The Murder of a Priest on This Day in History

 

This day in history: Benjamin J. Carrier, a Roman Catholic priest was found dead of asphyxiation in a Yuma Arizona motel on this day in 1982. His murder coincided with the murders of two other priests in the American West at the same time. On August 5, 1982, Reynaldo Rivera, a priest at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was murdered in an unknown location, and his body found three days later. A year and a half later, John Kerrigan, of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ronan, Montana, disappeared after leaving a bakery in downtown Ronan. Several days later, bloodied articles of clothing were found along Montana Highway 35, as well as a blood-stained coat hanger. Kerrigan's vehicle was discovered in Polson seven days later. His wallet, which contained $1,200, was left in the trunk of the car, along with a bloody shovel and pillowcase. Kerrigan's remains have never been recovered.

This is about the same time as the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981. The church sex-scandals also erupted in the 1980's, and some have wondered if the killings may have been revenge murders related to sexual abuse. For instance, two priest were murdered in Buffalo in 1987 and those priest were tied to sexual abuse allegations.

Interestingly, these past few years have also seen a rash of priest killings worldwide. In August, Olivier Maire was murdered in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, a commune in the French province of Vendée. In 2016 in northern France, Jacques Hamel, was murdered in a terrorist attack while saying Mass. 

"Other priests were killed around the world in 2020 and 2021. According to the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, 20 Catholic missionaries were killed in 2020, including eight priests, three religious women, one male religious, two seminarians, and six lay people. The services Agenzia Fides reported that many missionaries were killed in 'attempted holdups and robberies.'" Source

The killers of Ben Carrier were never arrested and the crime remains unsolved to this day. 

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