Posted on 12/20/2004 2:12:45 PM PST by Rakkasan1
HUDSON - A Catholic priest who used to serve at St. Patrick's Parish in Hudson, Wis. may be connected to the 2002 double murders of Dan O'Connel and James Ellison.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that investigators questioned Father Ryan Erickson, 31, last week at his new Parish in Hurley, Wis. He was found dead Sunday outside that church of an apparent suicide.
During the questioning, police took two of his guns, but returned them a couple of days later.
Sources tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Fr. Erickson hanged himself outside the church. Those sources also say that he left a note saying he was not involved in the murders. The church cancelled all Masses Sunday at the Hurley church while police investigated the death.
Investigators are not calling Erickson a suspect at this time, only a person of interest in the case. Parishoners in Hudson and Hurley tell us they are shocked and saddend to hear the news of his death.
Family members of Dan O'Connel did not want to comment for our story. We expect to learn more in this case in the coming days. Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTP.com for the very latest in this case.
(Excerpt) Read more at kstp.com ...
Did he buy the rope at Walmart?
"...police took two of his guns, but returned them a couple of days later."
A priest with guns, that seems strange to me.
Hmmm, wonder what it is that the liberal media is leaving out of this story.
"A priest with guns, that seems strange to me."
Why? My father-n-law had them and gave them to his son when he became ill. He was an Anglican Catholic priest.
I've known lots of priests.
But I've never known a priest
with even one gun . . .
I swear.
"Hmmm, wonder what it is that the liberal media is leaving out of this story."
Why are you suspicious of the liberal media? You don't think they'd lie to you? :o Do you? :)
Here, here.
nothing strange there. (the guns I mean) It's Wisconsin.
If you're not hunting deer, you are a deer.
Why hang yourself when you have gun? I don't get it.
My assumption is he took a murder confession and couldn't
reveal the murderer and was ate up by it.
(wild assumption, but just my guess)
This would make a great movie.
Yeah, that's nice, it's not
a real Catholic priest, though.
It's a British thing . . .
What you never seen "Monsignor Martinez" on King of the Hill?
Being a midwesterner, all the pastors I've even known have had them for self defense, for hunting, and because they were in the military. Don't your priests go anywhere dangerous, believe in defending the country, or even go hunting?
Just a guess,,, but you've never been to Hurley,WI, have you?(Or Hudson, were he was also from?)Not haveing at least two guns would make you stand out in either place.(In Hurley, they probably average two guns in every vehicle).
"This would make a great movie."
From Traditio.com:
"I CONFESS. (1953, C-1:35). Alfred Hitchcock's compelling tale about a parish priest (Montgomery Clift), who hears a killer's confession and plunges into peril. Circumstantial evidence and eyewitness accounts point to the priest as the layer -- and the seal of the confessional forbids him to speak out. He is determined to honor the sanctity of the confessional even at the risk of his own life."
"Why hang yourself when you have gun?"
Yes, but if they were for hunting, wouldn't they be long guns? And wouldn't it be hard to shoot yourself with one? I mean, in the head, or someplace that would ensure your death.
Wow, a priest committing suicide, that's pretty bad. I didn't even think about that part until now.
Kurt Cobain killed himself with a shotgun.
that's why God gave us toes.
There was a gun-totin' nun back in Illinois that I know of. You'd never catch her bringing a ruler to a gunfight.
actually, come to thing of it, we had a guy in one of my old units blow his head off with a 3 round burst from his M16.
To make things even messier, he wore his Kevlar.
If your sitting and the rifle butt is on the ground and your
chin is on , pretty simple with the fingers.
I know a few priests that hunt and own guns nothing strange there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.