A Case Study of Sexual Abuse and Murder
The Murders
Dan O’Connell was born in 1962 and attended St. Patrick’s Elementary School in Hudson. He became an EMT. In 1988 he married Jennie McKnight and became the father of Kyle and Kaitlin. He became the director of the O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson and active in the community: Rotary, YMCA, Boy Scouts, and Knights of Columbus. After the September 11 attacks in New York his family held a spaghetti dinner and raised $25,000 for the New York fire, police, and ambulance services. He had an intern, twenty-two-year-old James Ellison, a student from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, who started working with him in 2001.
On the night before the murder, Erickson and O’Connell had a “big argument,” according to Erickson.76Erickson told Michael M. Swanby this several months after the murder after Erickson had been drinking. Hudson Police Department, Supplemental Report Form, Case J-02 0477, January 29, 2004. Swanby passed a polygraph test and also testified to this under oath at the John Doe hearing.
On the morning of February 5, 2002, Dan O’Connell had a meeting about insurance in the town of Baldwin and left around 9:45 a.m., explaining that “I’ve got a guy I have to meet in Hudson.”77Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, March 22, 2002. Mary Pagel, the school bus driver whose route included St. Patrick’s school, ran into Dan O’Connell at the Wal-Mart and had coffee with him. He asked her if she had ever seen Erickson touch a child in an inappropriate way. She responded that she hadn’t seen any such behavior. O’Connell then asked her if she had seen Erickson mostly with boys or girls. She responded that Erickson seemed to ignore the girls and concentrate on the boys. O’Connell told her that he had a meeting around noon to talk to Erickson. Pagel, who was trained in spotting sexual abuse, advised him to go to the police, but O’Connell said “that he could take care of himself.”78 “Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 6, 2005. JD, pp 23-27. At about 11:15 a.m. Pagel saw Erickson leave the rectory, and he was wearing civilian clothes, instead of a cassock or black suit. He drove away in his four-door, light silver Buick Regal. Pagel mentioned the planned meeting to Erickson and O’Connell to the dispatcher, but assumed O’Connell’s death made the whole matter moot. She did not mention the meeting to the police until after Erickson’s death,79Kevin Harter, “Tip Turned Focus of Probe to Priest,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 16. 2005. at which time she took and passed a polygraph test about her testimony.
Betty Caruso lived across the street from St. Patrick’s rectory. She and her family were friendly with Erickson, and Smith was very concerned about Erickson’s relationship with her children. Erickson often took naps at the Caruso house to escape phone calls and in fact slept in the house several nights a week. Betty Caruso later said that Erickson around 11:15 a. m. of the day of the murders had asked her if he could use her house for a nap that afternoon. She said she came home around 1:30 p.m. and found him asleep on the sofa. But Erickson never said anything to anyone about being at the Caruso house on the day of the murder.80Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 31, 2005.
Between 1:08 and 1:22 p.m., February 5, 2002, Erickson entered the funeral home. O’Connell was at his desk. Erickson shot him at point blank range once in the head with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, killing him instantly. Erickson left the office; Ellison came into the room, saw O’Connell’s body and walked toward it. Erickson returned and fired again but missed. Erickson then shot Ellison through the skull at point blank range. Ellison died instantly and collapsed over the chair, with a bullet casing underneath him. Head shots are effective but difficult, because the head is both a small and a moving target. It takes a practiced shooter who is familiar with his weapon to kill so efficiently.
Police had a report from Thomas Evenson that he saw a white male, wearing a light t-shirt (highly unusual wear for a February in Wisconsin), blue pants, and a baseball cap, in front of the funeral home at about 1:15 p.m. This man got into a white sedan.81Hudson Police Department, Case A-01 0477, Voluntary Statement of Thomas Wayne Evenson, February 6, 2002. Evenson later said the person he saw could have been Ryan Erickson.82John Doe, p. 69, ll. 8-23.
