More than 40 years after her death, the case of Sister Cathy Cesnik’s murder is still unsolved. Netflix’s documentary series “The Keepers” dives into the case and uncovers a web of abuse that may be the source of a cover up and the murder. Here’s our quick guide to all the people in “The Keepers” you need to know.
Sister Catherine Cesnik
A nun and teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in 1968, Sister Cathy was murdered in Nov. 1969, although her body wasn’t discovered until Jan. 3, 1970. She suffered blunt force trauma to her head and the case remains open to this day. Information in “The Keepers” suggests Sister Cathy might have been killed because she found out that priests at Keough were sexually abusing students.
Joyce Malecki
The 20-year-old Baltimore woman went missing on Nov. 11, 1969. Her body was found in a wooded area two days later. Her case is similar to Sister Cathy’s — both women disappeared from the same area in the city, both were found in isolated areas not far from one another, both died around the same time in November, and both had marks on their necks that indicated choking. Some suspect the same person killed both women, but authorities have never been able to find a link in their cases.
Father A. Joseph Maskell
An administrator, psychologist and counselor at Keough when Sister Cathy was a teacher there, Maskell has been accused by dozens of students and other children of sexual abuse. In 1994, two victims, known then as Jane Doe and Jane Roe, attempted to sue the Catholic Church and Maskell for alleged abuse, but the case was thrown out because of Maryland’s statute of limitations. Maskell was never tried or convicted of any crimes, and he died in 2001.
Father Neil Magnus
Another of the administrators at Keough, Magnus was accused of participating in sexually abusing students along with Maskell. Magnus died in 1988 and was never charged with any crimes.
“Brother Bob”
A third abuser who “Jane Doe” remembers from her days at Keough, but whose face she cannot recall. The identity of Brother Bob remains a mystery, although some in “The Keepers” believe he might be the missing link in the case of who killed Sister Cathy.
Jean Hargadon Wehner (“Jane Doe”)
The first former student to accuse Father Maskell of sex abuse, she appeared in the 1994 lawsuit as “Jane Doe.” Wehner said she waited to come forward because she had repressed her memories of the abuse and only recalled them later. She also thinks Sister Cathy was murdered because she knew about Maskell’s abuse and was going to come forward. She said that Maskell showed her Sister Cathy’s body.
Teresa Lancaster (“Jane Roe”)
The second plaintiff in the 1994 lawsuit against Maskell, Lancaster was known in the case as “Jane Roe.” After the failed lawsuit, she went to law school and became a lawyer, working with Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. She was part of the Keough class of 1972.
Gemma Hoskins
A former Keough student who had Sister Cathy as a teacher before her death, Hoskins teamed with Abbie Schaub nearly 45 years later, in 2013, to try to solve the nun’s murder. Before that, Gemma spent 37 years as an elementary school teacher.
Abbie Schaub
Another former student of Sister Cathy’s, Schaub and Hoskins combined forces to try to uncover what happened to Sister Cathy in 1969. Schaub was previously a nurse. Together, she and Hoskins started the “Justice for Catherine Cesnik and Joyce Malecki” Facebook page in 2013 to try to solve the case, which has become a network of Keough alumni and abuse survivors.
Marilyn Cesnik Radakovic
Sister Cathy’s younger sister, who joins the investigation with Hoskins and Schaub during “The Keepers.”
Gerald Koob
A close friend of Sister Cathy’s, who says his relationship with her was almost romantic. Koob was a Jesuit priest at the time of Sister Cathy’s murder. He and his friend and fellow priest, Peter McKeon, discovered Sister Cathy’s car parked at a strange angle across the street from her apartment.
Sister Helen Russell Phillips
Sister Cathy’s roommate in 1969 when she disappeared. The pair lived in the Carriage House Apartments building instead of at the convent, in an attempt to get closer to the secular world to better serve their students. When she realized Sister Cathy was missing, she called Koob, and together with him and McKeon, the three later called the police.
Peter McKeon
McKeon was also a priest, and accompanied Koob to Sister Cathy’s apartment when Sister Russell called to say she was missing. Koob says that he and McKeon went to the movie “Easy Rider” the night of Sister Cathy’s disappearance.
Edgar Davidson
According to his first wife, who speaks in the documentary under condition of anonymity, Davidson talked about being involved in Sister Cathy’s murder in 1969. In “The Keepers,” Davidson said he called a radio show years later and said he had information about the case. During his interview in “The Keepers,” however, he denied any involvement.
Billy Schmidt
Sister Cathy’s neighbor in the Carriage Hill Apartments building. His family believes he may have had something to do with Cathy’s death, along with his brother, Ronnie, and an unknown man called “Skippy.” He would eventually commit suicide.
Dr. Christian Richter
A gynecologist who Maskell would take students to while he was serving at Keough. He was accused of sexual abuse and aiding Maskell, and was also named in a 1994 lawsuit. The suit was thrown out and Richter was never convicted of any wrongdoing. He died in 2006.
Tom Nugent
Freelance journalist Tom Nugent covered Sister Cathy’s death starting in 1994. Since then, he’s been tracking and investigating the story over the years and is one of the investigators of her death in “The Keepers.”
Bob Erlandson
Bob Erlandson was a journalist working for the Baltimore Sun in 1993. He first reported on Sister Cathy’s story because of Wehner’s accusation that Maskell was involved in her murder. He worked on the story for the next year and a half, but said in “The Keepers” the archdiocese in Baltimore stonewalled him at every turn.
Beverly Wallace
The attorney for “Jane Doe” and “Jane Roe” in the 1994 lawsuit against Maskell and the archdiocese.
“Deep Throat”
An anonymous source who was a detective working on the Maskell case in 1994. He refuses to be identified, allegedly because he fears reprisals from people responsible for the cover-up of Sister Cathy’s death and Maskell’s abuse. He claims he interviewed more than 100 girls in the case who knew of or were involved in sexual abuse.
Sharon A.H. May
The Baltimore State’s attorney working on the Maskell case in 1994. She chose not to charge Maskell, saying the case lacked evidence. Because no criminal charges were leveled against Maskell, Wehner and Lancaster became plaintiffs in the 1994 lawsuit against Maskell and the archdiocese.
Kathy Hobeck
In addition to Wehner and Lancaster, Kathy Hobeck is one of six abuse victims who appears in “The Keepers.” She didn’t come forward or join the lawsuit against Maskell in 1994. She was a member of the Keough class of 1970. In addition to the six abuse victims featured in the documentary, director Ryan White told TheWrap there are at least 40 victims in total, some from after Maskell’s stint at Keough.
Lil Hughes Knipp
Another of the women who were abused at Keough, Lil Hughes Knipp did not come forward until years after the 1994 lawsuit. She was a member of the Keough class of 1971.
Charles Franz
In “The Keepers,” Charles Franz came forward as one of Maskell’s abuse victims in the 1960s. He said that when he told his mother of the abuse, she told the Baltimore Archdiocese in 1967 — two years before Sister Cathy’s murder. His account directly contradicts the church’s story about what it knew about Maskell.
Donna VonDenBosch
Donna VonDenBosch also has come forward as one of Maskell’s abuse victims as a member of the Keough class of 1974. She was not part of the 1994 lawsuit but came forward later. The Baltimore Archdiocese reached a $35,000 settlement with VonDenBosch in 2016.
Detective Gary Childs
Baltimore County Police Detective Childs is assigned to the cold case file for Sister Cathy’s murder at the time of “The Keepers.”
