Philip Anthony Magaldi

(1936- )
Diocesan Priest
Active in these dioceses:

Providence, Rhode Island Fort Worth, Texas

Current Status: Suspended from Priesthood

Location: Fort Worth, Texas

by Leon J. Podles

Published by the Crossland Foundation, February 19, 2008
© Copyright, Crossland Foundation, 2008

Philip Magaldi broke several commandments in serious ways: by stealing from his parish, by abusing teenage boys, and by bearing false witness in an attempted murder trial. Like other priests, he was protected from the consequences of his actions. He claimed he pled guilty to theft only to protect his bishop from insinuations. His narcissism and sense of immunity led him to fondle a boy in front of a bishop. Only after a long career of abuse was he suspended, and he is now dying of AIDS.

Theft, Perjury, and Perversion: The Career of the Rev. Philip Magaldi

Sexual abuse is rarely an isolated crime. The Rev. Philip Magaldi indulged in an unusual perversion with teenage boys, stole from his parish, and perjured himself in an attempted murder case. He now claims to be blind, demented, and unable to answer questions about his career. Reporting and books about the murder case provide a context for the private activities of Magaldi, which are detailed in his personnel file from the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas.

Early Career

Philip Magaldi studied in Rome and was ordained in 1960. After spending the first years of his career at various Rhode Island parishes, from 1968 to 1969 he was business manager for the North American College in Rome. He moved on to become assistant chancellor of the Providence (Rhode Island) Diocese. In 1976, he became pastor of St. Anthony’s in North Providence.

Colleagues describe Magaldi as “an extremely likeable priest, very popular with clergy and lay folks.”1Fort Worth Documents 0471. His parishioners agreed, saying:

Magaldi’s popularity fueled his intense narcissism and gave him access to sex, money and power .

Thomas A. Marks

In the early 1970s, Thomas A. Marks, who was perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old, was riding his bicycle in Worcester, Massachusetts, about fifty miles from Magaldi’s parish. Marks’ bike got a flat tire and Magaldi, who was driving by, stopped to offer him a ride home. They dropped off the bike at the boy’s home and went to a hotel, where Magaldi asked the boy to give him an enema. Magaldi boasted about being priest and showed Marks his clerical clothes. He then gave the boy an enema, telling Marks he was cleansing him with “holy water.” Magaldi performed oral sex on the boy, and then warned Marks not to tell anyone. Magaldi said that if Marks told, “no one would ever believe him, he would never see his father and mother again, and he, the plaintiff, would burn in hell for eternity.”4Fort Worth Documents 0699. All documents numbered in this fashion were released by the Diocese of Fort Worth and are available at BishopAccountability.org. Magaldi then gave the boy $300.

Magaldi and Marks began a sexual relationship, which Magaldi financed by stealing money from his parish. Marks’ life quickly spiraled downward: he tried to ease his emotional pain with alcohol and drugs and later became a male prostitute. Interestingly, years later Magaldi was cruising the streets and picked up the now grown Marks.5Fort Worth Documents 0446.

The von Bülow Case

Magaldi soon began a curious association with David Marriott, a Providence-area prostitute and drug dealer. The relationship offers evidence that Magaldi thought himself protected from the consequences of his burgeoning criminal lifestyle. That lifestyle led to his direct involvement in the von Bülow attempted murder case.

In 1966, Martha “Sonny” Crawford, heiress to a natural gas and oil fortune and the ex-wife of Prince Alfred von Auersperg, met and married Claus von Bülow. They settled in Newport, Rhode Island and had a daughter, Cosima.

In 1979, Sonny fell into a coma. She recovered, but at end of 1980 fell into another. The state of Rhode Island alleged that Sonny’s husband Claus twice injected her with insulin, trying to kill her. The state said Claus’ affair with actress Alexandra Isles provided both motive and opportunity for him to kill his wife, because Alexandra insisted that Claus leave Sonny. In the first trial, the jury found Claus guilty of attempted murder.

Desperate, von Bülow hired defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who years later defended O. J. Simpson. Von Bülow told Dershowitz that a few days after the guilty conviction, David Marriott called him and arranged a meeting. Marriott told von Bülow that he delivered drugs to Alexander von Auersperg, Sonny’s son from her first marriage, at Clarendon, the von Bülows’ mansion.

Marriott alleged that a mutual friend (who was later murdered) asked him to deliver the packages to Alex. Marriott said he eventually discovered the packages contained drugs and hypodermics, and that Alexander said he shared them with his mother. Marriott’s claim offered some evidence that Sonny was an addict and might accidentally have put herself into a coma.

Dershowitz believed Marriott’s story for two reasons:

Magaldi’s Perjury

Dershowitz was at first skeptical of using the testimony of Marriott, a known drug dealer and male prostitute, to help von Bülow’s case. But he asked around about Magaldi and got the highest of recommendations: Magaldi, it seemed, was a friend of Rhode Island Attorney General Dennis Roberts.6Alan Dershowitz, Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case (Birmingham, Alabama: The Notable Trials Library, 1986) p. 153.

