adamantly denied the charges through their lawyers. Both men refused to talk to prosecutors in the murder investigation unless granted immunity.

Sources say Georgi and prosecutor Gail Levine have gone to great lengths to protect the priest’s identity because of his concern about retribution from some academy supporters.

The priest was also in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Wednesday when lawyers for the three other student monks sought to lift travel restrictions on them. The lawyers argued that the three already told prosecutors they did not know of any fondling incidents at the school.

”He knows nothing about any sexual abuse,” attorney Jerrard Cutrone said of his client, 19-year-old Alexander Korsak. ”And he was not a witness in the murder.”

”He denies any sort of impropriety by the priests,” attorney Robert Singer said of Vasyl Kopych, 18. ”He knows nothing.”

The other student monk questioned was 17-year-old Yosyp Lembek.

”The investigation [into Kofel’s allegations of sexual abuse] is not going anywhere right now,” said another law enforcement investigator who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The monks’ denials of knowing about sexual abuse at the school show that there is no merit to Kofel’s allegations, the school’s lawyers told Circuit Judge Manuel Crespo on Wednesday.

Crespo ruled that the novices are still ”material witnesses” in the case. He did so after Levine asked for a private huddle with the judge – which Crespo granted over the objections of the novices’ attorneys.

After the private discussion, Crespo ordered the novices’ lawyers to notify the court if they plan to leave the state.

Levine said later she could not talk about the discussion with the judge.

Earlier in the week, Crespo had ordered the student monks to submit to questioning by prosecutors.

A fourth student monk, 20-year-old Petro Terenta, was questioned by prosecutors several weeks ago. He, too, told them he knew nothing of the sexual abuse alleged by Kofel, his lawyer said.

”He’s been questioned several times by different teams,” attorney Clark Mervis said. ”He’s denied any suggestion of any sexual misconduct or sexual abuse.”

The case dates back to March 25, when Kofel allegedly got drunk on Greek wine, broke into the nuns’ house and stabbed Lewis more than 90 times.