Judge finds priest committed murder to hide crime

[Judi Lynn]

Judge finds priest committed murder to hide crime
Tuesday, October 4, 2005

By ROBERT IMRIE Associated Press Writer

HUDSON, Wis.

A judge ruled Monday that a Roman Catholic priest who hanged himself in December almost certainly killed two people more than three years ago.

Circuit Judge Eric Lundell’s finding came in the case of the Rev. Ryan Erickson, who committed suicide after being questioned by police about the 2002 slayings.

“I conclude that Ryan Erickson probably committed the crimes in question,” Lundell said at the end of a daylong hearing. “On a scale of one to 10, I would consider it a 10.”

The testimony also established a possible motive for the slayings: The funeral director suspected the priest was molesting children and planned to confront him the day of the killings. At the hearing, a deacon testified that Erickson confided that he shot to death funeral home director Dan O’Connell, 39, and employee James Ellison, 22.
(snip/...)

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=245351&r=0

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judge says there is probable cause Rev. Erickson killed two men

BY KEVIN HARTER

Pioneer Press


There is probable cause to conclude the Rev. Ryan Erickson killed two men at a Hudson funeral home in 2002, a St. Croix County judge said Monday afternoon.
(snip)

Lundell gave his opinion after a day-long hearing at which District Attorney Eric Johnson asked questions of numerous people who made the case against Erickson. At the time of the killings on Feb. 5, 2002, Erickson was assigned to St. Patrick's Church in Hudson.

Earlier in the day, a church deacon testified that Erickson blurted out that he committed the killings at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home and that he expected to be arrested.
(snip)

Lundgren said Erickson was gazing out a window when he suddenly said, "I done it, and they're going to get me."
(snip)

At one point, after admitting to the shootings, Erickson told Lundgren, "Do you know what they do with young guys in prison, especially priests?"
(snip/...)

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/12806837.htm
(Free registration required)

[tompayne1]

1. that is so wrong

on so many levels.

[tompayne1]

2. that is so wrong

on so many levels.

[Benhurst]

3. A "Man of God." Yeah. Sure. When will people grow up? NT

[Geo55]

4. hmmmm.........double whammy

Hate to be "him" facing "his" God.....murder AND suicide.
Bummer

[jwirr]

6. and possible child abuse.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. And people are pressuring me to go to church.

My daughter is turning agnostic, and you know what? I'm fine with it.

[sasquatch]

7. Jesus is going to have Spalding tatooed on his forehead

Before he sends him to hell of course.

[Rich Hunt]

8. let's see

How many other 'guilty Catholic' stories can we WASPs dig up because somebody pissed them off sooooo bad?

Oh fuck it - we'll do you all a favor and commit mass suicide.

Then y'all non-Democrats and traitors will need to find someone else to gossip about and slander in your ill-gotten homes that you got from whoring and 'playing nice' and spreading the slander and buying into the print media's bullshit stories and show trials and basically participating in a murderous racket. It's a game - you play the game, you lie, you slander the innocent, you move up.

Thanks for buying into the diversionary tactic.

No doubt you'll make their 'good list' for it.

Enjoy it, 'cos some of us have been blackballed from birth.

[sybylla]

12. Yeah, we here in the Wisconsin forum are just out to get Catholics

:sarcasm: I see no evidence that the original poster intended to bash any particular religion or religion in general.

This was posted in the Wisconsin forum because it began as an unsolved murder three years ago that only recently found a direction with the suicide of the priest. Being a state of relatively low crime, unsolved and quite freakish murders tend to get bandied about in the media (outside of Milwaukee, anyway). Of course the fact that the murderer may have been the priest makes it salacious, but I promise you, the article claiming the case is solved would have been posted if the murderer was a drug dealer transporting cocaine in dead bodies.

So my advice is to get over it. Believe it or not, xtians really aren't the center of the universe, especially in Badgerland/Packerland. And the majority of us are fully aware that "bad" people exist in every group.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

9. SEE? SEE WHAT HAPPENS?

These guys in dresses.

It's not good.

(Before I get flamed, I'm a Jesuit-trained lawyer, so please keep that in mind.)

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

11. Hoya, huh?

;-)

[Sandpiper]

10. Fruits of the Vatican culture

Of covering up priestly crimes.

[htuttle]

13. Well....at least he didn't eat anybody.

[sybylla]

14. OMG, I am ashamed to say

that with the freakish history of cannibalism in this state, that really cracked me up.

Seriously, this is sooo not funny, nope. Not funny at all. :spray:

[Broca]

17. Symbolically of course Catholics practice cannibalism

whenever they participate in communion or if the host is truly transformed into the body and blood of christ (the man), then it really is ritualistic cannibalism.

That reminds me of the town that only had three churchs which all became besieged by a squirrel problem.

The first church prayed for a resolution of the problem (which failed of course).

The second church caught the squirrels and moved them a mile or two away before releasing them. They all came back.

The third church simply made all the squirrels members of the congregation. After that they only saw them on Easter and Christmas.

[RevCheesehead]

15. I'm relieved they solved the crime.

All kinds of horrible speculation was going on, trying to figure out why someone would kill a funeral home director. I was in Eau Claire at the time, and the local funeral directors were pretty nervous for a while.

What an awful mess.

Which diocese is Hudson in?

[theshadow]

16. And then he co-officiated at the funeral of....

...one of his victims!