Jury Sees Videotape of Confession

Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi played portions of a videotape of Jose Feliciano's murder confession before a trial jury Wednesday.

In the video, which was made on Oct. 24, 2009 while Feliciano was admitted to Morristown Memorial Hospital, the former custodian of confesses to stabbing the Rev. Edward Hinds in the rectory on Oct. 22, 2009.

Bianchi often paused the video to ask Feliciano about statements which contradict testimony he has given on both and throughout the .

The prosecutor asked about how old Feliciano was when he said he was abused by a priest at a Brooklyn church. In prior testimony, Feliciano said he was 11 and the abuse happened only once. In the videotape, he said he was "8, 9 and 10."

Bianchi also asked about the color of the knife handle which Feliciano used to stab Hinds 44 times, where the knife came from and where Feliciano dumped it and other evidence after Hinds was dead.

Pennsylvania Charges

The Hon. Thomas V. Manahan, sitting in Morristown, allowed prosecutors to question Feliciano on some outstanding charges from Philadelphia in 1988, including simple assault, indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

Manahan allowed Bianchi to mention "only the charges within the warrant themselves," and not "what they allege [Feliciano] did" that led to the charges.

Bianchi showed Feliciano a Notice to Appear in a Pennsylvania court on May 11, 1988, which bore his signature. Feliciano did not show up and a bench warrant was issued.

"You knew you had to appear in court, yes or no?" Bianchi asked.

"Yes, sir," Feliciano said.

"You knew that warrant was active for you up to and including Oct. 22, 2009, didn't you?"

"Yes," Feliciano said.

"And you decided not to go, right?"

"I decided not to go," he said.

The warrant was issued for Jose Ramon Feliciano, with a birthdate of March 14, 1948.

"That's not your correct birthday, is it?" Bianchi asked.

"No, but I gave them the right one [with the year 1945]," Feliciano said.

Bianchi showed documentation from the Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History, or EPATCH, that Hinds requested a criminal check on Feliciano using the correct date of birth in fall 2009. According to the document, the Pennsylvania state police located the 1988 warrant and sent a hard copy to Hinds via bulk mail.

"You were not just worried about these charges, you were also worried about people finding out what these charges were," Bianchi said. "It would have been an embarrassment to your [family], isn't that right?

"I would say yes," Feliciano said.

"You were worried not only about your job, but about your reputation?"

"Correct, sir."

"Your reputation would have been obliterated, correct?"

"Correct, sir."

Bianchi showed the entry from Hinds' daily planner from Oct. 22, 2009. It shows a notation at 9:45 a.m. which reads, "Jose: Friday 10/23 last day, pay through 10/31."

Bianchi recalled testimony from employees of St. Patrick School that Oct. 22, Feliciano seemed "fine" in the morning, but later that day he "seemed to have the weight of the world on your shoulders." Feliciano said he was thinking about the work he had to do that day, including setting up for an evening event. "I was rushing through my job," he said.

"At 5 o'clock that day, you said you had something to go take care of," Bianchi said. Feliciano agreed, and said he told his coworker in Spanish he had something to take care of and would be back later.

"It wasn't that you had to go take care of Father Ed?" Bianchi asked.

"No, sir."

Bianchi then ended his cross examination of Feliciano, which began on Tuesday, Nov. 29.