At 1:40 p.m. Marty Shanklin, the St. Croix County Medical Examiner, came by to sign a death certificate and discovered the bodies. He immediately left the building, fearing the murderer might still be there. He called the police, who came and searched the building, finding no one. They finished the search at 2:27 p.m. and only then began to notify people of the murder.
The secretary at St. Patrick’s got a call at 2:00 p.m. to send a priest to the funeral home. She couldn’t locate Erickson,83Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 10, 2004. so Rev. James Dabruzzi was sent to the murder scene.84Eleven women accused Dabruzzi of sexual harassment; the diocese suspended him from the priesthood in 2005 (Kevin Harter, “Bishop Will Meet with Reeling Hudson Parish,” <em>St. Paul Pioneer Press,</em> January 11, 2006; Jon Echternacht, “Diocese Removes Hudson Priest for Alleged Inappropriate Behavior,” RiversTown.net, June 10, 2005).A reporter who had heard the sirens and who had raced to the funeral home spotted a baby-faced priest in a cassock there around 2:30 p.m. The priest did not stay long85Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 6, 2005.; neither Dabruzzi86Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 4, 2005. nor the police remember seeing him there. About 2:30 p.m. Erickson paid an unexpected visit to the Carmelite Monastery a few blocks from the funeral home in Hudson; he had said Mass for them but had never previously visited them. He told the nuns that Dan and his assistant had been murdered. (He may somehow have heard something at the funeral home, but the police did not release this information publicly until later in the day.87“Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” <em>Hudson Star-Observer</em>, October 6, 2005.) He also told the nuns that he tried to enter the funeral home to anoint the bodies, but that he had been turned away.88Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 6, 2005. Nor did he anoint the bodies later before they were embalmed.89 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, February 14, 2005.
At 3:00 p.m. Erickson was in his parish office. He gave no indication to his secretary that he knew anything about the murders.90Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 10, 2004; “Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 6, 2005. He claimed that he went to visit the O’Connell family this time.91**** But he did not go until later that night (see below). Several parishioners reported that Erickson’s behavior at the 6:00 p.m. Mass that day was bizarre; he was agitated and started speaking of “cutting off the breasts of Agatha.”92Kevin Harter, “Priest’s Peers Expressed Concern,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 11, 2006; Hudson Police Department, Supplemental Report Form, Case J-02 0477, March 23, 2005.
On the day of the murder a friend of the O’Connell’s called St. Patrick’s to ask that a priest visit Jennie O’Connell, the widow. Erickson showed up that night,93Heron Marquez Estrada and Randy First, “Horrors Are Still Emerging Three Years After the Slayings,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 5, 2005. said a short prayer, and left immediately. He “showed no emotion and was not in the least bit sympathetic” according to the family friend.94**** He was the only priest ever to visit the widow after the murder. Erickson went to the O’Connell wake; the only one who noticed anything amiss was the police dog, who, when Erickson approached him “became very agitated.”95**** On Saturday, February 9, 2002, Erickson concelebrated the funeral mass for Dan O’Connell at St. Patrick’s Church.96****
In the May after the murders Erickson got rid of his late model car, the silver Buick Regal, in excellent shape, and bought a black Lincoln Continental, very like the 2000 black Grand Marquis in which he had ridden with Dan O’Connell when they went to funerals together. He mentioned that if he were “stopped by the police they would think that it was Tom O’Connell.”97**** He also took up smoking cigars. Sometime after the murders Erickson told Michael Swanby that Erickson had had an argument with O’Connell just before the murders, but now (alluding to O’Connell) “the devil or demon was gone.”98**** In the months after the murders parishioners who came to church found him “howling and weeping about the sin of abortion.”99**** The former school principal, Patricia Brandner, said that she often saw Erickson crying at the altar in the months after the murder.100**** The police were baffled. They suspected drug dealers, because someone claimed that formaldehyde is used to spike marijuana (it isn’t). But nothing was missing from the funeral home. They questioned a small group that is opposed to embalming.101**** But that lead went nowhere. A reward of $100,000 did not produce any information. The police interviewed 1,800 people, including Ryan Erickson.
