The Death of William L Toomey and the Murdered Priests

13 min readJul 27, 2022

Interior of Sacred Heart Catholic Church Boise, Idaho

On December 4, 1982 at around 4 PM a well-dressed man entered Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Boise, Idaho. He headed towards the confessional but saw that it was occupied. So, he headed towards one of the pews instead.

At around 6 PM people began to funnel into the church for a funeral mass. A woman, Grace Leeburn, noticed a man slumped over on the kneelers of a pew. She notified her son and head usher, Leo, about the man. Leo then grabbed the attention of Virginia Almquist, who was a nurse. Almquist informed them that the man had no pulse and was rigid and cold.

That man is the John Doe known as William L. Toomey.

William L Toomey was a white male who is believed to be between 35–45 years old, was around six feet tall, and weighed around 175 pounds. He had sandy wavy blond hair, gray eyes with flecks of brown, was cleanshaven, and had tanned skin. He was wearing a long sleeved green shirt, blue jeans, a large belt buckle with a 100 peso coin in the center, a turquoise and silver bolo tie, cowboy boots, and a Seiko wristwatch

The belt buckle actually had the name of the artisan that created it P. White of New Mexico, however, it’s unclear if contact was ever made with them or if they were tracked down at all. This was not the only connection to this part of the United States. Toomey’s tanned appearance led to many believe that he is from the Southwest.

There was a wallet on the man that had worn spots in it, which indicates that there used to be more items in the wallet than what was found. Many people think that it used to contain Toomey’s identification.

All that was found was $1,900 and a type written note:

“In the event of my death, the enclosed currency should give more than adequate compensation for my funeral or disposal (preferred to be cremated) expenditures. What is leftover, please take this as a contribution to this church. God will see to your honesty in this.”

— Wm. L Toomey

The note is the origin for his doe name, William L. Toomey, but it also provided an interesting lead. R.J. Toomey is a well-known manufacturer of clergy apparel located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Richard J Toomey in 1936. Together with two of his brothers John A Toomey and Lawrence J Toomey, they incorporated the company in 1946. In 1973, John and Richard sold their interest to Lawrence who ran the company until his death in 1976. Since 1976 the company has been run by Lawrence’s daughters. However, there was a family fight that led to a court battle between the daughters and Richard Toomey Jr. in 1988 as he was using the Toomey name on products from his clergy clothing company. They were acquired by Christian Brands of Phoenix, Arizona in 2014.

R.J. Toomey Logo “Tailored Clergy Apparel Since 1936”

The medical examiner who conducted Toomey’s autopsy, Erwin Sonnenberg, concluded that he had committed suicide by ingesting a small amount of cyanide.

On December 6, 1982 a funeral service was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Around 200 mourners arrived to remember the unknown man, who was placed in a gray casket that was adorned with flowers. The service was officiated by Reverend Thomas Faucher. The service was not just for Toomey, the service was dedicated to all of those who died in despair during the holidays. Faucher said the following:

“He came to us to die. We don’t know who he is, but we come here in faith, to pray for him-whoever he may be, and to pray for ourselves.”

The money that was intended to be for Toomey’s service was kept by investigators, so it was obviously not donated to the church either.

Based on the alias on the note and the lack of identification in his wallet, it seemed as though this man wanted to keep his identity a mystery for whatever reason.

The Boise Police Department detective on the case, Frank Richardson is quoted as saying:

“He didn’t want his identity to be known, for whatever reason…It’s strange.”

Leads were followed to Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Many investigators believe that he could have been from California, Arizona, or New Mexico.

The Priests:

One thing that Frank Richardson noted about Toomey was that:

“The guy must have done something bad enough for him to take his own life…in effect he sentenced himself to death.”

What could Toomey have done that would have caused him to take his own life?

Well, there were a series of priests being murdered or going missing in the Southwest United States and there is a theory that Toomey may have been involved.

Father Patrick “Paddy” Ryan:

On December 21, 1981 Father Ryan was brutally murdered in room 126 of the Sand and Sage Motel in Odessa, Texas.

Father Ryan had checked into the motel under a fake name and gave a false license plate number the previous day.

The maid who came to clean room 126 discovered a horrific sight. There was dried blood on the walls and around holes in the walls. The air conditioning unit was broken and was hanging off the wall. The coffee table and bed were overturned, and the bed frame was cracked. Clothes, beer cans, and cigarette butts were strewn everywhere. The phone had also been ripped from the wall and the television was smashed.

