This letter should be hung on the wall of Craig Lynch's cell so that he can be reminded of what a truly great person Sister Karen was.
I look forward to seeing what changes Sister Karen brings about in this man's life.
Posted on 03/09/2007 6:01:39 AM PST by NYer
Fifteen years before Sister Karen Klimczak was strangled by an ex-convict on Good Friday, the Buffalo nun wrote a letter of forgiveness to her killer.
She apparently had a premonition, perhaps during her prayers or a dream just before Holy Week in 1991, that her life would one day be taken violently.
Wednesday, as Craig M. Lynch — convicted in December of her murder — was about to be sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars, Sister Karen’s sister and fellow nun, Sister Jean Klimczak, read the letter aloud to a packed, hushed courtroom.
“ ‘Dear Brother, I don’t know what the circumstances are that will lead you to hurt me or destroy my physical body,’ ” Sister Jean read.
She found the letter while going through Sister Karen’s peach-colored journal in which the slain nun had neatly handwritten the letter. Her reading was made all the more gripping because of her striking resemblance to her dead sister.
“ ‘No, I don’t want it to happen,’ ” she read softly. “ ‘I would much rather enjoy the beauties of this earth, experience the laughter, the fears and the tears of those I love so deeply!’ ”
Sister Jean continued: “ ‘. . . Now my life has changed and you, my brother, were the instrument of that change. I forgive you for what you have done and I will always watch over you, help you in whatever way I can. . . . Continue living always mindful of His Presence, His Love and His Joy as sources of life itself — then my life will have been worth being changed through you.’ ”
Sister Karen’s words drew tears Wednesday morning from those in the courtroom — many of them nuns wearing T-shirts bearing the words “I Leave Peaceprints” that had been designed by the late nun.
But her letter of forgiveness did not sway Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III from asking Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio to impose the maximum sentence — 25 years to life in prison.
“There’s been talk of forgiveness,” Sedita said. “But, judge, forgiveness is for God. Sentencing is for court.”
He pointed out the almost unbelievable nature of the murder.
“How can you imagine a crime more heinous than killing a nun on Good Friday and then stashing her body into a shallow grave on Easter Sunday?” Sedita asked.
Sister Karen’s murder came as a horrible shock to her friends, colleagues and many in Buffalo who knew her as the fiery and tireless nun who had devoted her life to peace and worked closely with criminals and victims of crimes alike.
She was famous for the giant dove-shaped sign in front of her halfway house on which she logged the number of days between homicides in Buffalo and for being the force behind popular lawn signs that read: “Nonviolence begins with me” and “I Leave Peaceprints.”
On April 14 — Good Friday — authorities say Lynch, who had been released to Sister Karen’s halfway house from prison just nine days earlier, sneaked into her room to steal her cell phone to sell for drugs. Lynch later told police that he was high on crack cocaine at the time and wanted to buy more.
But Sister Karen walked in on him, and Lynch strangled her and struck her, killing the nun.
The murder took place just a floor above where her friend the Rev. A. Joseph Bissonette was beaten to death during a robbery in 1987 and for whom the halfway house was renamed.
Lynch ditched some of Sister Karen’s clothing in a dumpster, then hid her body behind his mother’s garage.
Then on Easter Sunday, as a massive search was under way for Sister Karen, he moved her body again — this time into a shallow grave in a shack behind a vacant house across the street from his mother’s home.
The next day, he confessed to police what he had done and showed them where he had buried Sister Karen.
Wednesday, Lynch, 37, casually dressed in a white T-shirt, looked ashamed and, at times, distraught.
Tears often welled in his eyes, and he wiped at his mouth with his cuffed hands as he grew emotional. He managed a weak smile as he noticed his mother and other family members in the courtroom.
Lynch stood silently as the judge asked him if he wanted to make a statement to Sister Karen’s family and friends.
“Would you like to apologize?” DiTullio asked Lynch.
He hung his head and breathed heavily.
