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in: Montana, 1984, Disappearances,
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Father John Kerrigan

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Father john kerrigan

Father John Kerrigan

Real Name: John Patrick Kerrigan
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Ronan, Montana
Date: July 20, 1984

Bio[]

Occupation: Priest
Date of Birth: January 20, 1926
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 185 - 200 lbs.
Marital Status: Single
Characteristics: White male with gray-blond hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red shorts, and tennis shoes.

Case[]

Details: Fifty-eight-year-old Father John Kerrigan was a Catholic priest at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ronan, Montana. He was born in Butte, Montana, and was ordained in 1954. When they are ordained, Catholic priests vow to become servants of God and servants of their community. Their door is always open to those in need, but their faith can place them in jeopardy. A priest’s willingness to help – no matter who, when, or where – can even threaten his own life.
Father Kerrigan has disappeared, and Father Reynaldo Rivera of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been murdered. Authorities fear these two cases, 1,000 miles and two years apart, may be connected. It is even possible that there is a serial killer at large who is exclusively murdering Catholic priests.
Father Kerrigan was new to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ronan. He had only been there two days when he vanished. For the previous two years, he had served at a parish in Plains, Montana.
On the night of Friday, July 20, 1984, Father Kerrigan went for a walk around Ronan. At 11pm, he stopped at Deneault's Bakery, across the street from the church, to chat with his new parishioners. He told them he was planning to attend a funeral and a wedding in Plains the next day. After a few minutes, he left, saying he was going to return to the rectory and go to bed.
The next day, Saturday, July 21, Father Kerrigan did not show up for his first mass at the church. That morning, at a turnout along Highway 35 next to the eastern shore of Flathead Lake, about five miles north of Ronan, a local fruit peddler was setting up her fruit stand when she discovered a pile of folded, bloody clothes. The items included a shirt, shoes, and a windbreaker jacket. She immediately called the police.
After Father Kerrigan was reported missing that Monday, the clothes were identified as his. The blood matched his blood type. Hairs found on the clothes matched his hair. A $100 bill was in the shirt pocket. The shirt had no marks from a bullet, knife, or other weapon. Interestingly, the clothes found were not the ones he was wearing when he visited the bakery.
The police conducted a search of the area around the fruit stand and on the hill behind it. A bloody coat hanger was found close to the clothing. Detective Sergeant Bruce Phillips of the Lake County Sheriff's Office concluded that the hanger was used either to strangle, gag, or tie up Father Kerrigan. The police were unable to determine what exactly it was used for, but they are certain it is connected to the case. Sgt. Phillips says it was not just lying there; it had been deformed and used for some purpose.
A week later, on Sunday, July 29, Father Kerrigan's car, a white-and-brown 1976 Chevrolet Impala, was found abandoned in a pasture alongside Skyline Drive in Polson, Montana, five miles south of the area where his clothes had been discovered. It had been wiped clean of fingerprints. Sgt. Phillips says they know that the car sat there for about a week before it was discovered.
A thorough search of the area was conducted. The car keys were found lying in the tall grass about thirty yards away. Blood was found on the front passenger seat, door panel, and floorboard. Several personal effects were found inside as well. In the trunk, they found a shovel and a pillow with blood on them. Blood was also splattered inside the trunk. Because there was rust on the shovel blade, police do not believe it was used to bury Father Kerrigan's body.
The police were surprised to find $1,200 in Father Kerrigan’s wallet, which was also in the trunk in a box labeled "wallets". According to Sgt. Phillips, the money was not hidden in the wallet. None of it was disturbed, so the police do not believe robbery was a motive. They have theorized that he may have been called to administer last rites since his sacramental holy oils were missing.
Investigators soon learned that another priest had been murdered just two years before Father Kerrigan. On the evening of Thursday, August 5, 1982, a call for help came into the rectory of St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Father Patrick Gerard answered. The caller identified himself as "Michael Carmello". He said that his grandfather was having a heart attack, and he needed a priest to come immediately to administer the last rites. Father Gerard told the caller that he could not leave the rectory because he was legally blind. He said that all of the other priests were taking confessions.
Father Gerard asked the caller to try again in fifteen minutes. Exactly fifteen minutes later, at 8:30pm, the telephone rang again. This time, Father Reynaldo Rivera took the call. The caller repeated his story. He said he was at the La Bajada rest stop on Interstate 25, twenty miles south of Santa Fe, and asked Father Rivera to meet him there. The caller said he would then drive Father Rivera to his grandfather’s house near Waldo, New Mexico.