Right inside the door was the naked body of Father Ryan face down whose arms were bound behind his back with a sock. Father Ryan had been beaten to death and there had been one hell of a fight.

A guest had checked in at 9 PM near room 126 and didn’t hear anything. So, it is estimated that Father Ryan’s death occurred between 8–9 PM.

The day before he was killed Father Ryan had picked up a 25 year old hitchhiker named James Reyos. This is something that Father Ryan did frequently, driving the road between his parish in Denver City, Texas and Hobbs, New Mexico. Reyos was lured to the motel after Father Ryan expressed interest in Reyos’ childhood on an Apache Reservation. Once Reyos arrived Father Ryan began to offer drink after drink, first of beer then vodka mixed drinks. Then Father Ryan forced himself on Reyos, that’s as far as I’ll describe it.

Reyos felt shocked, ashamed and scared. He describes his feelings in the aftermath as follows:

“I didn’t even grab my stuff…I was walking down the street thinking ‘That didn’t happen, that couldn’t happen with Father Ryan.”

Reyos was a gay man still coming to terms with his sexuality and this event was extremely traumatizing, it would’ve been traumatizing to anyone gay or straight.

Reyos ended up leaving the area and making his way to New Mexico where he acquired a receipt and a speeding ticket. He eventually heard about Father Ryan’s death and said:

“I felt a lot of guilt about that…I was still in the closet and in denial about myself…and he was a priest.”

These events sent Reyos into a tailspin, Reyos already struggled with alcoholism, but this sent him into a drinking binge. He confessed to the murder of Father Ryan at the Albuquerque, New Mexico Police Department on November 18, 1982. However, Reyos smelled strongly of alcohol and was very drunk.

The speeding ticket and receipt acquired in New Mexico the same day as Father Ryan’s murder seemed prove that Reyos was not in the area at the time, however, the confession was hard to ignore and Reyos was convicted. He was sentenced to 38 years in prison, of which he served 20, for this crime that most believe he did not commit.

Father Benjamin Carrier:

Father Benjamin Carrier or Father Ben, as he was known by many, was from Our Lady of Light Church in San Diego, California. And had a reputation for wanting to help the homeless, being featured in California newspapers as far back as 1967.

Few details are available in this case, but here’s what we do know. On November 10, 1982 the body of Father Carrier was found at the El Rancho Motel in Yuma, Arizona. He had been asphyxiated and, like Father Ryan, he was bound with socks, was found face down, and was naked.

Father Carrier had been last seen with two white men at the motel pool the day before his body was found and paid for two people to stay the night at the motel. His car was taken and recovered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If you have any information that could lead to the arrest of Father Carrier’s killer(s) please contact:

The detectives on the case at (928)-373–4784
To remain anonymous call 78-CRIME at (928)-782–7463

Father Reynaldo Rivera

Father Rivera served at Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis in Santa Fe, New Mexico. On the evening of August 5, 1982 the rectory received a call from a man who claimed to be Michael Carmello who wanted someone to give last rites to his grandfather at a rest stop near Waldo. Father Rivera agreed to do this and was told that that the man would be waiting in a blue pickup truck. Rivera left at around 8:45 pm.

When Father Rivera did not return by the next day, his absence was quickly noted and he was reported missing. His body was found on August 7 in a remote field near the Waldo exit of Interstate 20. He had been shot once in the stomach and strangled with a wire or coat hanger.

His 1974 Chevy Malibu was found abandoned 110 miles away at a rest stop near Interstate 40 Grants, New Mexico. Fingerprints, likely the offenders, were found on the vehicle. The car’s gas tank was empty when it was found and the theory was that his car was stolen and driven until it ran out of gas. His last rites kit was never found.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation produced a psychological profile of the offender as well as stating that the motive for this murder was likely revenge.

There were only ever two suspects in the case. One, a parolee, was excluded due to his fingerprints not matching those found on the car and the fact that they had an alibi. Another is Santa Fe resident who relocated to New York.

Father John Kerrigan:

Father John Kerrigan had just moved to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ronan, Montana on July 18, 1984. Only two days later, Father Kerrigan disappeared. Father Kerrigan was last seen leaving a bakery in Ronan on July 20.

His disappearance was not noticed until he failed to show up for 6:30 AM mass on July 21, but he was not reported missing until July 23.

