TOLEDO SLAYING Woman: Nun told me she was distressed



The housekeeper wasn't sure who had upset the nun.
TOLEDO (AP) -- A nun whom prosecutors say was killed by a priest in a chapel confided to a housekeeper a day before her death that she was distressed about changes being made to Easter weekend worship services, the housekeeper testified Friday.
Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, the caretaker of the chapel in a Toledo hospital, said she wanted to have a word with the priest who planned the changes, Shirley Lucas testified.
It was not clear, Lucas said, whether the priest who had upset Sister Pahl was the Rev. Gerald Robinson, the hospital chaplain charged with killing the nun a day before Easter.
Sister Pahl clutched the housekeeper's hand and told her: "Why do they cheat God out of what belongs to him?" Lucas testified.
Prosecutors have not disclosed a motive in the killing and have said they won't try to prove one during Robinson's trial.
In opening statements last week, Lucas County Assistant Prosecutor Dean Mandros said Sister Pahl was upset "to the point of tears" over the way Robinson conducted Good Friday services.
Sign of possible dispute
The testimony from Lucas on Friday was the first indication of a dispute between the Rev. Mr. Robinson and Sister Pahl. The priest presided over the nun's funeral.
Sister Pahl, who was a top hospital administrator before retiring, was strict and stern, Lucas said.
In one of their first meetings, the nun scolded the housekeeper for wasting scraps of soap and toilet paper. Sister Pahl even showed Lucas how to save soap be wetting tiny pieces together.
"Things had to be done a certain way," Lucas said.
Lucas also remembered the time she told Sister Pahl that she liked Elvis Presley. "She thought he was a little bit too wiggly," Lucas said, drawing a rare laugh from the jury. "It taught me to watch what I said around her."
Sister Pahl was stabbed 31 times and strangled.