Father Rivera agreed to the plan and asked the caller how he would recognize him. The caller said he was driving a blue pickup truck. He then asked Father Rivera what he was driving; Father Rivera said he would be in a 1974 cream-colored Chevrolet Malibu. He then told the caller that he could get there in twenty minutes. At 8:45pm, after the call was completed, Father Rivera left in his car.
When Father Rivera did not return to the rectory that night, he was reported missing. Authorities began a search for him in the Waldo area. Hundreds of citizens from Santa Fe volunteered to help in the search. They searched on foot, horseback, in four-wheelers, and from the air. They combed the hills and the desert. Lieutenant Gilbert Ulibarri of the Santa Fe Police Department says that almost everyone in Santa Fe knew Father Rivera. He had an impact on many of their lives.
On Saturday, August 7, two days after the search began, Father Rivera's body was found on a deserted dirt road off Interstate 25 south of Santa Fe, about a mile east of the Waldo exit and three miles from the rest stop. He had been shot in the abdomen. His hands had been bound. A mark on his neck indicated he may have been restrained with a wire. Other evidence suggested that he had been tied up and restrained for a period of time.
After Father Rivera's body was found, the mayor of Santa Fe declared a day of mourning. At the funeral, the entire city grieved, devastated by his brutal murder. Corinne Martinez, secretary for St. Francis Cathedral, says that from Saturday until his burial, Santa Fe was awe-stricken. No matter what religion everyone was, they were all just “one” at that time. During the procession from the cathedral to the cemetery, the streets were full, and the sidewalks were lined with people who came to pay their respects.
Father Antonio Valdez of St. Francis of Assisi says that Father Rivera went out on this call as an act of charity and love. He thinks that because Father Rivera showed this love for people, the people of Santa Fe responded. When Father Rivera died, they felt sadness in their hearts because they loved him. His sister, Elizabeth Abeyta, says that everybody loved him. She is sure he is happy where he is now. But she and the rest of their family still miss him.
On the night of the murder, the man calling himself Michael Carmello told Father Rivera that he would be waiting for him at the La Bajada rest stop in a blue pickup truck. Investigators discovered that the phone at the rest stop was out of service that night, so the call had to have been made somewhere else. Lt. Ulibarri has developed a theory of what happened that night. He believes the killer or killers were probably at the rest stop, waiting for Father Rivera. When he arrived there, they singled him out and convinced him to get into their vehicle.
Lt. Ulibarri does not believe that one person could have "handled" Father Rivera because he would have given them a hard time. He believes that at least two people were involved in subduing Father Rivera because he was very strong. He also believes they controlled Father Rivera with a gun.
Lt. Ulibarri believes the killers took Father Rivera to a remote desert area, where they forced him out of their vehicle and killed him. They then drove to the dirt road near Waldo and dumped his body. Lt. Ulibarri says the killers could have hidden Father Rivera anywhere in the Waldo area. He notes that there are several areas where you can hide a body and it will never be found. He believes the killers wanted Father Rivera to be found.
After the crime, the killers returned to the rest stop to remove Father Rivera's car. It was found Saturday, August 7, at a rest area along Interstate 40, just east of Grants, New Mexico, about 110 miles from Santa Fe. The doors were locked, and the gas tank was empty. The keys were missing. There was little physical evidence found inside. No bloodstains were found. There was nothing to indicate that someone had even driven the car. It had been "wiped clean"
The Santa Fe police had few clues, and after a nationwide check, they found no suspects named "Michael Carmello". Regarding motive, Lt. Ulibarri believes that Father Rivera was not the target. He believes a Catholic priest was the target, for whatever reason. Robbery was not a motive because there was nothing taken from Father Rivera other than his last rites kit (which included a prayer book, a vial of holy oil, a communion wafer, a candle, and a crucifix). Lt. Ulibarri wonders if the kit was taken as a souvenir. He says the killer may have taken it so that he could "relive" the experience; every time he looks at it, he remembers killing a priest.
When Lt. Ulibarri learned of Father Kerrigan's disappearance, he flew to Ronan to investigate the similarities between the two cases. He says that in both cases, the killer wanted people to know that he killed a priest by leaving evidence behind. He believes that whoever killed Father Rivera was also involved in Father Kerrigan's disappearance.
There are other similarities between the two cases. Both victims were about the same age and drove brown Chevrolets. Both were last seen at night and disappeared in late July or early August. Both cars had been wiped down and were driven away from the crime scene. Both of their sacramental holy oils, used for last rites, are missing.
