Murder in the Vatican

by Lucien Gregoire

  We will leave this for the mystery buffs for now. Yet, we will come back to it a bit later.

  The nuns

  Next, we have the nuns.

  Vincenza certainly had the opportunity to have committed the crime at any time during the night. She, as we know, knocked on the door at four-thirty in the morning and discovered him dead. To wake the Pope she did not have to pass by the guard.

  Could she have had a motive? One must assume most anyone could have a motive. Again, there could have been promise of rank or money. Perhaps, more likely in her case, the threat of harm or death to a loved one if she did not comply.

  Vincenza had served Luciani for twelve years. Luciani was the closest person to Vincenza in the world. It is likely if anyone had threatened her, he would have learned of it. Yet, it could be she gave him the shot in the rear. One will never know.

  How about the other nuns? They must have fallen in love with this man. He was the first pope to demand they join him in the papal dining room. Until then, they had been confined to the kitchen. What’s more, they could for the first time pray to their God in the Pope’s chapel rather than just scrub its floors for their male masters to walk on. The nuns would be at the bottom of the motive list.

  The valet

  We know from newspapers the valet was on leave in connection with a death in his family. His stepbrother had fallen from a sixth floor balcony in Arezzo just south of Florence. Unwitnessed, police could not determine whether it was accident or suicide.8

  Nevertheless, if the valet had returned that evening, he would have had to have passed by four guards. We know this did not happen as the palace guards were scrutinized by the press the next day in connection with rumors of foul play that surfaced.

  This is how we know today who was in the Papal Palace that night and who was not. For this we must give thanks to the rumors.

  Just about every reporter in Italy was trying to land the scoop of the century. At first, because poison was thought to have been the culprit, they concentrated on who had access to the dining room and the kitchen and who did not. In that the Pope died so suddenly, they turned their attention to those who had access to the Pope’s bedroom and who did not. For much of this information they scrutinized the guards who had been on duty the night the Pope died. Unfortunately, the rookie guard assigned to the post closest to the Pope seemed to disappear into thin air—reporters were unable to track him down.

  The guards themselves believed the rumors to be true and were carrying on their own investigations. After all, they had experienced a laughing, joking, vibrant man one day and a corpse the next.

  Nevertheless, the record is there in the microfilm today. One knows who was at dinner that night and who was not and when they arrived and when they left. One also knows who was sleeping in the Papal Palace and where they were sleeping the night the Pope died.

  Though opportunity is not possible in the case of the valet, one has to consider motive. Was there a motive in his case? Not much, but it was there, yet, perhaps, not enough to justify murder.

  It is not possible to replace a papal valet in the short term as he is the busiest man alive. A pope’s vast wardrobe must re-sized. Yet, in the longer term, this pope who would do away with the regency of the papacy would bring an end to his recognition in the world of fashion; it would destroy it. It would destroy all he had worked for.

  Yet, if one considers opportunity he would be at the bottom of the list, for had the valet been seen in the building it most certainly would have been reported in the press.

  In retrospect, the valet did not gain by the Pope’s death as John Paul II eventually replaced him with Opus Dei member Angelo Gugel—who contracted leading fashion houses for the papal attire.

  Lorenzi

  Finally, one must consider the secretary Lorenzi. Other than the guard he was the only man who had unlimited access to John Paul’s bedroom that night. Motive in the case of Lorenzi could have only been personal. To see this one has to step back a few years.

  At Vittorio Veneto, Vincenza9 as head of his household oversaw office duties assisted by nuns and students from the seminary. Yet, he had Jack and others, who politically astute, could intelligently discuss the ongoing war between the right and left.

  In Venice, he had a new political soundboard, Mario Senigaglia. Senigaglia was the man he used to get his most prolific message to his flock, “We have made of sex the greatest of sins, whereas it is nothing more than human nature and not a sin at all.”