Sister Karen’s friend Sister Roz Rosolowski, a chaplain at Attica Correctional Facility, whispered audibly: “Say it!”
Lynch eventually began to talk.
“We didn’t have to go through this,” he said repeatedly, apparently referring to the trial process.
Lynch had confessed numerous times to the killing, although he and his attorney have consistently blamed his crack addiction for his actions.
The defense attorney, David R. Addelman, explained to the judge that Lynch was remorseful for putting Sister Karen’s family through the trial and that he was genuinely sorry for having killed the nun.
“Would you like to say that?” DiTullio prodded Lynch.
After a long and uncomfortable pause, he spoke.
“Of course, I’m sorry,” Lynch said, his chest heaving. “Words can’t describe how I feel.”
Addelman asked DiTullio to consider sentencing Lynch to 15 years to life in prison, pointing out his 15-year addiction to crack as well as the fact that a jury that convicted him of second- degree murder, robbery and burglary acquitted him of any intent to commit the crimes.
DiTullio then told Lynch and the courtroom that she acknowledged the seriousness of drug addiction.
But she also emphasized the gravity of what Lynch had done — and the remarkable life he had erased through his actions.
“You killed an exceptional person, to put it mildly,” DiTullio said.
The judge talked of Sister Karen’s devotion to her work at the halfway house and how she often gave up spending holidays with her family to spend with the parolees she lovingly referred to as “my guys.”
“You, Mr. Lynch, let Sister Karen down,” DiTullio said. “I know deep down in your heart you know that.”
She then sentenced him to the maximum: 25 years to life.
As Lynch was led away, he looked back sadly several times toward his mother and toward Sister Jean.
Then, Sister Jean got up to hug her siblings and embraced Lynch’s mother, as she had done many times before since the murder. She also made sure to thank the Buffalo police detectives who solved the case.
“Because of you, we could celebrate Karen’s life,” she told Detective Sgt. James Lonergan as she gripped his hand.
Before leaving, Sister Jean told reporters that she felt as if her sister was speaking through her as she read the words from her journal to the courtroom.
“I experienced her spirit in reading her words,” she said.
She also said she was not disappointed in Lynch’s clumsy apology.
“Karen would accept whatever people were able to say without any expectations,” she told The Buffalo News. “We do our best.”
Lynch’s cousin Judith, who attended the sentencing, said she believes that her cousin is truly remorseful and that his punishment is just.
“It’s real sad what happened to the nun,” she told The News. “I understand that he was on drugs, but that’s no excuse for what he did. I feel very sad for the family.”
She said her family members have been deeply moved by the love and forgiveness Sister Karen’s family have shown to them and to Craig.
“They really did reach out to us,” Judith Lynch said.
Maggie McAloon, chairwoman of the “peaceprint” nonviolence committee at Bissonette House, who also came to the sentencing, said she and others are now preparing a commemorative Mass for Sister Karen on April 14 in SS. Columba & Brigid Catholic Church.
But she also said Sister Karen’s life is being memorialized in many other ways.
After popularizing the “nonviolence” lawn signs, Sister Karen had come up with the doveshaped “peaceprints” logo.
She had printed several thousand lawn signs with the new motto and, at the time of her death, was trying to figure out how best to get them to the public.
They were given out at her funeral, which thousands attended.
Since then, McAloon said, 15,000 of the lawn signs have been printed and given away, with versions of the signs now on display as far away as Brazil and the Palestinian territories, and “I just ordered 2,000 more.”
Wow.
Amazing ... great story and reminder during the Lent Season.
All I can say is- - amazing.
Amazing.
I'm speechless.
Wow. That's incredible.
BUT MAKE DAMN SURE HE GOES TO JAIL!
Better yet, execute him. Civilized societies don't allow murderers a second chance.
Very moving story. Espescially since one of the names in this story is my first name.
This letter should be hung on the wall of Craig Lynch's cell so that he can be reminded of what a truly great person Sister Karen was.
I look forward to seeing what changes Sister Karen brings about in this man's life.
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