The Keepers

The Keepers is a seven-episode American documentary web series that explores the unsolved murder of nun Sister Cathy Cesnik, who taught English and drama at Baltimore's Archbishop Keough High School, and her former students' belief that there was a cover-up by authorities after Cesnik suspected that a priest at the school, A. Joseph Maskell was guilty of the sexual abuse of students.  The series was directed by Ryan White and released on Netflix on May 19, 2017.

Cast

Gemma Hoskins – former student and investigator

Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub – former student and investigator

Jean Hargadon Wehner (a.k.a. Jane Doe) – former student

Teresa Lancaster (a.k.a. Jane Roe) – former student

Randy Lancaster – Teresa Lancaster's husband

Donna Von Den Bosch – former student

Juliana Farrell – former student

Deb Silcox – former student

Lil Hughes – former student

Chris Centofanti – former student

Mary Spence – former student

Marilyn Cesnik Radakovic – Sister Catherine's sister

Gerry Koob – former priest and Sister Catherine's former boyfriend

Tom Nugent – journalist and writer for the Baltimore City Paper

Bob Erlandson – journalist

Beverly Wallace – attorney for former students

Alan Horn – investigator

John Barnold – former captain, Baltimore City Police Department

James Scannell – former captain, Baltimore County Police Department

Brian Schwaab – former detective, Baltimore City Police Department

Det. Gary Childs – Baltimore County Police

Sharon A. H. May – former State's Attorney for Baltimore City

Edgar Davidson – possible suspect in the murder of Sister Catherine

Deborah Yohn – Davidson's niece, who suspects her uncle's involvement in the murders based on anecdotes from her aunt who is referred to as "Margaret" in the series.

Sharon Schmidt – daughter of Ronnie Schmidt and niece of Billy Schmidt who suspects the involvement of both men in the murders.

Barbara Schmidt – mother of Sharon Schmidt, former wife of Ronnie Schmidt and sister in law to Billy Schmidt, who suspects the involvement of her husband and brother in law in the murders.

C.T. Wilson – Maryland state delegate

Charles Franz – a former student at St. Clement's Church

Werner Spitz, MD – forensic pathologist

Episodes

1              "The Murder"    May 19, 2017

Hoskins and Schaub investigate the disappearance and death of Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki in November 1969.

2              "The School"      May 19, 2017

The episode reveals the allegations of abuse at Archbishop Keough High School and the personal story of "Jane Doe" (Jean Hargadon Wehner) and other women at the school. Wehner explains the day Father Maskell took her to see the body of Sister Catherine Cesnik in nearby Lansdowne, Maryland.

3              "The Revelation"              May 19, 2017

In 1992, Wehner faces the abuse she endured at Keough allegedly at the hands of Father Maskell and other men he knew (including someone known as "Brother Bob"), as well as the threat that frightened her into silence.

4              "The Burial"        May 19, 2017

In 1994, two former students (Wehner and Teresa Lancaster) file a lawsuit against Maskell, the gynecologist they allege witnessed sexual assaults by Maskell, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and the School Sisters of Notre Dame, but face intimidation and power from their lawyers, as well as their psychiatric experts who doubt repressed memories. The lawsuit is thrown out.

5              "The Suspects"  May 19, 2017

A tip line created by the group yields two compelling suspects (Edgar Davidson and Billy Schmidt) who may have been involved in Sister Catherine's murder.

6              "The Web"          May 19, 2017

Sister Catherine's sister, Marilyn Cesnik Radakovic, joins the cause and discloses additional information about the days leading up to Cathy's disappearance.

7              "The Conclusion"              May 19, 2017

The season finale details prior sexual abuse by Father Maskell at Saint Clement's Church known by the Archdiocese, and the legislative efforts to overturn the statute of limitations in Maryland.

Reviews

The Keepers was met with critical acclaim upon its release. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the series an approval rating of 97% based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 8.47/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Keepers draws on riveting, real-life terror to expose long-buried secrets—and tells an inspiring, brilliantly assembled story along the way.”   Pilot Viruet of Vice wrote of the series, "It's harrowing and upsetting, and it will haunt you for a long time, which is part of what makes it necessary viewing."

In Time magazine, Daniel D'Addario compared The Keepers with another Netflix true-crime series, Making a Murderer, stating that The Keepers does not lead its viewers to a definite conclusion about what happened. "While Sister Cathy Cesnik's death remains a mystery, its aftereffects include both crushing heartbreak and, for the amateur sleuths who seek to crack her case, a sense of making a difference... This isn't just more respectful to the victim than other true-crime stories, with their breathless delight at new clues. It's also more effective."   According to Jack Seale in The Guardian, "Where other true crime hits have followed a linear chronology, The Keepers hops between 1969, the 1990s and today, striking a fine balance between narrative structure – a wow moment at the end of every episode – and respect for a subject that doesn’t need or deserve sensationalism."

Church response

The Archdiocese of Baltimore declined when asked by Netflix producers to comment on sexual misconduct allegations within the church. Later, the Archdiocese responded to the series by adding a FAQ page to its website, in which it stated allegations that the archdiocese knew of Maskell's sexual abuse prior to 1992 was false speculation.