Magaldi told Dershowitz that he met David Marriott several years before, when a mutual friend sent Marriott to Magaldi for counseling. Magaldi said he saw Marriott and Alexander von Auersperg together and that in 1978, Marriott told Magaldi about drug deliveries to the von Bülow house.

Magaldi and Marriott "reluctantly" agreed to provide affidavits in the case. Dershowitz soon announced that he “discovered dramatic new evidence that demonstrates the invalidity of every key aspect of the state’s case and establishes defendant’s innocence.”7Dudley Clendinen, “Questions Are Raised about New Evidence in von Bülow Case,” New York Times, October 14, 1983. Just before Dershowitz filed his request for a new trial, Marriott claimed that one of the women he had directly delivered drugs to was Sunny von Bülow.8Alan Dershowitz,Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case(Birmingham, Alabama: The Notable Trials Library, 1986) p. 134. Marriott also alleged he had been run off the road in an attempt to keep him from testifying in the case.9 Dudley Clendinen, “Questions Are Raised about New Evidence in von Bülow Case,” New York Times, October 14, 1983. Magaldi said he received a death threat.10Magaldi told police two men confronted him at night outside his rectory and told him “We don’t want to hurt you. If you and Marriott don’t keep your mouths shut, you’re both going to get wasted” (“Von Bülow Figures Alleges Threat,” Boston Globe, January 29, 1984).

In February 1984, after the new trial request was submitted, Marriott changed his story. He claimed his affidavit was not completely true; he and Magaldi did not meet in the way they claimed. Marriott announced he was withdrawing his affidavit and said he had given drugs to Sonny’s husband, Claus von Bülow.11Dudley Clendinen, “Tape Recordings an Issue in New von Bülow Trial,” New York Times , March 29, 1985.

Marriott also made audio tapes of conversations with von Bülow and Magaldi, which were eventually handed over to the state. The tapes revealed that when Marriott met Magaldi, Magaldi was leading a “sordid double life”12“Von Bülow Case Figure a Key in Priest’s Trial,”Boston Globe, September 2, 1985. under the name of Paul Marino.13Alan Dershowitz, Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case (Birmingham, Alabama: The Notable Trials Library, 1986) p. 210.

The tapes also proved that the two men met not through friends, as their affidavits claimed, but in the Boston bus station.14“Von Bülow Case Figure a Key in Priest’s Trial,” Boston Globe, September 2, 1985.

During jury deliberations at the second von Bülow trial, Philip Magaldi was indicted on one count of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.15Tracy Breton, “N. Providence Priest Reported Indicted for von Bülow Statement,” Providence Journal-Bulletin, June 9, 1985. Von Bülow was acquitted on the grounds that a key piece of evidence was improperly handled and therefore inadmissible. Marriott quickly dropped out of view.

When news of Magaldi’s indictment broke, 5,000 parishioners petitioned Rhode Island Attorney General Arlene Violet (a former nun) to have mercy on this “sincere, honest, trustworthy and reliable” priest. They warned Violet that they “could never vote for you again” if she pursued the case. A delegation sporting “I Love Magaldi” buttons presented the petition.16“5,000 Tell Violet in Petition that Father Magaldi is ‘Sincere,’” Providence Journal, June 29, 1985.

Magaldi pleaded innocent to the charges against him. Unfortunately for the state, the audio tape was found to have been tampered with, and therefore considered inadmissible.17Tracy Breton, “State Drops All Charges against Father Magaldi,” Providence Journal-Bulletin, June 19, 1987. Dominick Dunne listened to the tapes and heard discuss “getting the late Raymond Patriarcha, the Mafia chieftain of Providence, to get a drug dealer serving time in jail to say Alexander von Auersberg had been one of his customers,” and also “von Bülow’s alleged offer to help the priest be elevated to a bishop” (Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments [New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002] p. 92). Magaldi had boasted of his Mafia connections; his connections in Rome and work as Chancellor put him in line for consideration as a bishop.In June 1987, the state dropped the charge of perjury against Magaldi.

Though a definitive explanation for Magaldi’s actions is not clear, Marriott alleged that von Bülow paid Magaldi to submit a false affidavit. This claim is probably false. Certainly, if authorities could have proven Marriott’s allegation, von Bülow’s guilt would have been established beyond doubt. But they were unable to. Still, it is possible that von Bülow made a payment to Magaldi under the guise of donating royalties from his book to a charity of Magaldi’s choice.18Dominick Dunne quoted a letter that Cindy Adams printed in the New York Post. In it von Bülow wrote to Magaldi: “I want to repeat my wish to consult with you in finding an acceptable charity for donating the royalties of my book. The total profits, including film rights, could be anything between $500,000 and $1,000,000” (Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments [New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002] p. 91). This offer could have been motivated by a desire not to profit from a family tragedy, or perhaps by something else.

The most probable explanation for Magaldi’s actions, however, is that they were rooted in his own narcissism. He saw the chance to attract attention, to be involved in a world-famous trial, and to be courted by the media. This sort of opportunity is irresistible to a narcissist, particularly one who is disconnected from reality and does not believe he will suffer the consequences of his actions.

Footnotes

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