Priest Guilty of Killing a Nun Dies in Prison — But Church to Hold Mass for Him That May Raise Some Eyebrows

COLUMBUS, Ohio (TheBlaze/AP) — A Catholic priest convicted of stabbing and strangling a nun 34 years ago in a hospital chapel will receive a funeral Mass, according to an Ohio diocesan official.

Rev. Gerald Robinson died Friday. The 76-year-old had been serving a prison sentence of 15 years to life in what church historians have characterized as the only documented case of a Catholic priest killing a nun.

Rev. Gerald Robinson in court. (Image source: WBNS-TV)

But Robinson remains an ordained priest, the Toledo diocesan official said, and his services will follow the usual protocol for diocesan priests' funerals. Robinson had been in a hospice unit since the end of May after suffering a heart attack.

He was found guilty in 2006 of killing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 1980 at a Toledo hospital where they both worked.

Sister Margaret Ann Pahl (Image source: WBNS-TV)

Here's a clip of Robinson's guilty verdict being read: