Decade after attack on nuns, memories linger in Waterville Annual Mass held for 2 slain at convent

WATERVILLE – A January downpour a decade ago washed away the snow in this central Maine city, but time has yet to erase the memories of the brutal attack that Saturday night at a Roman Catholic convent that shocked the nation.

On Jan. 27, 1996, a man who regularly attended services at the chapel of Servants of the Blessed Sacrament burst through the doors and savagely attacked the elderly nuns, killing two of them and injuring two others – one so seriously that she lay for a time in a coma.

The attacker, Mark Bechard, was sent to the state psychiatric hospital in Augusta, where he remains to this day.

Mainers joined the nuns and their families in grieving, and those involved now try to focus on what’s been gained as a result of the horrid events.

“Life went on,” Sister Kathryn Kelm, substitute superior at the convent, said as the 10-year milestone approached.

But it’s not forgotten. Police Chief John Morris keeps a scrapbook on the event that drew attention from across the nation. And he wonders when nightmares and flashbacks will come back to haunt officers called to the scene.

“While it’s in our past now, it’s still very much on our minds. The sights we saw will never be forgotten,” said Morris.

A review in the months after the attacks found glaring weaknesses in the local crisis response system. That was critical, because Bechard, then 37 and suffering from schizo-affective disorder, had been off his medication for several days.

His parents knew the day of the attacks that Bechard was in distress, but were unable to reach mental health officials.

Under delusions that he was going to be “de-baptized,” Bechard, a talented musician who dreamed of becoming a Catholic priest, went on a rampage, stabbing, stomping and beating his victims.

Since then, the state has worked to fill cracks in the mental health system that many believe let Bechard down.

“We have established more peer support and enhanced crisis services. We have worked with communities, like the nuns in Waterville, to enhance our victim support and notification efforts and improve care in our state hospital,” said Brenda Harvey, acting commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services.

In Waterville, crisis intervention workers dubbed the “midnight team” travel nightly with Waterville police, Morris said. He said that “without a doubt” counselors defused other potential flashpoints and saved lives in the city of 15,000.

The case also brought about changes in the way Maine courts look at cases involving mentally ill people, said Michaela Murphy, who was Bechard’s attorney during his trial.

The state Forensic Service is now more willing to see a perpetrator in light of a mental disorder he or she may be suffering, she said.

“It would have been inconceivable before this case for the state to come in and say this is a mentally ill man, not a sociopath,” said Murphy. “I still believe the sisters made that possible because of what they testified about [Bechard’s] dramatic change in behavior and their compassion for him.”

That compassion was demonstrated a year after the nightmarish scene, when the nuns joined with Bechard’s parents to pray for healing.

Also present in the chapel were family and friends of the slain nuns, Mother Superior Edna Mary Cardozo, 68, and Sister Marie Julien Fortin, 67.

After the service, the nuns hugged the Bechards, who appeared to be moved by the experience.

The events forged a closer relationship between the police and the nuns, who have bolstered security at their chapel and convent. The state hospital notifies them when Bechard, with security escorts, is allowed to leave the site.

But the nuns were not frightened into closing their services, said Kelm.

In fact, their ministry has grown over the years as people who initially sought to express their sympathies have joined the nuns in adoring the Blessed Sacrament in their chapel, said Kelm. Several others have volunteered their time working in the convent doing things like answering the phone and door.

The sisters have marked each anniversary with a special Mass in which prayers are offered for those who lost their lives, and this year’s will be no different, Kelm said. As in past years, Bechard’s parents, Julian and Diane Bechard, are expected to attend.

Sister Patricia Ann Keane, who survived after being beaten with her cane and a religious statue, has since died.

Sister Mary Anna DiGiacomo, the other nun who was attacked, lives at the convent but has no recollection of the event, said Kelm.

While the nuns can’t overlook what happened 10 years ago and have a heightened sense of security, they harbor no ill feelings against Bechard, said Kelm, adding that “he’s certainly deserving of our prayers.”

“Our stance is still forgiveness. We stand by that,” she said.