Prosecution questions janitor accused of killing priest

MORRISTOWN, N.J.

He says he did it to end the abuse, but prosecutors tried to prove otherwise with some telling evidence.

"Is this the knife you Fr. Hinds with, telling him he wasn't going to fire you?" Prosecutor Robert Bianchi asked.

Prosecutor Robert Bianchi Wednesday questioned Jose Feliciano about his two versions of why he says he fatally stabbed Fr. Edward Hinds.

His story to police: "You told Capt. Paul he fired you because you wanted to end the sex, you went crazy. True?" Bianchi asked.

"Yes," Feliciano said.

And what he told the jury.

"You told them Fr. Ed said you were being fired for parish reasons," Bianchi said.

The prosecutor suggesting an entry on Fr. Hind's calendar forced Feliciano to change his story.

Father Hinds had written: 9:45 a.m., Jose last day.

"Did it change because it shows he decided to fire you long before you saw him at 5:00?" Bianchi asked.

Father Hinds was brutally stabbed to death inside the rectory of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Chatham in 2009.

Feliciano faces 15 years to life if he is convicted.

Copyright © 2024 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.