Father Rivera's body and Father Kerrigan's clothes were found in remote areas near roads outside of town. A deformed metal coat hanger was found near Father Kerrigan’s clothes, and there is evidence a coat hanger was used in Father Rivera's murder. In both cases, robbery was not a motive. Perhaps most significantly, both priests belonged to the select order of Franciscans. It was also discovered that Father Kerrigan had been at a monastery in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, for three months in the spring of 1983 for "further education".
One major difference was that Father Kerrigan had just recently arrived in Ronan, while Father Rivera had been at St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe for over fifteen years. The other major difference was that Father Kerrigan’s body was never found. Although Lt. Ulibarri believes the cases are connected, other investigators disagree.
Lt. Ulibarri hopes that other law enforcement agencies with similar cases of murdered Catholic priests will contact him. He believes there is a possibility that there is a serial killer targeting Catholic priests.
Suspects: On the same day Father Kerrigan vanished, four men escaped from the Swan River Youth Camp, about fifty miles northeast of Ronan. They were reportedly seen in Ronan later that day. Two of them were captured the next day in Superior, Montana, after abducting and raping a young woman at knifepoint in Evaro, Montana. The other two were captured a week later after committing several burglaries in Billings, Montana. All four men were questioned about Father Kerrigan's disappearance. However, they denied any involvement in the case and were later ruled out.
Two days after Father Kerrigan vanished, eighteen-year-old Reed Nevins killed a forty-one-year-old woman in her Polson home. Investigators discovered Nevins was in Ronan on the night of Father Kerrigan’s disappearance. He was questioned, but no evidence was found to link him to this case.
A few days after Father Kerrigan vanished, a drifter was picked up in Utah on a misdemeanor charge. The man had newspaper clippings about the case in his wallet and asked the police if Father Kerrigan’s body had been found yet. He was later released from custody without being questioned about the case.
In July 1985, investigators stated that they had a possible suspect in Father Kerrigan's case. The suspect was reportedly a former male lover of Father Kerrigan's and was under surveillance in another state. Sources in contact with the suspect gave police information about his possible involvement. However, the suspect was never publicly identified or charged.
Robbery is not believed to be a motive in this case. Some investigators believe it might have been a crime of passion. They noted that Father Kerrigan might have been gay, which could have led to someone possibly targeting him.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the November 23, 1988 episode.
  • It was later referenced on an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn.
  • Interestingly, Father Kerrigan was friends with another priest, Reverend James Otis Anderson, who vanished from Townsend, Montana, on June 13, 1982. He was last seen driving east on Highway 12 towards White Sulphur Springs. The two had worked together in White Sulphur Springs at the same time. However, the police found no connection between the two cases.
  • On July 22, 1984, two days after Father Kerrigan disappeared, a thirty-one-year-old schoolteacher named Curtis Holmen disappeared from Missoula, Montana. Twelve days later, his truck was found on an old logging road, about forty miles from where Father Kerrigan's car was discovered. Curtis was reportedly bisexual, leading some, including his brother, to speculate that the two cases were related. However, there is no evidence connecting the cases.
  • Many witnesses, including church officials, were reluctant to speak with police about this case.
  • Some sources state: Father Kerrigan disappeared on August 8; he had been in Ronan for four days; his clothing was found a week after his disappearance or that Monday; and his wallet was found with his clothes and contained $200.

Results: Unsolved - In April 2015, following a $20 million lawsuit, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena published a list of eighty clergy members and staff (mostly priests and nuns) who had been suspected or implicated in the sexual abuse of children; Father Kerrigan was included on the list. In fact, the monastery that he attended in Jemez Springs, the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete, was used as a retreat for clergy suffering from "personal difficulties", such as substance abuse, depression, and sexual misconduct. The reason for his being there has not been disclosed.
It was noted that Father Kerrigan often moved between different churches in Montana, not staying in one area for too long. Ronan was his thirteenth assignment. The Catholic Church often moved around priests accused of sexual abuse. It has been theorized that Father Kerrigan was killed by one of his former abuse victims or someone related to one of the victims. However, this theory has not been confirmed.
Former investigators have said that they knew about the sexual abuse allegations while investigating Father Kerrigan's disappearance. Surprisingly, they do not believe his murder was related to sexual abuse allegations. Lt. Ulibarri no longer believes that Father Kerrigan and Father Rivera's cases are connected.
Brian D'Ambrosio, author of Montana Murders: Notorious and Unsolved, stated that he believes that Father Kerrigan may have staged his disappearance, possibly with help from the Helena Diocese. This theory has not been confirmed, and he remains missing.
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