  Two years before Luciani’s election, Don Diego Lorenzi came into his life. Lorenzi had no interest in politics. It remains a mystery today as to why Luciani picked him. Lorenzi was an angelic looking young man to say the least. It may be that Luciani chose him for the innocence he projected. It was partially for this reason the press tabbed him ‘the pope’s widow’ after John Paul’s death.

  Nevertheless, without political interests, Lorenzi could have murdered his patron only for personal reasons.

  As already explained, it was Lorenzi and not Magee Vincenza first fetched upon discovering the body. It was Lorenzi who sent the nun to fetch Doctor Buzzanetti who lived in a remote part of the Apostolic Palace.

  Normally one would call the doctor. There was a phone in the bedroom. It may be he did not know the doctor’s number. Yet, the guard at the top of the stairs certainly would have had the doctor’s number and could have made the call. Nevertheless, according to Vincenza and his own testimony, the nun ran to fetch the doctor. This allowed him to be alone with the body until the others arrived.

  Lorenzi would have first called Villot on the bedside intercom as upon a pope’s death the Camerlengo is the first one summoned.

  One does not know if Villot told him to notify the embalmers or if Lorenzi acted on his own. Yet, it is unlikely Villot would have given such an order without first seeing the body.

  It is possible he called the embalmers on his own to tell them to get ready, as Villot did not arrive until 5:20 and the motor pool records show a van had been dispatched at 5:23 to the nearby school of medicine to pick them up. Also, the record shows the van returned at 5:53 so they must have been dressed for pickup at about 5:35.

  That he may have alerted embalmers at an early hour on his own suggests he suspected foul play as embalming masks the evidence of poisoning. Yet, if he thought the Pope may have been poisoned, why did he years later claim the Pope had complained of chest pains the night of his death? If he thought the Pope had died of a heart attack why did he order the embalmers so early in the morning?

  It might be he had given the Pope the injection with the wrong vial he had taken from the papal refrigerator and knew embalming would destroy evidence that an autopsy otherwise would detect.

  He certainly would assume autopsy would be performed as John Paul was relatively young and in good health and it was no secret he had many enemies both inside and outside the Vatican who wanted him dead. Then again, it could have been prearranged Lorenzi was to call the embalmers on finding the corpse. One will never know.

  In retrospect, we know Lorenzi did not gain in rank from the Pope’s death as he has never been made a bishop. As he explained to Cornwell when after nine years of silence he suddenly added ‘John Paul’s pain’ to the puzzle, “I am a member of the order of the Don Orione Brothers. I have taken an oath of special allegiance to an incumbent pope, I do anything I am told.”

  The only possible motive in Lorenzi’s case would have been jealously. Maybe John Paul was considering retaining him to handle the paperwork and considering another for the top job. A pope’s first secretary is his press secretary—a job Lorenzi was not particularly qualified for. Then again, maybe he didn’t like the way the new Pope was eyeing the guard. I leave that one for the dreamers, too.

  Yet, that he was the only man other than the guard with free access to the Pope that night and considering some of the actions he took on his own at the time and since, he must remain on the list. He would have had the opportunity to com
mit the deed anytime during the night and have had time to clean up any lingering evidence when the nun went to fetch the doctor between 4:45 and 500AM.

  He would have placed the glasses on the nose, to cast suspicions away from his own involvement.

  Those in the attic

  Magee and three nuns slept in the attic.

  We have already eliminated the nuns. Yet, could Magee have eluded the guard? Could he have possibly had a motive?

  Magee had served as first secretary under Paul VI and was still serving as first secretary under John Paul. This is readily seen in that he served as spokesman for the papacy following the Pope’s death. He also continued as first secretary under John Paul II.

  For those who think Lorenzi held the post, Magee retained the first secretary’s apartment above the Pope’s bedroom. Lorenzi was headed for the second secretary’s apartment over the Pope’s study.

