WASHINGTON — Maryland law enforcement agencies have received phone calls, information and questions from the public following the premiere of a docudrama on Netflix that focuses on the unsolved killing of a Baltimore nun and possible ties to another unsolved murder in nearby Anne Arundel County.
“The Keepers” was released Friday and has since generated nationwide interest in the killing of Sister Catherine Cesnik, who was found dead nearly 50 years ago.
Cesnik disappeared in November 1969 after leaving her Baltimore apartment. Her body was found two months later in Baltimore County. She was 26.
No one has been arrested in connection with her death.
The seven-part Netflix series explores investigative leads in the case and raises questions about what happened.
One of the leading theories is that Cesnik was targeted and killed because she knew about sexual abuse taking place at Archbishop Keough High, a Catholic school in Baltimore where Cesnik worked.
The late Rev. A. Joseph Maskell, a priest at the school, is accused of abusing students, but was never criminally charged while he was alive.
Baltimore City police said they have been contacted by people who claim they were abused at Archbishop Keough High School, but never reported it. The department responded by creating an online submission form for those who have tips and information about the case.
The documentary also explores the similarity between Cesnik’s case and the unsolved 1969 killing of Joyce Malecki, a 20-year-old woman whose body was found at the Fort George G. Meade shooting range.
Anne Arundel County police said this week that they are not involved in the Malecki investigation because the crime scene was located on an Army installation. The department said it has received so many calls related to “The Keepers” that they needed to set the record straight.
“Although located within Anne Arundel County, the Anne Arundel County Police Department does not have jurisdiction to investigate crimes that occur on this federal property,” police said in a release. “Because Ms. Malecki’s body was found on federal property, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the lead investigating agency for this case.”
