The Priest

**The Priest** is the twentieth episode of the third season of *Matlock*, and the sixty-seventh episode overall.

## Plot

After a construction magnate (Robert Miranda) is accused of murdering a priest (Leo Penn) who sabotaged his latest project, Alex Winthrop (Daniel Roebuck) from New York, visits Matlock for help with the case, because he knows he can’t do it on his own. It doesn’t take long before Matlock realises that the church is covering something up.

## Cast

### Main

* Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock
* Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas
* Julie Sommars as A.D.A. Julie March
* and Kene Holliday as Tyler Hudson

### Guest Stars

(in alphabetical order)

* Steven Anderson as D.A. David Hawkins
* David Froman as Lt. Bob Brooks
* Bert Hinchman as Joe Bell
* Robert Miranda as Nathan Carlino
* Leo Penn as Father Fitzgerald
* Michael Pniewski as Father David Burke
* Fran Ryan as Doris Curtis
* Michael Spound as Father Richards
* Heidi Swedberg as Sister Katherine

*and*

* Daniel Roebuck as Alex Winthrop

### Co-Starring

* Nick De Mauro as Charley
* Elizabeth Hoffman as Judge Russell
* Michael C. Matthews as Street Kid #1
* T.J. McGee as Street Kid #2

## Quotes

**Nathan Carlino:** My two boys were born here at St. Ignatius Hospital. I never forgot that, or this church. Anyway... I got a lot to be grateful for. And that’s why I’m donating this brand-new wing to St. Ignatius, so I could sort of pay back everybody I owe, all at once — the city of Atlanta, the people of Atlanta, and, of course, the good Lord above.

**Father Fitzgerald:** He doesn’t want it! *(Nathan turns around to see him approaching)* The Almighty Father has no use for something that was built in the spirit of deceit.

**Father David Burke:** Father Fitzgerald...

**Father Fitzgerald:** Oh, God knows who you are, what you are and what you’re doing here, Mr. Carlino!

**Father Burke:** Father...

**Father Fitzgerald:** He doesn’t want any false acts of charity from you.

**Father Burke:** Father, don’t.

**Father Fitzgerald:** Now, everybody, please, go home. There’ll be no ceremony here.

**Nathan:** What the hell’s going on here?

**Father Fitzgerald:** You know very well.

**Father Burke:** Father...

**Father Fitzgerald:** You should be ashamed!

**Nathan:** Of *what*? Why is he doing this to me?

**Father Burke:** Go home, Father.

**Nathan:** Hey, wait a minute. He can’t just walk away. I don’t know what he’s talking about.

**Father Fitzgerald:** I’m talking about corruption, I’m talking about graft, I’m talking about the way your construction company built this wing of our hospital!

**Father Burke:** Not here, Father, please!

**Nathan:** I don’t care if you are a priest. You better be able to back it up.

**Joe Bell:** Father Fitzgerald? What happened?

**Father Fitzgerald:** I don’t know. Someone must have come in here, tore it off the wall and deliberately destroyed it.

**Joe:** Who would’ve done that? That’s a sacrilege.

**Father Fitzgerald:** Yes, it is.

**Ben Matlock:** Uh, that being the case, Your Honor, as stipulated in chambers, I would like to introduce into evidence Father Fitzgerald’s medical record from his physician. It states that Father Fitzgerald was suffering from a malignant brain tumor, which was suspected to disrupt normal intellectual reasoning and alter personality behavior. The autopsy didn’t show it because of the location of the wound.

**Ben:** *(to Father Richards)* Um... Father Richards, did you, uh... or were you surprised when Father Fitzgerald jumped up and disrupted the ribbon-cutting ceremony?

**Father Richards:** No. Not particularly.

**Ben:** You know what that means to me? That means that you knew of Father Fitzgerald’s medical condition. *(sees Father Richards’ expression)* Oh, okay. Okay, I’m sorry. Where did Father Fitzgerald go to college?

**Father Richards:** Notre Dame.

**Ben:** And he was pretty proud of that, too, wasn’t he?

**Father Richards:** Yes, he was.

**Ben:** And one of his prized possessions was his Notre Dame graduation ring, wasn’t it?

**Father Richards:** Yes.

**Ben:** *(to the jury)* Okay, I want to show you a blowup of a photograph taken at the now famous ribbon-cutting ceremony. Here. Uh, this is a blowup of a photograph of Father Richards’ hand on Father Fitzgerald’s shoulder. You see that? Oh, see that? *(turns back to Father Richards)* See, now... will you tell us, please: what is that ring on your finger? Right there.

**Father Richards:** It’s a, um... it's a Notre Dame graduation ring.

**Ben:** What are you doing with it?

**Father Richards:** Father Fitzgerald gave it to me.

**Ben:** Father Fitzgerald gave you one of his most prized possessions because he loved you and he wanted you to have it in case anything happened to him, didn’t he?

**Father Richards:** I really can't answer that question. It's a confidence.

**Ben:** Well, what about this, then? There’s another blowup of a hand. If Father Fitzgerald gave you that ring, what is it doing on his finger after he was shot to death in his office? Father, what do most Catholics consider the worst sin, the one unforgivable sin?

**Father Richards:** Suicide.

**Ben:** Suicide. The moment you heard that shot, you knew what had happened. Isn’t it true you ran down to Father Fitzgerald’s office and did two things? You put the gun in your pocket, and you put the ring back on his finger, so that no one would ever know he had given it to you, because he had been thinking about doing exactly what he did do: taking his own life. It was *suicide*, wasn’t it?

**Father Richards:** Yes.

**Ben:** Yes. And you slipped out of the room, disposed of the gun... which is why everyone thought it was murder. And you came back into the room after Mr. Bell, Sister Katherine and Father Burke had arrived.

**Father Richards:** Yes, I did.

**Ben:** And Father Fitzgerald never accused Nathan Carlino. You did that... to spare your beloved friend the stigma of suicide.

**Father Richards:** *(sadly)* He gave up his seat in Heaven because he didn’t want to inflict any more damage on the church and the people he spent his whole life serving. I couldn’t let him die in disgrace. It just wasn’t right.