美国国家公共电台 NPR Before Her Teacher's Murder, This 'Keepers' Witness Was Already Living A Nightmare

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Who killed Sister Cathy? That is the central question of the Netflix documentary series "The Keepers." Baltimore nun 1 and schoolteacher Cathy Cesnik was murdered in 1969, but the case was never solved. Now some of her former students are looking for answers. Over seven episodes, they tell a disturbing story of abusive priests, alleged 2 police complicity and a possible cover-up by the Catholic Church.

Jean Wehner is one of those former students who came forward to tell her story in "The Keepers." She says she was sexually abused for years by two priests and other men at Archbishop Keough High School in the late 1960s. More than 30 people say they were also abused by the same priest who was her main abuser. Jean Wehner believes Sister Cathy was killed for knowing too much about this abuse.

I talked to Jean Wehner this week. She told me how she and Sister Cathy first talked about this. And just a warning - the next seven minutes are going to be intense.

JEAN WEHNER: That's one of the first memories I had of her. And that was the last day of school. And she was just talking very comfortably about what did I think of school, you know, how was I doing? And I said I didn't really care too much for Keough. You know, and she really nonchalantly was saying, what's going on, you know? And I said I really didn't want to talk about it. And she said, how about if I talk to you, and you just nod your head?

She began asking me questions about - was anyone there making me do something I didn't want to do? And I shook my head yes. You know, then she asked, was it anyone that she knew? And I shook my head yes. She said, is it the priest? And I shook my head yes. And she said, oh, my God, I suspected as much. And she gave me a big hug. And she said, I want you to go have a nice summer. I'm going to take care of this.

MCEVERS: Sister Cathy transferred to a different school, and then she disappeared. And then it was found that she had been killed. The case remained unsolved. You graduated from Keough. You eventually got married. You had kids. And you basically buried the memories of your abuse. When did you start to remember?

WEHNER: The pressure of it, I would say probably the beginning of 1992.

MCEVERS: And one of the most intense memories you had is that - the priest who you say abused you is a man named Father Joseph Maskell - that he actually took you to see Sister Cathy's body. Is it OK to talk about that and what happened that day?

WEHNER: Sure. What I would need to say is that I had been systematically 3 abused, manipulated, raped 4, conditioned by Joseph Maskell for a good year and a half before any of this with Sister Cathy happened. When you talk about being taken to see the body, he was methodically creating a scene so it would play out in a way.

I believed when I went into his room that he started talking to me as if she were somebody who was a close friend and he knew that I was concerned and upset that she was missing. And he made it sound as if he knew where she was. He knew where she was, and it was as if she were alive. And did I want to go see her? And so I am taken from the school. We're in the car, and the man would speak nonstop like he was giving a sermon.

And a lot of what he would be saying is about what happens to people when they say bad things and that you really need to be a good person, and then when you're not good - just on and on and on. And all I was thinking is, where is she, you know?

MCEVERS: Right.

WEHNER: And so I can remember that we go down this area that's just all kind of trees. And I'm thinking, what was she doing back here? Why - you know, I'm thinking she's alive.

MCEVERS: Right.

WEHNER: So we go around a little bend, and he stops the car. And I'm thinking, what is she doing? There's no houses or people. What's she doing back here? And we get out of the car, and he's in front of me. And we go walking back, and he goes around a little bend. And he moves over, and I see this clump 5 on the ground.

And I recognize it to be her. And I ran over, and I got down on the ground. And there were maggots in the side of her head. And I began wiping her head, her face and saying, please help me; please help me; please help me. He came down beside me, and he said in my ear, you see what happens when you say bad things about people?

MCEVERS: We should say that Father Joseph Maskell - he maintained his innocence 6 in the killing 7 of Sister Cathy and in any abuse allegations. And the Archdiocese of Baltimore denied that there was any kind of cover-up. But the archdiocese has paid nearly $500,000 in settlements to 16 people who accused him of sexual abuse, and that includes you. Do you think that the killing of Sister Cathy will ever be resolved? Do you think an answer is out there?

WEHNER: I hope there is. I came to a decision quite some time ago because I was having to do so much of this on my own with the people I felt I could trust that in order to move forward I had to stop looking at who killed Cathy Cesnik...

MCEVERS: Yeah.

WEHNER: ...Because I had to look at, how do I take care of little Jeannie, the me that was severed 8 and left to die? I believe that people had the opportunity to do the right thing 20-some years ago with the lawsuit 9. What we have now is a lot less to go on, a lot less to bring to the courts. But I can be hopeful that someone will come to some kind of conclusion with what happened to Cathy Cesnik.

MCEVERS: So many of survivors 10 of abuse do not fare as well as you have. Every time I was watching you, I couldn't help but wondering, how have you managed to be so strong and to be so clear and to be so focused in what you're doing, in the work that you're doing?

WEHNER: One of my coping mechanisms 11 is looking in control and looking like I'm really very strong. So what you see is what I want you to see. Who I am is who I need you to see me as. But when I go home and I curl up in a bed and I cry or I am so afraid to go out and be out in public by myself or I sit and I wonder, what are they thinking and who's going to say I'm lying, I am both.

And I'm constantly - and survivors will understand this - I am constantly integrating all of that horror with all that you see because I am very strong. I had the right to be a very in-control, strong, articulate, intelligent woman. And it has gone very much by the wayside because you see me speaking out about this. I could have been a professor. I could have been a lawyer. I may have been a doctor. I'm none of those things. But I will speak out because this is the truth.

MCEVERS: Jean Wehner, thank you so much for your time today and just for your bravery. We really appreciate it.

WEHNER: Thank you, Kelly.

MCEVERS: Jean Wehner now works as a life coach. "The Keepers" is out now on Netflix.

(SOUNDBITE OF RRAREBEAR'S "MOON")