On July 29, articles of bloody clothing were found alongside Montana Highway 35 on the shores of Flathead Lake near Polson, Montana along with a bloody coat hanger. This was around 5 miles from Ronan.

On July 30, Father Kerrigan’s car, a brown Chevy Malibu was found abandoned several miles away. In the trunk of the car police found his wallet that contained $1,200 cash. They also found a blood-stained shovel and pillow case. Father Kerrigan’s body has never been found.

If you have any information that could lead to the location of Father John Kerrigan’s remains or his killers, please contact:

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office at (406)-883–7301

Connections:

While I have to admit these crimes don’t seem to be connected, they do have some similarities. Both Father Ryan and Father Carrier were bound with socks. Father Rivera, Father Carrier, and Father Kerrigan all had their cars stolen and abandoned.

What does this have to do with William L. Toomey? Well, his “name” has been brought up in many of these cases. Some believe that he is a suspect in these priests’ deaths. This could answer the question of why Toomey ended his own life. It could also explain why he was trying to go to the confessional that fateful day.

There is a possibility that he was just involved and wasn’t the actual killer of these men. Namely in the death of Father Kerrigan, as Toomey was already dead at this time. The guilt of being associated with this many murders could have led to his suicide.

These connections are quite loose but could lead to Toomey’s identity.

Let’s also ask a greater question. How are these priests connected to each other?

I thought of the long-hidden horror of the Catholic church, childhood sexual abuse. I did some digging as there are online records of these events and there are a number of surprising revelations.

Let’s start with Thomas Faucher, who was the priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church where Toomey took his own life. Faucher was arrested in 2018 for having over 2,200 indecent images of babies and toddlers. These images were described as some of the most disturbing images that the investigators had ever seen. According to multiple sources, he died in prison in 2020.

Father John Kerrigan, whose body has never been found, was found to be sexually abusing kids in his previous posts. He was also sent to the Congregation of the Servant of the Paraclete in Jemez, New Mexico. This was used as a reformatory for priests who abused children when it was supposed to be a treatment facility for drug and alcohol addiction. Father Kerrigan never faced any justice for his crimes against children as his name was released on a list of clergy and staff that had been implicated in sexual abuse of minors by the Diocese of Helena in 2015, this also revealed that he had been assigned to 13 different parishes in 30 years.

I found a Father Patrick Ryan on multiple online lists of the priests accused of sexual abuse but there was never enough information to determine if it was the murdered Father Patrick Ryan or not. However, the fact that he sexually assaulted James Reyos and regularly picked up people on that same stretch of road, it makes it likely that these assaults were a regular routine for him.

Now there are no direct accusation towards Father Rivera or Father Carrier, but their diocese (they worked in the same one) had a total of 71 accusations during the times that they were working there. There is also the possibility that a victim of child sexual abuse by a priest could view them all as abusers or enablers.

What could all of this mean?

Could these murders, or at least some of them, be revenge for the abuse a now full-grown adult had suffered?

Back to William L Toomey, could he have been a victim of one of these priests that took revenge?

If Toomey was abused by a priest, this also could have possibly led to depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and/or taking his own life.

Did Toomey pick Sacred Heart Catholic Church because he knew about what Thomas Faucher was doing?

Was Toomey another priest who knew about the crimes the other priests had committed?

These questions will likely remain unanswered whether or not we find out Toomey’s true identity.

Conclusions:

Exterior of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Boise, Idaho

There is a chance Toomey was involved in these disappearances and/or deaths, but there is a possibility that he was just a depressed man looking to end his life in “the house of the lord”.

Whatever the case might be, I looked through missing persons reports on the National Unidentified and Missing Persons System (NamUs) and got nothing that accurately matched William L. Toomey. Sadly, this could be another case of an adult losing contact with or leaving their family with no explanation and, since they are an adult, they are technically allowed to disappear as they choose.

Fingerprints are available in this case, however, it is unknown whether DNA or dentals are available.

William L Toomey has been unidentified for almost 40 years, his tragic end, and his possible involvement in a string of murders have cemented his “name” into the minds of many true crime buffs.

If you have any information that could lead to the identity of William L Toomey, please contact the Ada County Coroner’s Office at (208)-287–5556 in reference to case number 431–82 or on their website here.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for 24/7 confidential support to anyone.

Sources:

The Death of William L Toomey and the Murdered Priests

Written by Madison Tramel