Warning: This article contains a discussion of sexual assault that some readers may find disturbing.
A 2017 true crime documentary has stood the test of time and left viewers “deeply disgusted.”
The “incredibly disturbing” Netflix documentary in question tells the grim true story of an unsolved case that rocked Baltimore in the late 1960s.
Sister Catherine “Cathy” Cesnik was popular with her students at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore.
She was last seen on the evening of November 7, 1969, after leaving the apartment she shared with her friend and fellow nun, Sister Russell Phillips, and never returning home.
The true crime documentary investigates the still unsolved murder of a nun in 1969. (Netflix)
Sister Russell then contacted Pete McKeon and Gerry Koob, two friends who were priests and lived nearby (Koob was in a romantic relationship with Cesnik), in the early hours of the morning, and asked for the police after Cesnik’s empty car was found near their apartment complex.
Then, just two months later, Cesnik’s body was found in a garbage dump in a suburb near Baltimore. A medical examination determined she had died of blunt force trauma – she was just 26 years old.
The documentary examines the events that may have led to Cesnik’s death. It is suspected that the reason for the still unsolved murder of the young nun in 1969 may be what her students told her in confidence – in particular about the cruel sexual abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of the school chaplain and guidance counselor, Father Joseph Maskell.
However, Maskell, who died in 2001, denied all allegations of murder and abuse made against him.
If you haven’t guessed, the document is The Guardians and you can watch the official trailer here:
Last year, the case came back into public attention after Maryland’s attorney general released a report on a four-year investigation detailing “widespread and persistent abuse” by clergy and others in the archdiocese, according to the New York Times.
The report refers to 156 clergy who are said to have abused more than 600 children starting in the 1940s.
Following the report’s release, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori wrote to “express his deepest apologies to the victims and their families,” adding that “no one credibly accused of child abuse is in office in the archdiocese today.”
In response to this message, one X user wrote: “As a victim of abuse, The Guardians The 2017 documentary series on Netflix gave me really positive inspiration.
“I realized that those who enable or ignore the problem are at least as problematic, if not more so, than the perpetrators themselves.”
A second warned: “If you are looking for something other than this government to make you sick and disgusted to the core, then I can recommend The Guardians.”
Netflix viewers felt sick and “deeply disgusted” after watching The Keepers. (Netflix)
“I just finished watching The Guardians on Netflix last night,” confessed a third. “I don’t often watch true crime shows because most of them have something exploitative about them that I can’t stand.
“But (CW, more in subsequent tweets) The Guardians is unbelievable.”
Another repeated: “At the moment I see The Guardians “Documentary series on Netflix that is part incredibly disturbing account of two nuns murdered to cover up a horrific sex offender at a Catholic high school – and part two extremely charming grannies solving a cold case.”
And a final X-user recommended: “If anyone wants a good true crime docuseries on Netflix, I recommend The Guardians.
“The film came out a few years ago and I watch it every year. It’s sad and intense.”
The Guardians is currently available to stream on Netflix.
If you are affected by any of the issues described in this article and would like to speak to someone confidentially, please contact The Survivors Trust Free hotline: 08088 010 818, available Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., 1.30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and Sunday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
