New Britain herald., 1923-10-08
PRIEST IS SLAIN
 BY KNEEuNG WOMAN
Chicago WenhIppsrs in Catholic
 Church Thrown Into Panic


 stelsuk. dresk Catholic priest Ns shot and killed by Mrs. Emily ,. sIs. tynsky. Of Ramey, Pa, as she Aness bsfors him, ostensibly to make een- fss.ion. at the g o'clock mass at ha Miehasl's Greek Catholic church hets yesterday.
 Mrs. strutynsky declared to inc DO. lice that the Rev. stetsuk haa seeussu her husband. himself a Greek cathel'e priest, at Ramey. of misappropflahhs ehur.h funds while he was minister te a Chicago congregation
 She declared the alleged eharsss were false and said she came 10 chi. esro from Ramsy, nine days ago TOT inc express purpose of staying me uriest 10 ayenge what she believed inc wrong 10 her husband, She went to church last Sunday. she said, hn, the opportunity 10 kill the priest ulu not present itself. and she decided 70 wait until yesterday.
 800 worshippers in Church
 About 800 worshippers sat m the news of the church as Mrs. strhtyh- sy. heavily yelled. walked down the middle aisle, to the altar. and then to the confessional box. at the right' There. out of sight of the eongresa- sion. she knelt AS though to oher cons feksion, but instead drew pistol rom ahe folds of her dress and ired hVe shots at the priest, standing petofe her. Two of the bullets passed through his head. o.
 Exclaiming: "oh. God help me the Rev. Mir. stetsuk staggered to the main aisle and the steps of the church. where he collapsed. He died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
 Members of the congregation were thrown into a panic, but two women seized Mrs. Strutynsky as she emerged from behind the altar. the pistol still held in her hand. Squads of police who were summoned were forced tc fight their way to the altar. where several members of the congregation were threatening the life of the wom- an slayer. At the police station where she was taken. the woman without hesitation told her story.
 Mrs. Strutynsky. A years ol age and the mother of two children, said that her husband over year ago obtained more than s1Oo,o0o by sub scription to build a Greek Catholic church here. The Rev. Err Stetsuk, she said, posed as friend of her nus band, but advised his congregation not to attend the new church and she declared, circulated reports that her husband had appropriation part ot the subscription money to his own use.
 Accuses Victim of Theft.
 These reports, she said, were false She charged that the Rev MT, Stet- suk himself, had appropriated some of the money. The Rev. MT. Stetsuk, 36 years old, according to the story told police by members of the con gregation. was formerly secretary to Bishop Soter Ortynski. Greek Catholic bishop of Philadelphia, who died in 1916. Mrs. Sturtynsky charged that the Rev. Mir. Stetsnk had also ac- cused the bishop of misappropriating church funds. After Bishop Ortyn- sky's death, the Rev. MT. Stetsuk went to Youngstown, O., where he had charge and then came to Chicago, where he succeeded the Rev. MT. Strutynsky as priest at St. Nicholas church and also held mass at St. Michaels church, where he was slain.
 When he took over the pastorate, the police said, he declared that his predecessor had left debt of $780, 900. Mrs. Strutynsky denied this. She said that after her husband had been forced to abandon his pulpit and move to Ramey, members of the congregation had written that her husbands successor had gotten the church deeply into debt. Her hus- band, she said, did not know she was coming to Chicago, She told him she was going to Rochester, N. r., to visit a brother but first went to Pittsburgh and sent her daughter, Mrs. Mary Gambal to Ramey to be with the Rev. what she had done.
 Her son, Nicholas, she said. had been a teacher in ufltrainia before coming to America. Seventeen years ago, she said, her brother, then IF years old, killed Count Potocky of Poland and was tried and sentenced to be hanged but was finally re- prieved by former Emperor Franz Josef, of Austria and sentenced to 20 years Imprisonment. He escaped, came to the United States and is now attending Ukrainian college at Rochester. N. T., she said.
 May Be Insane
 The police and representatives of