Sex offender indicted in murder, kidnap

After a Barnstable County grand jury indicted Paul Nolin, 39, Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said he was weighing perjury charges against at least one witness in the case.

The relationships of two priests with Nolin have been central to the investigation, and the two testified yesterday at the closed-door proceeding.

"The grand jury returned two indictments, one for murder and one for kidnapping," O'Keefe said of the indictments of Nolin. "The only outstanding issue is to review the transcripts of the appearance of witnesses before the grand jury and whether or not anyone perjured themselves."

Lawyers for the two priests -- the Rev. Bernard R. Kelly, former pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole, and the Rev. Donald A. Turlick, a licensed psychologist who counseled Nolin in prison -- said they had testified truthfully.

Nolin, 39, pleaded not guilty last month to charges of killing Jonathan Wessner, 20, of Falmouth, who was last seen leaving a party with Nolin Sept. 20. His arrest sparked a series of events that shook the communities of Falmouth and Woods Hole and swept the two priests into the case.

"We're obviously pleased and happy" with the indictment, said Philip A. Tracy, attorney for Wessner's mother, Julie Donahue of Falmouth.

Nolin's lawyer, Robert W. Nolan, said yesterday that he was not surprised by the indictment. Nolan said his first step will be to press the court to compel prosecutors to share information about their case, which Nolan said they are withholding.

Kelly, who met Nolin through Turlick, gave Nolin work as a church handyman and allegedly held a birthday party for Nolin at Kelly's horse farm in Cummaquid. Kelly was suspended last month as pastor of St. Joseph's as authorities sought to question him about what Nolin told him after Wessner was killed.

Kelly initially asserted that the conversations were confidential because he was Nolin's pastor. But Kelly admitted to investigators that he had a sexual relationship with Nolin, according to a law enforcement source.

Turlick, 68, made his first appearance before the grand jury yesterday. His lawyer, Joseph McParland, said he "absolutely" denies having an inappropriate relationship with Nolin.

According to two people who were interviewed by investigators, prosecutors are probing whether Turlick had a sexual relationship with Nolin during the time he counseled him at the Massachusetts Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in Bridgewater, and when Turlick later testified on Nolin's behalf at a 1995 hearing that paved the way for Nolin's release. Turlick later rented Nolin an apartment in his Mashpee house and helped him find jobs, including one at Kelly's church.

Wessner disappeared Sept. 20, after leaving a party at Nolin's house. Nolin has said through his lawyer that the two went to the bell tower of St. Joseph Church to watch the sun rise and then left in separate cars. Wessner's bloodstained jeep was found Sept. 24 in a supermarket parking lot in Brockton. Shawn Schirmer, 28, said he told the grand jury that he picked Nolin up at the same parking lot the day Wessner disappeared. He said Nolin called him and said he was stranded and did not mention a murder.

Nolin was arraigned on murder charges on Oct. 2. Wessner's body was found two days later, partly buried on a rocky shoreline less than a mile from the church. An autopsy found he had been stabbed and beaten to death.

Residents were angry to learn that Nolin, released in 2000 after serving 18 years for raping a 10-year-old boy in Lowell, was not registered with Falmouth police as a sex offender because of a backlog in the state classification system.

"It's [been] a roller-coaster ride," Tracy said. "First there was the disappearance, then the car found. Then we found out about the involvement of the priest and the Bridgewater fiasco. It's been hard."

On Tuesday, Bishop Gregory Coleman of the Fall River Diocese filed a lawsuit against Kelly, seeking to recover $150,000 he contends Kelly took from parish funds "for his own personal use or for purposes unrelated to the parish." A judge placed a $100,000 lien against Kelly's real estate, including the Cummaquid farm, which is assessed at $1 million.

Through his lawyer, Francis O'Boy, Kelly has admitted taking $50,000 from the parish and has said he "humbly asks forgiveness."

The diocesan lawsuit hinted at the possibility that Kelly or others could be sued over Wessner's death. Coleman "believes that another party or parties have claims against the defendant" that will "adversely affect the diocese's ability to collect the missing funds," court papers state.

Anne Barnard can be reached at abarnard@globe.com.