An investigative TV show has raised queries over the death of Chicago Polish priest, Fr Waclaw, who was found dead with twenty stab wounds but whose death was ruled a suicide. The I-Team has looked into the two-week-old case that has stunned those who knew the priest, ABC reports.
The death of Fr Waclaw didn't receive much attention outside his parish near Midway Airport. A press release from the archdiocese reported that he died of "self-inflicted injuries."
But the I-Team says that after it learned that those injuries included nearly two dozen knife wounds, it began investigating.
Fr Waclaw hosted religious shows on polish TV and radio. He taped one show three days before he was found dead.
"He was very, very popular amongst our viewers, amongst the Polish community," said said Robert Szabla, Polvision producer.
Fr Waclaw was found in his parish rectory at Our Lady of Snows parish on a bathroom floor, multiple stab wounds in his stomach and other cuts on his wrists.
"There is no question this was a slow, very violent death," said Steve Patterson, Cook County Sheriff's Department.
A spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner told the I-Team they ruled suicide based on a visual examination of the more than 20 stab wounds and that no autopsy was necessary.
The pastor had some personal concerns, the I-Team report says. He was recently accused of civil racketeering in a lawsuit filed by the husband of a parishioner in a messy divorce.
According to the suit, Fr Waclaw raised $577,000 from churchgoers to help the woman pay legal bills.
Then the priest testified against an attorney in the case at a state disciplinary hearing, describing threats by the lawyer.
Fr Waclaw said the attorney told him to steal money from the church and when he refused was offered $5,000 cash to forget about it.
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