  Yet, it was expected he would be replaced. Something he looked forward to. Magee wanted to return to pastoral work in his native Ireland. More than anything else in the world he wanted to become a bishop. Perhaps, end up his days as Primate of Ireland.

  If Magee was involved in John Paul’s death it has escaped this author. He did not gain in ecclesiastical rank as a result of the Pope’s death. He remained in the same job for two years under John Paul II when he was transferred to pastoral work. It makes no sense it had been John Magee who had paved the way for Cardinal Wojtyla’s rise to the world’s stage. Not enough for this author to implicate him in the murder of the Pope. Yes, if Magee had been named a cardinal, like others we will talk about, one might think otherwise.

  One has to consider opportunity. Magee could have thrown something down into the Pope’s bedroom which was directly below his rooms. Yet, the attic windows are small and open at an angle of three or four inches at the most. Also, the walls are almost two feet thick which makes the sill two feet across. Not possible. Yet, he may have eluded the guard. If so, he would have had to elude him twice, as he would have to return to the attic after committing the deed.

  Although the events of 1978 don’t seem to implicate him in the murder itself; the events of 1987 do implicate him in the cover-up.

  As we have said, in 1987, John Magee was likely made a bishop as a prerequisite for his testimony in the Vatican’s cover-up book A Thief in the Night. Magee’s testimony dramatically contradicted his testimony of 1978 and is instrumental to John Cornwell’s conclusion the Pope died of a pulmonary embolism.

  Those who lived on the floor below

  It is also possible John Paul may have been murdered by one of those who lived on the floor below who may have eluded the guard.

  First, there was the secretary of state, Jean Villot.

  John Paul’s election had come as a blessing to him. Villot was a liberal particularly open to changing doctrine. As a result, during his tenure most of the Vatican cardinals had not accepted him as their leader. He had no ecclesiastical motive to have killed the new pope.

  When one considers succession as motive in a pope’s death, the secretary of state would normally be at the top of the list as in modern history the incumbent has often succeeded to the top job. However, in Villot’s case, he was a liberal and, unlike Luciani, not a popular one. He would have never garnished the vote.

  Although short of retirement age and in impeccable health, Villot wanted to live out his years teaching in the Gregorian University in Rome. Actually, he wanted to shed his robes and live in Rome.

  Although John Paul had reaffirmed his appointment as secretary of state immediately on taking office it had been part of a blanket confirmation of all the cardinals as cardinals

  It was no secret at the time Cardinal Benelli of Florence, who had played such a major role in Luciani’s win, would get the job.

  In retrospect, this is obvious as Benelli and not Villot had spent much of the thirty-three days of John Paul’s papacy involved in the audit of the Vatican bank including the IOR, activities which would soon report to him as secretary of state.

  Yet, some suspicion surrounds Villot as he was responsible for much of the misleading information including both press releases which caused the rumors of foul play to flourish. We will get to that as we go along. Yet, for now, concerning motive and opportunity, Villot would rank relatively low on the list. He had nothing to gain and much to lose. What’s more, like Magee, he would have had to have eluded the guard, not once, but twice, as he would have had to have returned to the floor below after committing the deed.

  Next is Cardinal Confalonieri. The layout of his rooms was similar to that of the Pope’s rooms directly above, except that he did not occupy the huge space beneath the Pope’s library. Instead he had a sitting room under the Pope’s bathroom. He slept thirty feet below where the Pope sat up dead in his bed that fateful morning.

  Everything John Paul stood for was Confalonieri’s enemy. Yet, considering opportunity, he like the others who lived on this floor would have had to have passed by the guard twice.

  Next is Casaroli, also, high on the motive list—a bit about his record, his aspirations, his ambitions, his hopes and his dreams.

  It was not his objective to rise to the papacy. Yes, the desire was there, but he knew that being the extreme ultraconservative he was, he would never muster the vote of any of the moderates or liberals needed to win the papacy. His lifelong ambition lay in locking up the number two spot, secretary of state. Yet, in recent years his hopes had dwindled into sheer fantasy rather than ambition.

