Aged 65. Murder victim of Herbert Mullin. Mullin was delusional when he went to confess his sins. He believed Father Henri Tomei wanted to be his next sacrifice needed to keep away the earthquakes in California. He beat, kicked, and stabbed Father Tomei, who bled to death in the confessional while a parishioner watched Mullin run away.
From https://stmaryslg.org/celebrating-100-years
On All Souls Day in 1972, Fr. Tomei was at the dining room table for lunch with the pastor, Fr. Richard Howley, when the doorbell rang and the man at the door asked to have a priest hear his confession. It was Fr. Howley's "duty day," but because he was still eating and Fr. Tomei had already finished his lunch, Fr. Tomei insisted that he would go to the church to hear the man's confession. After more than an hour, Fr. Tomei was found dead in his confessional, having been stabbed multiple times. News of this murder was reported in newspapers coast-to-coast and on national radio and television broadcasts. His assailant, the man who had requested the confession, was eventually found guilty of this and other murders in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and remains imprisoned today. A shrine in Fr. Tomei's memory was built to replace the confessional in St. Mary's Church for this Martyr of Santa Clara County.
Father Tomei studied at Minor and Major seminary in Marseille, France. He entered the priesthood in 1932. He sang as a soloist in the famous Boys' Choir of Marseille, which was then known as the Singers of Vitagliano. As a priest he devoted much time to singing. In France, he held several assignments, including Master of the Choir of the Cathedral of Marseille from 1956 to 1960.
During World War II, Father Tomei worked in the French Underground.
In 1960 he left France because of ill health and came to California to visit relatives. For a while he lived with the Salesian Fathers in San Francisco's North Beach and later served as assistant pastor until his death.
[from The Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer (Los Gatos, CA); 7 Nov 1972; p. 1-2]
From https://stmaryslg.org/celebrating-100-years
On All Souls Day in 1972, Fr. Tomei was at the dining room table for lunch with the pastor, Fr. Richard Howley, when the doorbell rang and the man at the door asked to have a priest hear his confession. It was Fr. Howley's "duty day," but because he was still eating and Fr. Tomei had already finished his lunch, Fr. Tomei insisted that he would go to the church to hear the man's confession. After more than an hour, Fr. Tomei was found dead in his confessional, having been stabbed multiple times. News of this murder was reported in newspapers coast-to-coast and on national radio and television broadcasts. His assailant, the man who had requested the confession, was eventually found guilty of this and other murders in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and remains imprisoned today. A shrine in Fr. Tomei's memory was built to replace the confessional in St. Mary's Church for this Martyr of Santa Clara County.
Father Tomei studied at Minor and Major seminary in Marseille, France. He entered the priesthood in 1932. He sang as a soloist in the famous Boys' Choir of Marseille, which was then known as the Singers of Vitagliano. As a priest he devoted much time to singing. In France, he held several assignments, including Master of the Choir of the Cathedral of Marseille from 1956 to 1960.
During World War II, Father Tomei worked in the French Underground.
In 1960 he left France because of ill health and came to California to visit relatives. For a while he lived with the Salesian Fathers in San Francisco's North Beach and later served as assistant pastor until his death.
[from The Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer (Los Gatos, CA); 7 Nov 1972; p. 1-2]
Aged 65. Murder victim of Herbert Mullin. Mullin was delusional when he went to confess his sins. He believed Father Henri Tomei wanted to be his next sacrifice needed to keep away the earthquakes in California. He beat, kicked, and stabbed Father Tomei, who bled to death in the confessional while a parishioner watched Mullin run away.
From https://stmaryslg.org/celebrating-100-years
On All Souls Day in 1972, Fr. Tomei was at the dining room table for lunch with the pastor, Fr. Richard Howley, when the doorbell rang and the man at the door asked to have a priest hear his confession. It was Fr. Howley's "duty day," but because he was still eating and Fr. Tomei had already finished his lunch, Fr. Tomei insisted that he would go to the church to hear the man's confession. After more than an hour, Fr. Tomei was found dead in his confessional, having been stabbed multiple times. News of this murder was reported in newspapers coast-to-coast and on national radio and television broadcasts. His assailant, the man who had requested the confession, was eventually found guilty of this and other murders in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and remains imprisoned today. A shrine in Fr. Tomei's memory was built to replace the confessional in St. Mary's Church for this Martyr of Santa Clara County.
Father Tomei studied at Minor and Major seminary in Marseille, France. He entered the priesthood in 1932. He sang as a soloist in the famous Boys' Choir of Marseille, which was then known as the Singers of Vitagliano. As a priest he devoted much time to singing. In France, he held several assignments, including Master of the Choir of the Cathedral of Marseille from 1956 to 1960.
During World War II, Father Tomei worked in the French Underground.
In 1960 he left France because of ill health and came to California to visit relatives. For a while he lived with the Salesian Fathers in San Francisco's North Beach and later served as assistant pastor until his death.
[from The Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer (Los Gatos, CA); 7 Nov 1972; p. 1-2]
From https://stmaryslg.org/celebrating-100-years
On All Souls Day in 1972, Fr. Tomei was at the dining room table for lunch with the pastor, Fr. Richard Howley, when the doorbell rang and the man at the door asked to have a priest hear his confession. It was Fr. Howley's "duty day," but because he was still eating and Fr. Tomei had already finished his lunch, Fr. Tomei insisted that he would go to the church to hear the man's confession. After more than an hour, Fr. Tomei was found dead in his confessional, having been stabbed multiple times. News of this murder was reported in newspapers coast-to-coast and on national radio and television broadcasts. His assailant, the man who had requested the confession, was eventually found guilty of this and other murders in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and remains imprisoned today. A shrine in Fr. Tomei's memory was built to replace the confessional in St. Mary's Church for this Martyr of Santa Clara County.
Father Tomei studied at Minor and Major seminary in Marseille, France. He entered the priesthood in 1932. He sang as a soloist in the famous Boys' Choir of Marseille, which was then known as the Singers of Vitagliano. As a priest he devoted much time to singing. In France, he held several assignments, including Master of the Choir of the Cathedral of Marseille from 1956 to 1960.
During World War II, Father Tomei worked in the French Underground.
In 1960 he left France because of ill health and came to California to visit relatives. For a while he lived with the Salesian Fathers in San Francisco's North Beach and later served as assistant pastor until his death.
[from The Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer (Los Gatos, CA); 7 Nov 1972; p. 1-2]
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