Crime & Safety

Feliciano Admits Lying to Avoid Fingerprint Check

The accused murderer said he eventually told the pastor at St. Patrick Church about outstanding charges during confession.

While under cross examination Tuesday, accused murderer Jose Feliciano told Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi he intially lied to the Rev. Edward Hinds at , his employer, about outstanding criminal charges from Pennsylvania.

Feliciano said "I lied" to Hinds when he said he could not pass a fingerprint check in 2003 because he had "problems in Philadelphia" related to drugs.

"This is the first time [the jury] is hearing about drug charges," Bianchi said.

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"If I told him the truth, I couldn't work there anymore," Feliciano said.

The 1988 charges from Pennsylvania actually involved charges with a minor, though the Hon. Thomas V. Manahan ruled.

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The jury did learn Feliciano could be fired because of the charges under a program from the Roman Catholic Church called Protecting God's Children, which required all staff members to pass a training course and a fingerprint check.

Feliciano said he later told the priest the truth about the charges during the sacrament of confession. He said Hinds agreed to keep the fingerprint card and not to fire him, but did say the parish custodian and his family had to move out of a house he rented on church grounds.

"He allowed you to [keep working] there even though you told him about these charges?" Bianchi asked. "It wouldn't be that you lied to him?"

"No, sir," Feliciano said.

between the two in 2004 which continued until the priest's death in 2009. Bianchi asked about the details of their various encounters, including when and where each took place and what exactly they did.

"Is there any correspondence proving this sexual relationship?" Bianchi asked. "Did he ever write to you [about it]?"

"Why would he write to me?" Feliciano answered. He said he saw Hinds nearly every day at the church, school or parish office.

"Are there any emails or text messages?"

"No," Feliciano said.

Feliciano, 66, is accused of stabbing Hinds to death on Oct. 22, 2009 in the church rectory. His resumed Tuesday after the judge presiding in the case due to "emotional outburst[s]" from Feliciano.


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