NEW HOPE IN CASE OF MURDERED PRIEST:
THE FR. KUNZ CASE
March 17, 2008
International News Analysis Today
By Toby Westerman
The on-going ten year investigation of the brutal killing of Wisconsin parish priest, Fr. Alfred Kunz, has received new life. In an exclusive interview with International News Analysis, Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney has stated that he is willing to collaborate with "cold case" investigators. The way is now open for television jounalist-investigators specializing in long unsolved cases to turn their attention to the murder of Fr. Kunz.
Fr. Kunz, the former pastor of the St. Michael's parish in rural Dane, Wisconsin, was killed on March 4, 1998. His blood-soaked body was found in the hallway of the parish school by a teacher about one half-hour before classes were to begin. According to those who volunteered to repaint the hallway after the area had been released by the police, blood on the walls indicated a vicious assault and a desperate, futile resistance.
Sherriff Mahoney also stated to INA that the emotionally charged term "intimate" is no longer used by the department in connection with the Fr. Kunz case. "That is not the direction" in which the investigation is going, Mahoney stated.
The term "intimate" had been used early in the investigation by Mahoney's predecessor to describe the relationship between Fr. Kunz and female parishones. Although the sheriff's office at that time explicitly stated that no sexual meaning was necessarily connected to the word "intimate," many following the case understood the word in its contemporary sexually-oriented connotation and saw an unwarranted attack upon a priest known for defending traditional Catholic teaching.
Although the sheriff's office has retired the term, local news outlets still refer to the word when discussing the killing.
Mahoney told INA that his office has sufficient resources to pursue whatever new leads which may be produced as the investigation proceeds. At present, only one detective is assigned to the Kunz case.
Fr. Kunz was a figure of national and international importance. A former judical vicar for the Madison diocese, Kunz was known as an expert in canon law and a priest loyal to the traditional teachings of the Church. One of his activities in the early to mid-1990s, Fr. Kunz worked with Fr. John Hardon and others to document and report to the Vatican the abuses taking place within the Catholic priesthood in the United States.
His parishoners knew him as a kind and faithful pastor who ran popular Lenten fish fries, a very competent car mechanic, and organizer of family-oriented summer carnivals.
Fr. Kunz's fish fries were regarded with high favor in a state which has perfected the Friday night fish fry. Toward the end of spring, on Pentecost Sunday, the St. Michael's parish carnival enjoyed a reputation in the Madison area for good food and family fun.
St. Michael's teachers received little pay, but could count on Fr. Kunz to keep their cars running. When not in his priestly cassock, Fr. Kunz could be found on parish grounds clad in overalls working as the parish handyman.
In an era of secularism and skepticism, Fr. Kunz demanded reverence for the Mass, sacraments, and the Faith. Whoever struck down Fr. Kunz also dealt a blow against all believers - the devout of all faiths who take seriously faith in God and His commandments.
The killer of Fr. Kunz still walks among us; no one can be certain if this vicious killer has or will strike again. Until the murderer of Fr. Kunz is arrested and convicted, an individual possessed by evil walks among us, assured that at least once he has sucessfully murdered a man of God and gone unpunished. Until this crime is solved, those who hate God and His people know that it is possible to kill and get away with murder.
Anyone with information regarding the Fr. Kunz investigation can call the Dane County Sherriff's Office at 608-284-6871.
Copyright 2008
International News Analysis
Return to INA TODAY.com homepage