On September 16, 2003, Erickson was transferred to Our Lady of Sorrows in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, as assistant pastor. The pastor there, Rev. John Anderson, complained to Bishop Fliss about Erickson’s drinking and asked that Erickson be transferred.102**** After he had heard that Erickson had spent the weekend partying on Beer Can Island, a teenage hangout, Anderson reprimanded Erickson for such behavior, and Erickson replied that he wasn’t a priest that weekend.103**** (Erickson when he was in the seminary had promised to stop drinking and he had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous.104****) Anderson noticed that Erickson frequently preached on suicide and how grievous a sin it was.
At Ladysmith Erickson continued his great weep. A parishioner remembered him: Fr. Ryan cried sometimes during Mass. That’s true. Sometimes he did. He is a passionate preacher and quite frankly, the first Mass that I attended with Fr. Ryan preaching, I cried also – during the consecration. I’ve never experienced such love and reverence for the Eucharist before. He also cried during my only confession with him. I only wish to have had the opportunity to experience the sacrament of reconciliation with him one more time.
Nemesis
In January 2004 Jeffrey Knopps started working on the case and on April 9, 2004, interviewed Smith, the North Dakota student who had complained that Erickson had given him alcohol. The boy started hinting at sexual involvement with Erickson.105**** On April 24, 2004, the case was featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
On August 10, 2004, Erickson was transferred to St. Mary of the Seven Dolors in Hurley in far northern Wisconsin. There he insisted on the signs of outward reverence: around town, and not just in church, he wore a cassock (under which he wore a gun106****) and a cape with gold frogs. He said Mass partly in Latin (to the disgust of the liberal nuns); he asked people to fold hands when they prayed and not to chew gum in Church and to go to Confession often. This young, intense, charismatic priest intrigued parishioners, and attendance increased 50% after he arrived at the parish.107**** He stressed the importance of confession: “It is important to go to confession. A priest should be the No. 1 person to go to confession himself…We are men and struggle with temptations like everyone else.”108****
Erickson was known for his humor, which not everyone liked. In the seminary he was counseled about using “prudence in the use of his humor and jokes.”109**** Some seminary faculty noticed that “his humor sometimes hides aggression or hostility – when his ‘joking around’ becomes mockery and thinly veiled sarcasm.”110**** Many remembered his sermons as funny, and he could be sociable and entertaining at dinners. Erickson was a practical joker. In Hurley the church staff found out that Erickson was afraid of snakes. The planted a rubber snake in his office which gave him a start. “In retaliation, Erickson placed plastic dog poop on the floor, laid false mousetraps and hid in the closet so he could scare the church secretary when she went to hang up her coat.”111****
He also adopted a rescue dog and gave it the name of Beast; he beat the dog mercilessly, according to the deacon and to the youth minister at St. Mary’s Hurley.112**** When the dog chewed up a TV remote, Erickson said “I’ll invest in a 13-cent slug and put it between his eyes.” Erickson smoked cigars; the dog’s ears were scarred with burns.113****
On November 11, 2004, detectives Jeffrey Knopps and Shawn Pettee traveled from Hudson to Hurley to interview Erickson about the sexual assaults that Smith had told them about. They told Erickson they wanted to talk to him because he had been a priest in Hudson at the time of the murders. Eriksson suggested that the O’Connell family was involved in the mafia and the two men were killed by the mafia.114**** The detectives asked how the two men were killed. Erickson replied I think James was going through a door and out a door? And Dan was behind his desk. I think that’s what I, that’s what I, I mean, if I had to say what took place, I would say James was at the door and, and Dan was at the desk.115**** The detective asked how many times they were shot. Erickson replied “I thought one time,”116**** Erickson knew that O’Connell’s body was found behind his desk and that Ellison had been shot after coming through the door, and that each had been shot once, a scenario that would explain peculiarities of the crime scene. Erickson claimed to know this from the news, but that information had never been publicly disclosed.117**** Police keep such information under tight wraps both to use to test false confessions and to determine who knows things only the perpetrator would know. At this moment the detectives had to keep from exchanging glances, because they both knew the significance of what they had just heard.118****
Erikson chatted about hunting, and said he had mostly single shot shotguns, explaining “I like the single shot because…my grandfather used to say, if you can’t hit it with one, you shouldn’t be out there shooting.”119**** He also had two 9 mm. guns.120**** The detectives noticed the globe with bottles of liquor and glasses inside,121**** objects that had played a role in the drinking games that preceded the sexual abuse of Smith.
