‘The Keepers’: What Happened to Father Joseph Maskell, Father Neil Magnus, and Edgar Davidson Since Netflix’s Allegations?
True crime documentaries are some of the most popular programs on TV today. While there are many shows in the genre, Netflix’s The Keepers continues to catch people’s attention. The 2017 show helped give a voice to several victims of sexual abuse.
So what happened to the perpetrators, Father Joseph Maskell, Father Neil Magnus, and Edgar Davidson, since the allegations?
‘The Keepers’ takes a deep dive into the murder of a Catholic nun
The Keepers is a true crime documentary on Netflix that explores the unsolved murder of a Catholic nun who went missing in November 1969. Sister Catherine Cesnik was a drama and English teacher at Baltimore’s all-girls Archbishop Keough High School before she went missing.
The nun’s movements are somewhat easy to trace. Cesnik planned to go shopping to get her sister an engagement gift. It is believed she stopped at a bakery; a box of pastries from a local bakery was found in her car’s front seat. She was last seen in front of her apartment complex at 8.30 pm, after which her trail ran cold.
Some neighbors claimed to have spotted her vehicle illegally parked across the street from the building about two hours after her supposed disappearance. After her disappearance, law enforcement searched for Cesnik but was unsuccessful. Two months later, hunters found the missing nun’s body in a rural area near a garbage dump.
It is widely suspected that Cesnik’s murder was part of a larger cover-up. Netflix‘s The Keepers posits that the school’s priests murdered the Catholic nun because she was preparing to blow the lid off on the rampant sexual abuse in the school.
Who were the main culprits in Sister Cesnik’s disappearance and murder?
Father Maskell worked as a chaplain and counselor at Archbishop Keough High School from 1967 to 1975. During his time at the high school, Maskell is believed to have sexually abused about 30 victims. One, Jean Hargadon Wehner, claimed he showed her Sister Cesnik’s body to silence her.
In 1968, Wehner confided in one of the fathers in the school about the sexual abuse she’d been subjected to during her childhood at the hands of her uncle. The abuse allegedly continued from 1968 to 1992. Instead of doing something about it, Father Magnus furthered the abuse by sexually assaulting Wehner. Then he blamed her for being promiscuous.
Billy Schmidt and his brother Ronnie Schmidt were also named as suspects. Billy’s former sister-in-law recounted Ronnie arriving home covered in blood. He claimed to have “killed a girl and buried her behind the shop.”
Davidson’s wife accused him of the murder after he came home covered in blood that night and gave her a necklace that didn’t match her birthstone. It’s believed that the necklace was Sister Cesnik’s gift to her sister.
Where are the suspects in Sister Cesnik’s murder today?
Maskell died in 2001 from a stroke but maintained his innocence. According to CNN, his body was exhumed for DNA analysis in 2017 following the Netflix documentary. However, it didn’t match the forensic profile from 1970. Still, some people speculate that Maskell might’ve masterminded and ordered the Sister’s death but didn’t participate in the murder.
Billy had a mental breakdown after the event and took his own life a few months later. Davidson is still alive today and corroborated parts of the story but insists he is innocent. Little is known about Ronnie and Magnus’ whereabouts, but the investigation is still ongoing.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
