Rev Walter Benz - pased away.
ATman
.c The Associated Press
By NIKI KAPSAMBELIS
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- In life, the law never quite caught up with Rev. Walter
Benz. But in death, say Benz's fellow priests and parishioners, it is
impossible to escape judgment.
Benz, 72, died in a nursing home Friday night, one month after authorities
decided he was too sick to be arraigned. He was accused of stealing $1.3
million from the collection baskets at two Roman Catholic churches and using
the money for gambling trips with a church secretary.
Benz, who had lingered in a coma, suffered from leukemia and most recently
contracted a brain virus, had confessed to police and another priest, according
to an affidavit.
``He was too far gone,'' said parishioner Beverly Kohan. ``I feel sorry for
him. ... He's got bigger people than just us he'll be meeting.''
Police revealed the scandal last month after Benz allegedly admitted stealing
$1,000 a week for 20 years at two suburban churches -- Our Lady of the Most
Blessed Sacrament and St. Mary of the Assumption church.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh had started investigating Benz five
years ago, when his successor at Blessed Sacrament reported irregularities. But
the results of their 18-month audit proved inconclusive because there were no
records.
A second audit of St. Mary's prompted the diocese to contact civil authorities.
Benz retired in July.
While police decided not to charge him, Mary Anne Albaugh, the former church
secretary with whom Benz lived, has been charged with helping him steal the
money.
The two allegedly used some of the money for gambling trips to Atlantic City,
N.J. Police also seized antiques, a gun collection and other items -- including
a 2-foot Buddha statute -- from the home the two shared.
Because Benz was officially a retired priest, he will have a Mass of Christian
Burial conducted by Bishop Donald Wuerl, said diocese spokesman Rev. Ronald
Lengwin said.
Since Benz died before he could be formally charged, the matter will never
really be closed, said Lengwin, adding: ``We don't believe that final closure
comes before we stand before God in judgment.''
AP-NY-09-05-98 1602EDT
May he rest in Peace
All is in Divine Order
ATman
KayJay
Rooting around in graves for dirt now, are we?
KJ
Hickory260
>Rooting around in graves for dirt now, are we?
>
>
Hick replies:
No, KayJay, just standard operating procedure for the Corporate Roman Catholic
Church. There is a pervert sitting down in a nursing home in San Antonio that
I wish they could nail. Everyone thinks he is Mister Great. His perversions
have been hidden for years by the "True Church". I believe you recently wrote
a very strong post concerning such individuals and the hiearchy which shields
such individuals.
True Peace To All,
Hick
Hickory260
>Rooting around in graves for dirt now, are we?
>
>
Hick replies:
Oh, by the way, KayJay, the Corporation had no qualls about delving into the
grave of the boy who committed suicide during the Kos trials in Dallas.
KayJay
Ask me what I think of THAT. Go on.
> Hick
KJ
ATman
.c The Associated Press
By NIKI KAPSAMBELIS
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest who died while under investigation
for allegedly embezzling $1.3 million to pay for gambling trips and luxury cars
may have been murdered in his hospital bed, police say.
The Rev. Walter Benz, 72, who had been suffering from leukemia and a brain
virus, died Friday at a Catholic nursing home after a nurse discovered his
intravenous line and his oxygen tube had been removed, police Superintendent
Thomas Sturgeon said Tuesday.
A couple who were in Benz's room when an alarm went off slipped away without
being questioned, Sturgeon said.
Police were awaiting a coroner's report to learn the cause of death.
``This is a homicide investigation, but we don't know that this is a
homicide,'' Sturgeon said. ``It could very well be a coincidence.''
Parishioners were shocked last month when police said that Benz admitted
stealing $1,000 a week for 20 years at two suburban churches.
He and a former church secretary with whom he lived allegedly used some of the
money for trips to Atlantic City, N.J., fancy cars and guns.
Police did not charge Benz because he was too sick -- he had been living in the
nursing home since retiring in July -- but they charged the former secretary,
Mary Anne Albaugh, 51, with helping him steal the money.
Sturgeon said Ms. Albaugh has been ruled out as a suspect.
AP-NY-09-08-98 1521EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
ATman
09/09/98
** The Associated Press (c). All rights reserved. **
BY CLAUDIA COATES ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Expect an inquest into the mysterious death of a Roman
Catholic priest suspected of stealing about $1.5 million
from two churches and spending it on cars, guns and gambling trips,
Allegheny County's coroner said.
Coroner Cyril Wecht said an inquest probably will be needed because of
the complexity of the investigation into the death of the Rev.
Walter Benz.
``This is not a matter of finding a bullet wound, a stab wound,'' Wecht
said Wednesday.
Benz, 72, lay terminally ill in a nursing home Friday when an alarm
sounded in his room. A nurse came in to find a man and a woman in
the room and Benz's oxygen tube and intravenous water tube disconnected,
police said.
While other medical personnel also responded, the pair left. Benz, who
had leukemia and a brain virus, died two hours later. The autopsy
remained incomplete Wednesday while the coroner awaited the results of
toxicology tests.
Questions yet to be answered include how close Benz was to death;
whether he could have tolerated a brief withdrawal of water and
oxygen; if so, for how long; and if not, whether the withdrawal could
have hastened his death.
``For someone who isn't getting enough oxygen to his brain, that can
tilt the scale,'' Wecht said.
Benz died before he could be charged in the theft of $1.5 million over
25 years from collection baskets at St. Mary Assumption Church
and Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, both in suburban
Pittsburgh. Mary Anne Albaugh, the secretary at St. Mary's,
has been charged with theft and conspiracy. Authorities said she and the
priest, who lived together, spent money from church donations
on fancy cars, handguns and trips to Atlantic City, N.J., for gambling.
Police do not believe Albaugh, 51, had anything to do with the
disconnected tubes.
Wecht said Benz had given Ms. Albaugh power of attorney, which means she
had the authority to ask his doctors to terminate his
life-support systems, and she already had signed a do-not-resuscitate
order.
Somebody performing a lawful termination of life support would not have
appeared, disconnected the tubes and vanished, Wecht said.
``Even the doctor does not just go in and pull the tube,'' Wecht said.
And because Benz was in a coma, he could not have pulled out the
tubes accidentally or asked somebody to pull them out.
Whether Benz was already dying does not affect whether charges should be
brought, the coroner said.
``If I set out to kill you and am unsuccessful or you die of something
else, do I get off scot-free? I think not,'' Wecht said.
_AP-ES-09-10-98 0035EDT<