I'd have to put Father Sabadish at the top of the suspect list. He outright lied about seeing parishioners and he was apparently trying to establish the time he was in the shoe store by asking the clerk for the time even though he was wearing a watch.
That's not to say he did it, not enough evidence for that.
Can we determine how the church door locks today? Can someone who lives nearby go look at it? If it's a key lock, it was likely locked by a priest or the housekeeper. If it's a bolt, could have been anyone. Of course it could have been changed over the years.
Was the body found with a head covering on, or nearby? A scarf? Anything? It doesn't seem she'd have stopped if she didn't have a covering with her.
Sabadish is one of the top two suspects, that's for sure. Unfortunately, in their attempt to carry out a proper investigation, LE was met with resistance from the archdiocese and the community. In 1977, fifteen years later, the
Bucks County Courier Times ran a series of articles about the murder. After one installment, the public response was so strong, the editor printed an apology.
In the course of the Courier Times investigation of this case, it was reported that a member of the clergy formerly of this area was considered a suspect for a time. In detailing how this lead was pursued by the investigators, the Courier Times crossed the bounds of good taste. The Courier Times apologizes for poor judgment on its part.
Bucks County Courier Times, Wednesday, February 9, 1977, front page
I can imagine how difficult it must have been for the LEO's working the case in 1967. Not that it stopped them from trying, but I do wonder to what extent, if any, it impeded the progress of the investigation. On the other hand, the crime captured tremendous attention, and they pulled out all the stops to find the killer. In one interview with Chief Faragalli, the lead investigator, he talked about the numerous suspects that were interviewed, locally and out of state. But nothing panned out.
The other top suspect, who I put at number one, is William Shrader. He also lied about his whereabouts.
Schrader was 24 at the time of the murder, and had been spotted outside the church about 4:30 p.m. Oct. 22, 1962 — the day of the murder. Before the murder, he had previously done prison time for firing a gun and attempted murder in Wilkes-Barre, according to a police report I obtained. Schrader was living in the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue in Bristol near St. Mark Church, and was employed at the Century Tool Co. in Croydon.
An eyewitness went to police in January 1963 to say he had seen Schrader at the church on the day of the murder. Schrader was called in for questioning. He told the investigators that he did not kill Carol Dougherty. He was at work the day of the murder. He said he hadn’t punched out until about 4:30 p.m.
When investigators checked his time card, they discovered this wasn’t true. Schrader had checked out at 1:58 p.m. Oct. 19, 1962, and didn’t return to work until Oct. 24. Confronted with the time card evidence, Schrader changed his story. He said he had been installing a motor in his car at Gross’s Junk Yard on Oct. 22, and finished the job on Oct. 23.
http://m.phillyburbs.com/blogs/news...cle_08667882-4fcf-5197-9306-be0506fe9b72.html
Both he and Sabadish, however, passed polygraph exams, and the evidence didn't match up to either of them.
Regarding your questions about the door, in the picture Scarlett posted, you can see the doors now have brass handles which lock with a key. At the time, the doors locked with an old-fashion iron latch. This snip is from a Courier Times article that I read on Ancestry, so you'll have to take it for what it's worth because I don't have a link.
[The killer] lowered the heavy metal latch that locks the front doors before he climbed the steps of the 100-year-old church and accosted the child on the landing.
Bucks County Courier Times, Monday, February 7, 1977, p. A3
There's no mention of a chapel veil or beanie (de rigeur for Catholic school girls back in the day). Only a red barrette found on the stairs. But her mother is quoted as saying it wasn't unual for Carol Ann to stop into church during the week to pray in the choir loft. So I think she must have kept a veil or beanie folded up in her bookbag. I was born a few years after Carol Ann, and I can tell you that I
never would've walked into church bare-headed. That just was not done in the '60's. It would be like stepping into the shower with your clothes on. I remember as a kid, when we'd attend mass during the school day, if a girl forgot her beanie, and no one had an extra to loan to her, the nuns would use a bobby pin to clip a Kleenex in her hair. In fact, the same article I cited above says that when the friends saw Carol Ann's bike, they stood outside the church for a few minutes. "They would have gone inside but they had nothing to wear on their heads." Right there, that tells us Carol Ann must have had something to cover her head, yet I've never seen it mentioned.
