When the Dane County Sheriff’s Department declined to release the case file regarding the investigation into the murder of Father Alfred Kunz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Gina Barton found other ways to fill in the gaps.

Barton conducted dozens of interviews, studied police department reports that had been released to the Journal Sentinel in 1998, and reviewed television news segments about the investigation. She referenced court and archival records detailing events at the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mediatrix of Peace shrine in Necedah and portions of Malachi Martin’s book on exorcism, “Hostage to the Devil.”  She attended the 20th anniversary Requiem Mass for Kunz, listened to seven and a half hours of the “Our Catholic Family” and “Our Apostolic Church” radio programs, and used statements he made on the shows to help describe his feelings, beliefs, experiences and teachings.

Through a series of narrative articles, podcasts, videos and interactive timelines, Barton and the Journal Sentinel examine the crime and reasons it has gone unsolved for two decades.

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