Murder of Alfred Kunz

Who is Murder of Alfred Kunz?

Father Alfred Joseph Kunz, was a Catholic priest who was found with his throat slit in his Roman Catholic church in Dane, Wisconsin. The still-unsolved murder investigation has been described as the most expensive and time-consuming investigation in Dane County's history.

Kunz, though he continued to say the Latin Mass, also said the Mass in English and was in communion with his diocesan bishop. "Father Kunz was a well-known expert in canon law, so he knew how to walk the lines," Bill Brophy, a spokesman for the Madison, Wisconsin Catholic Diocese said shortly after his murder. Kunz was pastor at the church for 32 years before his death.

Prior to his death, Kunz had his own radio show and had been a close associate of Malachi Martin, an author and exorcist. After Kunz was murdered, Martin alleged that the priest had been killed by "Luciferians" and said Kunz had performed several exorcisms before his death. Martin said Kunz felt his life was in danger in the weeks before his murder. Kunz's friend, Abbot Ryan St. Anne Scott felt Kunz's murder was related to Kunz's investigation of sexual abuse scandals in the diocese.

The Dane County Sheriff's Department also investigated a calf mutilation 15 miles from Kunz's church the day before his murder that a farmer attributed to a cult. Kunz had allegedly been investigating reports of homosexuality and sexual abuse by priests within the diocese of Springfield, Illinois. There were also allegations that Kunz had been involved with female parishioners.