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Plain Dealer (what a "fair and balanced" name!) from Cleveland, OH reports the following today,

Murder in the chapel
04/29/04
Catherine Gabe
Plain Dealer Reporter
Toledo - The details are both lurid and unfathomable. A priest accused of stabbing a nun to death more than two decades ago. Allegations of satanic rituals. Suggestions of a diocese cover- up.
[...]
Vercellotti says, "The diocese had the most information and did the least with it."
It has been widely published that the woman's allegations include being made to lie in a casket of cockroaches, eat a human eyeball and witness the slaying of a child and dogs.
Though the abuse allegations had nothing to do with the murder, it turned out to be "almost like throwing something at a dart board across a span of 24 years and it hit a bull's-eye," Vercellotti said. "It underscores how important it is for victims to come forward."
[...]
The sacristy and chapel have taken on an almost mythical sense, with some reports saying Pahl was found lying on the altar, arms crossed, altar vestments across her, candles lit.
[...]
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
cgabe@plaind.com 1-800-767-2821

Cathy too had the urge to be "fair and balanced" in her report. So, she wrote the dramatic title "Murder in the chapel" although the murder happened in a sacristy. She quoted someone talking about a "bull's-eye" in the case - so we already know the murderer, thank you Cathy.

And finally, Cathy could not pass up the opportunity to remind her readers that the corpse "was found lying on the altar, arms crossed, altar vestments across her, candles lit." Cathy, being a good reporter, "fair and balanced," and probably knowing by today that the last dramatic bit is a pure BS, preceded it with the "some reports saying..."

Dear Cathy, you deserve a long career in the journalistic profession. Crowds are hungry for your "fair and balanced" reports.

Something just occurred to me; it's a little conspiracy theory.

The original article from link posted in #1 says the following,

When investigators took the old evidence out of storage in December, "we noticed something that was startling and apparent to us," Detective Forrester said.
The discovery involved "blood transfer patterns" that, the detectives said, conclusively placed the murder weapon at the scene of the homicide.
[...]
"Blood transfer patterns" is a rarely used technology that analyzes the patterns made when a weapon or other object is laid down, they said.
Detective Terry Cousino, who works in the police scientific unit and draws composite sketches, was able to spot the pattern because "he has an artist's eye," Mr. Ross said.
Investigators contacted "one of the most renowned experts in the country" on blood transfer patterns "and that expert has supported our theory in this case," Detective Forrester said.

So, "we noticed something that was startling and apparent to us" but it wasn't startling and apparent 24 years ago when it was new???

Maybe it didn't exist at all in 1980?

The most recent article Murder in the chapel says something interesting about a retired police officer Dave Davison,

He has spent 24 years trying to make sure the case does not die.
To Davison, Pahl deserves more dignity than she has got ten in this sleazy, cable TV- style caper. "If I am doing it for anybody, I am doing it for the dead nun," he said.
[...]
"The evidence was always there," said Davison, who in 1995 mounted a letter-writing campaign to the diocese, the Vatican, the U.S. Justice Department and even "Unsolved Mysteries" in an attempt to reopen the case. "I hate that they sat on it for whatever reason. It just wasn't fair to her."

Could it be that officer Davison had access to the evidence storage locker and wanted to "help" to solve the murder case in the style of LA Det. Mark Fuhrman (OJ's bloody glove)?

I think, this conspiracy theory is much more probable than the story about a group of Catholic priests feeding little girl with an eyeball, and it should be checked by the defense.

If so, then Davison would most likely use paint or animal blood to stamp the image of Fr. Robinson's letter opener on the bloody altar cloth. It is rather unlikely that he would use human blood, in any situation, the "fixed" stain wouldn't be done with Sr. Pahl's or Fr. Robinson's blood.

In our age of Pentiums and flights to the moon it should be easy to determine what the stains are made of.

The original 1980 police photos of the bloody cloth should reveal the difference, if there is any.