Solved Murders - True Crime Stories - I Was a Priest Haunted by a Colleague’s Darkness—and Maybe Witnessed the Zodiac Killer #46

Starting point is 00:00:00 From an early age growing up in northern California, I was groomed to be a Catholic priest. As the other kids played baseball, my mother made me a handmade Roman Catholic cassock and made me perform mock masses in the backyard. I hated it and I hated the other kids for making fun of me. I was pretty much forced into though the priesthood in 1965. The only solace, I got out of being a priest was helping the weird kids, like I was once. I didn't believe in any of the spiritual stuff. I identified myself as being asexual and figured what the heck else was I going to do. Every other day, I performed morning mass.

Starting point is 00:00:40 I would copy the sermons to the point, where one of the elderly parishioners non-jokingly commented that she must have dreamt that same sermon from last week. I told her that it must have been God communicating with her. I was the guidance counselor at St. John the Baptist Catholic All-Boys School in Northern California. The one thing that I hated absolutely more than anything else was dealing with the other clergy. They were the most self-righteous assholes that existed on the planet. Any time, I had to converse with them, I thought how could I get this nut job to shut up? The clergy met once a month and the meetings were chaired by the Monsignor, who reported to the bishop.

Starting point is 00:01:18 Everything was done in secrecy and you wouldn't dare tell anyone what was discussed in the meetings. I never really understood or liked the meetings, but at least we were given opportunities to discuss our gripes even though they mostly fell on deaf ears. There was one priest, Father Anthony Delano, that creeped me out more than the other members of the clergy. He really thought that God put him on earth to expose the sinners. I had countless complaints from the students that I met with, regarding Father Delano. If he found out that any of the boys in the school were dating, he would then meet with

Starting point is 00:01:53 in private for hours, where he would have the boys recite scriptures and yell at them for being sinners. Times were different back then and kids wouldn't freely tell their parents' mistreatments for fear that their own parents would punish them. Father Delano was about six feet tall. He made me refer to him as father. When we crossed paths down isolated corridors, he would intentionally bump into me. I just hated him. Delano never slept. He would leave the rectory at all hours of the night to go on, spiritual callings. We weren't allowed to have locks on our bedroom doors, but the guy creeped me out so much that I installed a sliding lock on the bottom of my door to conceal its location. I really started to get creeped out and I felt a diary would help me

Starting point is 00:02:39 deal with Father Delano. It's a week before Christmas and the pious asshole, Delano, is busy terrorizing the boys at our school. We had a school assembly, where he gave a speech that could best be surmised as a schizophrenic rant. Friday, December 20th, 1968, because of Christmas, we are having weekly meetings with the Monsignor and Delano. Also present were an aging priest and an aging brother. The psychopath, Delano criticized me because of my lack of devotion. During the meeting he pointed his finger in my face and criticized me on everything from allowing the boys to do anything they wanted to do my monotone bare minimal mass services. Inside I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight him, but I told myself that he wasn't worth it. I went back back to the rectory and

Starting point is 00:03:27 eventually I heard Delano's footsteps. I should have locked my door but I didn't. He stood in my doorway and said to me, you're my slave and judgment day will come. I didn't say anything. I felt like a coward. I felt like I was a 10-year-old being targeted by a bully. He left the rectory and took the car. He was gone for hours. He got to go. He got to. He came back at 4 a.m. He stood outside my closed door. I heard him say, Your sins have been atoned. My heart was pounding. I really didn't know what this psychopath was capable of. Where did he go for the last eight hours? Christmas came and gone and Delano continued to terrorize me. I felt he was constantly watching everything I did. I talked with the Monsignor, who did nothing for me.

Starting point is 00:04:19 The winter came and gone and at this point I was roused. rather contemplating leaving the priesthood. The one day I was cleaning the car and I found a handgun tucked under the driver's seat. The person who put it there wasn't expecting it to be discovered. I went right to the Monsignor and I said, this is enough. I'm not going to live here with this psychopath. The Monsignor took the gun and I didn't see the gun again and nothing happened to Delano. The summer approached and things didn't get any better. Friday, July 4, 1969. Today we had a barbecue at the rectory. I tried to avoid Delano the whole day. I really just isolated myself the whole day. I was done with the priesthood and I was going to tell the Monsignor that I was leaving.

Starting point is 00:05:05 As the barbecue was finishing up, I pulled the Monsignor aside and I told him I was leaving. The Monsignor said he would talk to me the next day about trying to get me to stay and not leave. I went to my room and packed up the little belongings I had, so I could leave the next day. Delano came to room and said, I heard you're leaving. I said, yes. He replied, you're destined to an eternity of fire and hell. I said, thank you. He left my room and I could tell he was heading out to leave with the car. I decided that I was going to follow him. I asked the woman who was a volunteer in the church if I could borrow her car for the night and she obliged. He pulled out and I followed a block away. He pulled into a pawn shop and was in there for ten minutes.

Starting point is 00:05:51 He came out holding a brown paper bag and drove around for two hours. He eventually pulled into the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo. The parking lot way too small for me not to be seen, so I parked up the road. He stayed in the parking lot until a little before midnight. I wasn't going to leave until I figured out what he was doing. My thoughts were racing. Is he a pervert? Then out of nowhere, I heard what sounded like gunshots.

Starting point is 00:06:21 Luckily, I was parked in an area where I could just drive away. I went back to the rectory and barricaded myself in my room. I have no idea what happened in the parking lot but I was going to tell the Monsignor in the morning. Morning came and I met with the Monsignor. I told him that Delano was much more sinister than anyone could imagine. I told him what I observed the night before and the gunshots I heard. He listened to me and said, I don't think that the priesthood is meant for you, he gave me $200 and said good luck. I took a train across the country to New York and I never looked back.

Starting point is 00:06:58 The end.

Solved Murders - True Crime Stories - I Was a Priest Haunted by a Colleague’s Darkness—and Maybe Witnessed the Zodiac Killer #46

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