Nov 3, 2009 7:02 pm US/Eastern
911 Callers Thought Rev. Hinds Was Unconscious
CHATHAM, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Father Edward Hinds was murdered inside St. Patrick's Church in Chatham, N.J. on Oct. 23, 2009. He was 61.
CBS
Tapes of 911 calls show the first people to summon help for a slain New Jersey priest thought he was unconscious due to a fall.
Rev. Edward Hinds was dead when his body was found in the rectory of his Chatham church on Oct. 23. Authorities said he had been stabbed 32 times the day before by longtime church custodian Jose Feliciano.
Feliciano remains held on bail.
New Jersey State Police have not released 911 calls made on the priest's cell phone on Oct. 22. Authorities have said a caller requested police before the call was cut off. The 911 operator called back and got another man believed to be the suspect who said there wasn't a problem.
Officials are investigating whether the state police dispatcher followed procedure.
A funeral mass was held at St. Patrick's Church on October 31 for Hinds. It was a day of tears a tribute for a fallen father, from a congregation that's still trying to cope with the tragedy on several levels.
"A moment of tremendous loss for all of us," Bishop Arthur Serratelli, of the diocese of Paterson, said. "Such a great priest, such an important member of the community, who cared so much for others."
More than 1,300 of the faithful, including 200 priests from Paterson and beyond, flocked to the funeral mass for the beloved pastor killed in a his own church, stabbed 32 times with a kitchen knife.
"It's absolutely surreal – inconceivable," parishioner Tara Bryant-Gray said. "Such violence to take place in such a beautiful community.
For many in the NJ town, emotions are still raw from a crime so difficult to comprehend.
"The brutality of this murder is just something we can't wrap our minds around," parishioner Patricia D'Ambrosio said.
"If you're not part of the community it's hard to know how to feel…that somebody among us is responsible, or is supposedly responsible," parishioner Mary McCrae said.
At the service, Hinds was remembered as a kind and gentle man, a "quiet voice of love."
"He helped everybody," parishioner Nickie Balsamo said. "He was wonderful, he was just wonderful."
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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