After this interview Erickson told Faye Lindgren, the deacon’s wife, that he was “not going to jail.” His father and brother were prison guards and “he had heard stories about being in prison” and Erickson insisted that “I won’t let it happen.”122**** He told Deacon Russell Lundgren about how the detectives questioned him about the murder. As they spoke Erickson became angrier and angrier. Erickson said, “I done it and I’m gonna get caught. Do you know what they do with young guys in prison, especially priests?”123**** Lundgren told church staff about this remark but did not tell police until after the suicide.124****
Erickson and the detectives agreed to meet at Sheriff’s Office in Ladysmith on December 7, 2004. The detectives confronted Erikson about discrepancies in his remarks about the murders. In the course of this investigation never once has anybody from the Hudson Police Department ever mentioned where the bodies were, positions, etcetera. Nor in the course of this investigation through nineteen hundred some people has anybody ever brought up a speculation, a probability, a possibility or anything like that as far as where the bodies were. Nor has anybody told us how many times they were shot or where they were shot. If that hasn’t been brought up in nineteen hundred and some interviews and of the course of five people in our department that knew exactly that and not even he knows where that was, why do you know that?1**** All Erikson could say was “I don’t know why I know that.”126****
The detectives also confronted him with the accusation of sexual abuse. Erickson denied ever having touched anyone sexually127**** (contrary to his statements to his seminary), but he admitted that he had given alcohol to juveniles and had drunk with them,128**** and that he had lain down next to a teenage boy he was counseling about sex and told the boy it was all right to be sexually aroused.129**** Erickson told the detectives that he was afraid that if the bishop heard of this, he would be removed from the priesthood: “you don’t understand the predicament I’m in. The only thing I’ve loved above all thing [sic] else, that’s being a priest. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted. And, uh, one accusation, whether it’s proven or unproven, doesn’t matter, they should automatically remove you. You’re a disgrace.”130****
The detectives kept asking Erickson how the murderer would feel, if confession in fact took all the guilt away. Erickson replied that “the guilt always remains with you” and maybe “that is God’s way of saying don’t do it again.” Erickson explained that “you could be forgiven of your sins, but that doesn’t erase the consequences of those sins.”131**** The only sins that Erickson would admit to were giving minors alcohol and being a bully in school. He said he had considered suicide when he was younger but denied thinking about it now. The detectives asked him if he would kill someone he was angry at if he could get away with it. Erickson replied: I believe if I did something that heinous I would tell you because I didn’t think I could live with myself. I honestly don’t believe I could, I mean I would, you know I’ve thought about suicide before. You know if I did something that heinous, I tell you what, I think I’d be thinking about it now and I’d be ready to and…132****
but Erickson immediately denied he was thinking about suicide. The detectives were worried about him and offered to take him to a ward, but he said he didn’t need help. The detectives searched Erickson’s car and found a 9 mm handgun and clip in the trunk; he had driven to the meeting with it under the front seat. After this interview Erickson’s housekeeper for the first time found a handgun and loaded clip in Erickson’s dresser drawer.133**** Erickson at first agreed to a polygraph test on December 14, but on December 13 he refused to take the test on the advice of his attorney.134**** He began calling his friends in Hudson “asking for an alibi for Tuesday, February 5, 2002, between 1300-1500.”135****
On December 16, 2004, local police, including Hurley police chief Daniel Erspamer, who sang in the choir at Erickson’s church, confiscated Erickson’s computer on which they found Erickson’s last will and testament.136**** In it Erickson spoke of himself in the past tense. “I tried to make a difference.” They were concerned that Erickson might be suicidal. They, with Erickson’s consent, confiscated his guns, and gave them to Deacon Russell Lundgren. Erickson assured the police chief that he would not harm himself, and that he would see the police chief on Christmas Eve in the church choir. Rev. Philip Heslin, moderator of the curia of the Superior diocese, spoke with Erickson. Erickson was in “good spirits,” but was nervous about being questioned, and denied any part in the murders.137****
