Occult ritual involved in nun's murder says expert

Toledo -- A priest schooled in the occult testified that the 1980 slaying of a nun was filled with dark symbolism and signs that a ritual transpired.

And only "a nun, a priest or possibly a seminarian" would have the full knowledge of what all the signs meant.

A priest is on trial in the slaying -- the Rev. Gerald Robinson.

He is accused of stabbing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl 31 times -- in cluding nine times in the form of an in verted cross.

The Rev. Jeffrey Grob was the prose cution's first witness Monday morning and the 23rd since the trial began last week. He has studied and written about exorcism, the occult and religious rituals.

Prosecutors have claimed that some sort of ritual occurred when the nun was slain 26 years ago, and reports of satanic cults have circulated through northwest Ohio, both in relationship to the case and independently of it.

On the witness stand, Grob said, "Some sort of ritual activity has taken place."

He listed numerous symbols and Roman Catholic rites that appeared to be deliberately perverted during the nun's slaying.

"These are not random acts," he said.

More in the Cleveland Plain Dealer here.