Alfred Kunz (Catholic priest)

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Father Alfred Kunz, (April 15, 1931 - March 4, 1998), was a Catholic priest who was found with his throat slit open in his Roman Catholic church in Dane, Wisconsin. His murder has never been solved.^[1]

Kunz, though he continued to say the Latin Mass, also said the Mass in English and was in communion with his diocesan bishop, unlike many traditionalist Catholics movement. "Father Kunz was a well-known expert in canon law, so he knew how to walk the lines," Bill Brophy, a spokesman for the Madison, Wisconsin Catholic Diocese said shortly after his murder.^[1]

[edit] Motives for murder

Prior to his death, Kunz had his own radio show and had been a close associate of Malachi Martin, an author and exorcist. After Kunz was murdered, Martin alleged that the priest had been killed by "Luciferians" and said Kunz had performed several exorcisms before his death. Martin said Kunz felt his life was in danger in the weeks before his murder. Kunz's friend, Abbot Ryan St. Anne Scott felt Kunz's murder was related to Kunz's investigation of sexual abuse scandals in the diocese.^[2] The Dane County Sheriff's Department also investigated a calf mutilation 15 miles from Kunz's church the day before his murder that a farmer attributed to a cult. Kunz had allegedly been investigating reports of homosexuality and sexual abuse by priests within the diocese of Springfield, Illinois. There were also allegations that Kunz had been involved with female parishioners.^[1]

"The motives are all over the place, anything from jealousy, power and control to betrayal and fear of exposure," Dane County Sheriff's Lieutenant Kevin Hughes said in 2001. "So take your pick at this point. We just don't know yet."^[1]

[edit] 2008 CORRECTIONS

There is no reason to believe that Father Kunz was anything less than completely true to his vocation as a Catholic priest. The door is now open to investigators who specialize in unsolved murders to turn their attention to the solving of this most despicable crime.

Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney stated in March 2008 that his department no longer uses the term "intimate" in regard to the murder investigation of Father Kunz, which dispels any hint of impropriety. Mahoney is also willing to cooperate with "cold case" investigators, even though his department does not consider the Kunz investigation "cold." see: http://inatoday.com/newhopefrk.htm ^[3]