After the murders, Kathleen O’Connell, Dan’s sister, heard about the Vidocq Society, a voluntary association of law enforcement experts who assist police in solving crimes. The crimes are usually murders, and the Society takes on a case at the request of the family. The Vidocq society identified Erickson as a strong suspect.138****
The Hudson Star-Observer published comments from Detective Shawn Pettee that the case was close to being solved. Richard Walter, a forensic psychologist, a founder of the Vidocq Society, and a consultant for the television show “Medical Detective,” had reviewed the information the detectives had obtained and given them new insights. He warned the O’Connell family that the murderer would be someone they knew.139**** In mid-December 2004 Walter told the local paper that, “If I were the perpetrator here, I don’t think I would buy any green bananas.”140**** When Erickson saw bananas in his rectory kitchen, he became “paranoid,” according to the rectory housekeeper.141****
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Footnotes _____________________
76 Erickson told Michael M. Swanby this several months after the murder after Erickson had been drinking. Hudson Police Department, Supplemental Report Form, Case J-02 0477, January 29, 2004. Swanby passed a polygraph test and also testified to this under oath at the John Doe hearing. 77 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, March 22, 2002. 78 “Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 6, 2005. JD, pp. 23-27. 79 Kevin Harter, “Tip Turned Focus of Probe to Priest,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 16. 2005. 80 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 31, 2005. 81 Hudson Police Department, Case A-01 0477, Voluntary Statement of Thomas Wayne Evenson, February 6, 2002. 82 John Doe, p. 69, ll. 8-23. 83 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 10, 2004. 84 Eleven women accused Dabruzzi of sexual harassment; the diocese suspended him from the priesthood in 2005 (Kevin Harter, “Bishop Will Meet with Reeling Hudson Parish,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 11, 2006; Jon Echternacht, “Diocese Removes Hudson Priest for Alleged Inappropriate Behavior,” RiversTown.net, June 10, 2005). 85 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 6, 2005. 86 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 4, 2005. 87 “Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 6, 2005. 88 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, January 6, 2005. 89 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, February 14, 2005. 90 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 10, 2004; “Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 6, 2005. 91 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 3, l. 14. 92 Kevin Harter, “Priest’s Peers Expressed Concern,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 11, 2006; Hudson Police Department, Supplemental Report Form, Case J-02 0477, March 23, 2005. 93 Heron Marquez Estrada and Randy First, “Horrors Are Still Emerging Three Years After the Slayings,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 5, 2005. 94 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, March 10, 2005. 95 John Doe, p. 30, ll. 20-21. 96 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 10, 2004. 97 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, May 4, 2005. 98 Randy Furst, “Priest Likely Was Killer, Judge Finds,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 4, 2005. 99 Bruce Rubenstein, “The Sins of the Father,” City Pages, October 5, 2005. 100 Kevin Harter, “Priest’s Peers Expressed Concern,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 11, 2006. 101 Robert Imrie, “Leader of Small Group Denies Having Role in Killings,” Indiana Gazette, February 15. 2002. 102 Steve Scot and Kevin Harter, “Sex Charges Go Back Years,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 5, 2005. 103 Kevin Harter, “Priest Role Gave Erickson Cover,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 16, 2005. 104 Memo from Rev. Phillip J. Rask, October 20, 1997. 105 Randy Furst, “Inside the Hudson Murder Case,” Star Tribune, October 9, 2005; Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Homicide Assessment. 