  During the sixties, Casaroli’s influence on Paul had made many men cardinals. So much so, it was expected his name would head the list in each succeeding consistory. His influence on Paul had been so great it had driven doctrinal changes, some of which Paul would live to regret and never forgave him for. Midway through his reign, Paul started to ignore him. Casaroli knew as long as Paul lived he would never be named a cardinal, much less secretary of state.

  When Paul died, his dream once again became an ambition, to be named a cardinal and succeed to the secretary of state position, the Vice President of the Roman Catholic Church.

  Of course, in Casaroli’s case, had advancement to the secretary of state position been the motive for murder, it would have had to involve three murders, as three men considered to be in good health at the time had to die in rapid consecutive order to have allowed him to succeed to secretary of state, Paul VI, John Paul and Jean Villot.

  In retrospect, today, one knows, this is exactly what happened.

  Also, there was a nasty rumor Casaroli would be replaced as foreign minister with a moderate, someone who could better work with communists to work out solutions. If John Paul was to live another week, much less another month, Casaroli would not only be blocked from going up the ladder, he might go down the ladder.

  Like Confalonieri, he would have had reason to have hated the new Pope. But the problem was opportunity, as he lived on the floor below. He would have had to have passed by the guard, not once, but twice. He goes partway up the opportunity ladder.

  Innocent until proved guilty

  A bishop who had read Murder in the Vatican called me and told me he had been a seminarian at the Gregorian University in Rome and was living in the Vatican the night the Pope died. He told me Casaroli treated everyone beneath him as if they were dirt under his feet; he considered himself to be a prince among princes of the Church and was always dressed in elaborate attire.

  “On that morning, we peons gathered in a cafeteria. There was no reason to believe anything had been involved other than murder. John Paul had been a raging locomotive just the day before on a rapid track to rid the world of poverty and now he was dead.

  “The conversation quickly centered on Casaroli.

  “If those present had been a jury, he would have been put away for life. Yet, this was probably because we hated him so much more than that we had any evidence which would stand up in court.

  “Yet, his ambitions to be secretary of state were so
intense they fit in with murder. Yet, we were confused because the incumbent Jean Villot, like John Paul, was in enviable good health. Not one of us would have guessed he, too, would be dead in such a short time.

  “Yet, we acquitted Casaroli on the grounds that in the second conclave Benelli would certainly succeed to the papacy and that would mean curtains for Casaroli…”

  Regardless, he was surprised I considered Casaroli a suspect, as all others who had written about the Pope’s death had ignored him. To be honest, I didn’t consider him a viable candidate for the electric chair until I was more than two years into my investigation.

  Finally, we have Bishop Caprio. He would most likely move up in the Vatican bank structure if his cousin were to go up the ladder. Casaroli and Caprio were of the Gambino family, the most powerful Mafia family and the largest private contributor to the Church, the reason why they had risen to the Episcopate to begin with.

  Having spent the past decade as secretary-treasurer of the Vatican’s central bank, his ambition was to become chief financial officer of the Church—Prefect of Economic Affairs.

  Yet, if one considers Caprio as a suspect, it would have required four murders, as four men had to die in rapid consecutive order to have allowed him to succeed to his goal, Paul VI, John Paul, Jean Villot and Egidio Vagnozzi the sitting Prefect of Economic Affairs.

  In retrospect today, one knows, this is exactly what happened.

  Like the others who lived on the lower floors, both Casaroli and Caprio would have had to pass by the guard twice. Although low on the opportunity ladder they go high up on the motive list.

  Let’s rank these candidates as to how they size up:

  Motive Opportunity

  Absolute Casaroli and Caprio

  Confalonieri Guard(s)

  Lorenzi

  The four apartment nuns

  Possible Guard(s)

  The valet

  Lorenzi Magee

  Casaroli and Caprio

  Confalonieri