Catholic Nuns and Priests murdered and tortured children: are you listening Pope Francis? Part II: Quest for Justice. A five part weekly series on catholic church crimes.

Bob – witness to Gilbert’s murder: “I and many others are constantly reminded of what it means to be beat half to death. To this day, I have some of the worst nightmares anyone could imagine. Just the other night, I woke up screaming, and thinking that the nun that smothered Gilbert was on top of me. The Nightmares still come, and as I get older they seem to come much more often.  Many times I wake up screaming. These nightmares about Gilbert often linger after I wake up for about a couple minutes. It's like I can't shake it out of me. My landlady wanted to evict me because of the many nights of the screaming.”

“In 1997 through 2012 I was very active working on the case. I approached Bishop Howard Hubbard, head of the Albany diocese. I have written over three hundred letters, and emails. I have received over 200 threats to stop, and 18 death threats. All because I will not rest about Gilbert's Murder. The threats had to originate from the Bishop’s friendly priests. I was getting hang ups almost daily. One sounded like it came from a detective because he quoted something almost exactly as what Colonie Police said to me. He said ‘You’re just another dysfunctional SOB that has come out of St. Colmans’. One call was from a woman who told me ‘You just don't know who you’re f--king with, do you?’—and she hung up.”

“I became very close with Gilbert Bonneau’s brother, Bill Bonneau and his brothers Pat and Danny. I try to visit them when I can and go to Gilbert’s grave. The last time I got inside the door of St. Colmans, and before I could get around, they had security throw me off the property. I have been to the lie detector twice. Both times I was shown to be truthful, but none of it is good in court. Please don't think that The Fight for Justice for Gilbert has ceased. Dear God, my Friends, please continue to pray that we get into that courtroom soon.”

Bob’s testimony is perhaps the most important in the entire investigation. It was very difficult for Bob to talk about Gilbert’s murder.  It was even more difficult for him to talk about the abuse that he endured. He spoke to me because he wanted everyone to understand what the nuns and the church did to him. When I asked what happened to him at st. colmans he said:

“Rape, beatings that you only read about, and these days they put people in prison for those kinds of beatings. The nuns gave the most horrific beatings, knowing that if you told anyone YOU would be the liar, and we would get another [beating]. I am crippled to this day, and have a morphine pump implant, because of a certain Sister Cecelia who liked to jam a small club into my spine, and when I finally fell to the ground, she would kick any place I couldn't cover with my hands and arms. One nun hit me in the head with a brick which broke my nose, which still gives me trouble today. These are quotes when I asked Bishop Hubbard for help concerning the permanent scars, and disfigurement,” he said, "Nuns are not considered Clergy". Therefore there was no help, nor did he feel any responsibility for what Nuns did. That includes Murder. I am not thrilled to be bringing this stuff to the surface. I hope some good for all victims can come out of this.”

A brother’s memories

Ernie Bonneau, Gilbert’s brother (since deceased):  “When Gilbert’s story came out in 1995, bishop Hubbard met with two former residents of st. colman's home who witnessed the severe stick beatings of Gilbert. With this information Hubbard chose to do nothing and remain silent. The other death was Mark Longale who was also severely beaten by a nun named sister mary regina, leading to his death. Susanne Robertson who witnessed Mark’s beating (and wrote a book about it) also told Hubbard what she saw – but he again did nothing. Hubbard just walked away from little innocent Murdered children.

“In 1995 the so-called Police investigations of my little brother’s wrongful death at St. Colman's was nothing but a corrupt one. The Police turned over their investigations to the Albany County District Attorney in 1996 and the corrupt DA failed to do anything about my little brother’s death. On my little brother’s 1953 autopsy report it states he had swelling of the brain and 2 collapsed lungs and in my opinion this surely ties in with the pillow smothering.  At my expense, with a Court order, I had my little brother exhumed in 1995 for a second autopsy. There was evidence still left of collapsed lungs, which would indicate smothering, and not the meningitis that the doctors phonied up to protect the nuns.  All of the doctors’ certificates, such as the death certificate have been proven to be altered”..... Ernest, A Survivor

There was so much evidence but no one listened. Why?  See Part III. The Evidence, next week.