106 Bruce Rubenstein, “The Sins of the Father,” City Pages, October 5, 2005. 107 Margaret Levra, “Parish Holds Memorial for Erickson,” Daily Globe, January 18, 2005. 108 Margaret Levra, “Evidence in Murder Case Points to Priest,” Ironwood Daily Globe, March 31, 2005. 109 Rev. Phillip J. Rask, Third Year Review for Ryan Erickson, April 27, 1999. 110 Ryan Erickson, Third Year Review, Summary of Faculty Comments, April 12, 1999. 111 Kevin Harter and Alex Friedrich, “A Reputation in Limbo,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 30, 2005. 112 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, December 20, 2004. Anne Marie Batiste, the youth minister said that Erickson could be “friendly, mean, and compassionate,” but she saw him “beat the shit” out of Beast (Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Homicide Assessment). 113 Kevin Harter, “Priest Role Gave Erickson Cover,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 16, 2005. 114 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 24, l. 24. “Records: Priest Accused of Murder Suggested Mafia Was Involved,” Ironwood Daily Globe, October 6, 2005. 115 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 26, ll. 10-12. 116 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 26, l. 31. 117 Randy Furst, “Priest Likely Was Killer, Judge Finds,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 4, 2005. 118 “Veteran Investigators Say Patience and Perseverance Paid Off in O’Connell Case,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 20, 2005. 119 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 29, ll. 2-3. 120 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 29, l.18. 121 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of November 11, 2004, p. 57, ll.12-38. 122 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, December 20, 2004. 123 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Homicide Assessment; “Case Closed; Erickson Blamed,” Hudson Star-Observer, October 6, 2005. 124 Hurley Police Department, Statement of Russell J. Lundgren, January 11, 2005; Randy Furst, “Inside the Hudson Murder Case,” Star Tribune, October 9, 2005. 125 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p. 34, ll. 12-19. 126 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p. 34, l. 21. Betty Caruso, a close friend of Erickson and who worked in City Hall above the police department, claimed she had told Erickson this fact, and that she had heard it from Sgt. Jensen (Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 1, 2005) but that probably Sgt. Jensen would not remember this conversation (Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 6, 2005). But Jensen denied ever having had a conversation with her about the crime scene (Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, September 6, 2005). 127 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p.42, ll. 34-40; p. 55, l. 36 to p. 56, l. 4. 128 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p.44, l. 20 to p. 45 l.4. Erickson claimed the boy was 18; the boy was not 18 and was still in high school. Kevin Harter, “Priest; ‘If I Did It…I’d Tell You,’” St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 26, 2005. 129 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p. 47, l. 29 to p.48, l. 26. 130 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p. 105, ll. 36-39. 131 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p.83, ll. 15-23. 132 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Interview of December 7, 2004, p. 111, ll. 30-34. 133 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Homicide Assessment. 134 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Supplemental Report Form, December 9, 2004. 135 Hudson Police Department, Supplemental Report Form, Case A - 04, December 23, 2004. 136 Randy Furst, “Inside the Hudson Murder Case,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 9, 2005. 137 Brian Bonner, “Dead Priest Had Been Questioned in Hudson Slaying,” Duluth News-Tribune, December 21, 2004. 138 Donna Halvorsen, “Freeland Super-Sleuths Helped in Hudson Probe,” Star-Tribune, December 19, 2005. 139 “Dad Shocked by Erickson News, Possible Connection with murderer,” Hudson Star-Observer, December 231, 2004. 140 “Former Hudson Priest Found Dead; Had Been Questioned in O’Connell Homicide probe,” Hudson Star-Observer, December 19, 2004. 141 Hudson Police Department, Case J-02 0477, Homicide Assessment.
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