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by Val Ellicott
Staff Writer
Was the so-called private investigator really a
wily extortionist? Were the church's phones really bugged?
Tough to say, but this much seems clear - the
priest should never have taken the $96,000 in the brown shopping bag.
By the time Father John Theodore delivered his
final sermon at St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in November,
innuendo and intrigue topped the menu at church dinners. And St.
Catherine's was at war over its priest, a dispute that cued a chorus
of accusations and threats as well as a police extortion investigation.
``Please don't hate anymore,'' Annette Mitchell,
close to tears, implored fellow church members at a recent parish
assembly meeting. ``It's like a James Bond movie. What did this man
do to you? Why is there so much hate?''
A possible answer lies in the string of conflicts -
big and small, real and imagined - that developed between the
progressive, assertive Theodore and conservative parishioners
embittered by changes at St. Catherine's during Theodore's 10-year tenure.
``Father John is a younger, Americanized version of
the Greek Orthodox priest,'' attorney Ken Spillias, a church member
and former parish council member, said recently. ``It made some
people uncomfortable, and when they expressed that discomfort, they
felt like they were getting a brush-off.''
A 30-page police report hints at more personal
motives for the anonymous smear campaign that assailed Theodore, 46,
as an adulterer and purchaser of pornography.
But even Sheriff's Detective Shane Cioffi, who
spent almost four months investigating harassing phone calls to
Theodore and members of St. Catherine's parish council, had trouble
unraveling the bewildering array of rumors still circulating through
the 600-member church off Southern Boulevard.
``It was certainly one of the more complicated
cases I've worked on because of the number of people I had to talk to
and the different stories that were given,'' Cioffi said. ``It was
full of plots and subplots.''
The prime suspect in the detective's now-dormant
extortion investi gation was the shadowy ``Mr. Franklin,'' a phantom
phone caller and so-called private investigator. Franklin harried
Theodore so effectively that the priest landed in an emergency room
in November with blood pressure that he described as ``off the wall.''
The elusive Franklin was reachable only through a
pager number that he gave to a select few. Cioffi traced that number
to Rodjo Inc., a carpet-cleaning business owned by a man named Rodney
Huston, who has been convicted in Florida for burglary, attempted
grand larceny, escape and shoplifting.
Huston, 41, is not licensed as a private
investigator in Florida and he uses a mail drop for an address, even
on his driver license.
``It should be noted that Mr. Huston cannot be
contacted, even though I have paged his digital pager and left
messages in his mailbox,' ' Cioffi wrote in his report.
Two men recognized Huston from a mug photo obtained
by The Palm Beach Post as the man who approached them in December
seeking damaging information about Theodore, although they could not
remember what name he gave them.
And Theodore, who met Franklin briefly, picked
Huston's driver license photo from a lineup arranged by Cioffi, who
was trying to determine whether Franklin and Huston are the same man.
But Theodore's identification wasn't solid enough
to convince Cioffi that Huston was the Mr. Franklin who had been
bullying and threatening Theodore and members of St. Catherine's
parish council over the phone for several weeks.
The phone calls were just one development in a
tangled drama that began in 1992 with a strange encounter between
Theodore and Helen Zanas, a recently widowed, wealthy parishioner who
reportedly had contributed more than $50,000 to the church in her two
years as a parishioner and had become close friends with Theodore and
his wife, Elaine.
``We went to lunch one day, and she handed me a bag
of money,'' Theodore said.
No papers were signed. No receipts changed hands.
Inside the bag was more than $96,000 in cash. Theodore and Zanas
agree on that much, but they disagree on almost everything else.
Theodore says Zanas, who had given him and his
family jewelry and other presents, insisted, over his initial
protestations, that he accept the money as another gift, to help him
pay off his house.
``She wouldn't take no for an answer,'' he said.
``She said, `Think of your kids.' She said she felt that the priest
should own his own home.''
Zanas, well known at St. Catherine's for the white
stretch limousine that ferries her to and from church, says she gave
Theodore the cash only after he pestered her with reports of his
financial problems.
She had the feeling, she said, that Theodore
wouldn't keep his promise to buy gifts for St. Catherine's in honor
of her recently deceased husband unless she also gave him money for
personal expenses.
``Here I am, Alex is dead, and I needed a Greek
priest,'' Zanas said. ``I'm so upset I didn't see through him.''
Whatever the dialogue over lunch that day, Theodore
said he took the money home, counted it and began spending it - on
his mortgage, bills for his daughter's surgery, a new car and other
expenses. He kept the rest in a safe at home.
The spending stopped last fall, after Zanas learned
Theodore had had an affair with another parishioner. Theodore
admitted to the relationship and the once-close rapport between his
family and Zanas soured.
``I guess she felt like she had been betrayed,''
Theodore said. ``She was still friendly, but we didn't socialize anymore.''
B y November, St. Catherine's congregation was
percolating with rumors about Theodore's affair and other
unpriest-like behavior.
``There were so many rumors going around about
Father John that when someone asked me what I knew, I said,
``Nothing, I know nothing,' '' parishioner Patricia Lupien said.
``It's been ugly.''
Bishop Phillip Koutoufas of the Greek Orthodox
Diocese of Atlanta received videotapes in the mail allegedly showing
Theodore meeting with his former mistress, along with anonymous
accusations that the priest had purchased pornography.
``Watch yourself,'' Theodore said Koutoufas told
him.``Some-one's looking for you.'' *more
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