Two souls to pray for
The sad case of Sophia Szymanowski & Father John Dembinski
Dan Brabender is a judge in Erie, Pennsylvania. He’s also the author of several books, including two volumes of true criminal trial stories. His second volume includes “Reverend Defendant,” telling the sad tale of the death of 22-year-old Sophia Szymanowski, a housekeeper in the rectory of St. Casimir Church in Erie. The neighborhood and the rectory had been the target of numerous burglaries, a scenario that set the stage for the unfortunate drama that unfolded in the deep darkness of the early hours of January 30, 1923.
The case gets more complex as details emerge in “Reverend Defendant.” The author leaves no stone unturned, going well beyond the courtroom—he recounts the history of Polish immigration to the city, the evolution of ethnic parishes, the lives of all those involved before and after Sophia’s death, including Dembinski’s childhood near Punxsutawney, his education at St. Bonaventure College, his zealous interest in the priesthood, and his popularity with parishioners. We learn that Sophia was engaged to marry Father Dembinski’s brother, Benjamin. We are given a detailed account of events of the disastrous evening, that Sophia and Mary Wojewoda were visiting friends earlier and upon returning to the rectory after midnight noticed a door ajar and other indications that something was amiss. We read of the detective’s investigation, surprising findings, the grand jury inquiry, the trial that followed, the eventual exoneration of Father Dembinski, and the priest’s own sad death nine years later, at age 47, the result of an accident in an auto driven by his brother, Vincent.
When I read Dan’s sixteen-page account of this extraordinary case, I was naturally first saddened, and then a thought pierced me: Here are two souls to pray for— “because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead.”1 It’s what we do.
Having read both volumes I echo an endorsement that appears on the back cover of Erie’s Sensational Murder Trials, Volume 2: “The way Dan Brabender expresses the facts with vivid detail is just unbelievable. He’s one hell of a true crime story writer.” (Leonard G. Ambrose II, defense attorney)
You don’t have to be from Erie to appreciate these fascinating cases that are more than a simple excursion into the realm of crime and courtroom drama, they are studies in humanity. And you’ll find more souls to pray for.
Lumen gentium 50; cf. 2 Macc 12:45.
Studies in humanity—yes!!