NASSAU- When Michelle Woodside was sentenced to hang for the infamous 1991 murder of Catholic Nun Sister Claire Hass, the death penalty was mandatory.
On October 15, 1991 Our Lady’s Rectory located between Young and Deveaux Streets was the scene of an ungodly crime. Sister Claire was found murdered in her office with her head bashed in and her throat slit.
Suspicion fell on Woodside, the church’s secretary.
Theft from the church
According to the evidence, Sister Hass went on vacation between May and September 1991. In her absence, Woodside kept the books.
Woodside had the authority to fill in amounts on pre-signed cheques and to cash cheques for small amounts at the church’s account at the Bank of Nova Scotia (the current site of Island Luck) on Wulff Road.
When Sister Claire returned from vacation, she noticed a shortfall of $6,606 from the church’s account.
Cheques for $2,300, $2,306 and $2,000 were debited from the church’s account in August 1991.
According to the evidence, Sister Hass, in Woodside’s presence, informed the church’s pastor, Reverend Father John Johnson, about the missing money.
She said the bank had informed her that she needed to report the matter to the police. Woodside had a prior conviction for stealing by reason of employment and had been given probation.
The prosecution alleged, and a jury accepted, that Woodside killed the nun to prevent her from making the police report.
Before the murder Father Johnson and the housekeeper, Mary Bowe, left the rectory, leaving Woodside and Sister Claire alone.
Bowe testified that she had asked Woodside not to lock the door because she would return soon.
Nun found murdered
But when she returned 10 to 15 minutes later, she met the door locked. Bowe knocked three times before Woodside opened the door.
As Bowe entered the rectory, she heard a sound coming from Sister’s Claire’s office. When she questioned the sound, Woodside told her that Sister Claire was crying in her office.
When Bowe went to open the door to Sister Claire’s office to investigate, Woodside talked her out of it.
Instead, the both went outside and peered through the window. They saw Sister Claire on lying on the floor while making a gurgling sound.
Bowe ran to call help. When she returned, she saw Woodside with blood on her clothing.
She told her, “Mary, May, Mary, after you left, I opened sister Claire’s office door and there was Sister Claire all bloody up. See I got blood all over me.”
An expert testified that the bloodstains on Woodside’s blouse and skirt resulted from high velocity impact, meaning she was there when the injuries were inflicted.
Confession
The prosecution theorised that Woodside struck Sister Claire in the back of the head with a cement block but was interrupted by the arrival of Bowe. She finished off Sister Claire by slitting her throat when Bowe went in search of help.
Woodside confessed to police during an interrogation on October 18.
She owned up to the murder in the presence of Father Johnson and later gave a statement, admitting to the murder.
Woodside said, “I knew I had to do something about Sister because she knew about he cheques. When Mary went outside, I hit Sister and when she fall down I cut her throat twice.”
At her trial, Woodside testified that police had extracted the confession through force.
Death penalty imposed
A jury convicted her of murder on November 18, 1992 and she received the death penalty.
Her appeal was dismissed on October 22, 1993. However, the death penalty was not carried out after the Prerogative Board of mercy reduced her death sentence to life on December 10, 1997.
Woodside was in custody for over 16 years when she appeared before the Supreme Court for re-sentencing after the Privy Council decision ruled the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional.
On September 14, 2007, a judge ordered Woodside to serve another five years’ imprisonment followed by two years of probation.
Woodside has since married and operates a small business with her husband.
