By John Seewer
The Associated Press

TOLEDO - A Roman Catholic priest charged in the 1980 strangling and stabbing of a nun whose body was found covered by an altar cloth in a hospital chapel always was a suspect in the killing.

Police never could gather enough evidence, though, until they reopened the case about five months ago. Friday, police arrested the Rev. Gerald Robinson, who performed the funeral for the 71-year-old nun.

Police Chief Mike Navarre would say only that "new technology" led them back to Robinson, 66, who was charged with murder. Navarre would not talk about evidence or a motive.

Robinson and Sister Margaret Ann Pahl worked together at Toledo's Mercy Hospital, where he was the hospital's chaplain.

Pahl was strangled before she was stabbed about 30 times April 5, 1980. Her body was found surrounded by lit candles with her arms folded across her chest in the chapel where she was the caretaker.

It was described by some investigators as a "ritualistic" killing.

"It is about the most outrageous thing I can think of," said Ray Vetter, a retired deputy police chief who investigated the killing. "It was even more galling that we didn't make an arrest. It must of aged me 10 years."

Police never suspected robbery as a motive because they found Pahl's purse and several gold crucifixes near her body.

No fingerprints or footprints were found. Investigators determined the killer used a small knife.

There was some evidence, but not enough to get a conviction against anyone, Vetter said.

Robinson, whose office was steps from the chapel, remained a primary suspect because he was near the chapel at the time of the killing, Vetter said.

"He was a suspect, but he wasn't the only suspect," Vetter said.

Jan Schaeffer, who worked in the hospital's emergency department, said she suspected Robinson because he was one of the few people near the chapel, which was tucked away in the hospital.

"It was somebody who would have had to know what sister's habits were," she said. "It had to be somebody who knew the territory and knew the routine. That leaves you with very few people."

She said he was quiet and aloof.

Robinson stayed at the hospital until 1981 when he was appointed pastor at three parishes in Toledo. He moved to a church in suburban Toledo in 1989 and five years later became chaplain at Flower Hospital and Lake Park Nursing Home in Sylvania, a Toledo suburb.

He is no longer assigned to a position within the diocese and has been performing pastoral care at nursing homes and hospitals in the Toledo area, said Sally Oberski, a diocese spokeswoman.

He was being held in the Lucas County jail. It was unclear if he had legal representation or when he would be arraigned.