Murder in the Rectory: Beloved California Priest, Rev. Eric Freed, Found Dead After New Year's Eve Mass at St. Bernard Church
A popular and beloved California priest and teacher was found dead in his church's rectory Wednesday, just hours after conducting New Year's Eve mass, and police say they are now hunting for his killer.
A Times-Standard report noted that the Rev. Eric Freed of St. Bernard Church was found dead in the rectory on the church's property in the city of Eureka just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
Winette Treder, a parishioner at the church, said she was waiting in the church for the 9 a.m. mass Wednesday. When Freed failed to report for duty, Deacon Frank Weber went in search of him and made the horrifying discovery.
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"He came in and said there was something terribly wrong with Father Eric," said Treder, who explained that she and other waiting parishioners said the Rosary for Freed until police arrived and asked them to leave the church.
Eureka Police Chief Andrew Mills described the death as a "violent" crime, according to the Lost Coast Outpost.
At a Wednesday press conference posted on YouTube, he later confirmed his department was leading a murder investigation, but declined to go into details about the case and said they had not identified any suspects.
"At this point, we have no suspects identified nor is there a person of interest," said Mills.
Eureka City Mayor Frank Jager, who first revealed the identity of the dead priest when police failed to disclose it initially, called the dead priest a "friend."
"Everybody knows it's Father Eric. Father Eric was a friend of mine. A tremendous person in this community. He's been here about three years. Involved with the Japanese community…this is absolutely a tremendous loss, not only for St. Bernard's parish, but for the community in general. I'll just say this: for those of us who believe in prayer, this is the time for that, and I hope we can find out who did this," he said.
Scores of people gathered at the scene after news broke about the priest's murder and many shared memories with the Times-Standard.
"He married my daughter and her husband. I went to daily mass during a difficult time when we lost so many family members. He was so inspirational. I will miss him dearly. And ... he had good mom stories on Mother's Day. Like I said, I will miss him dearly," said Joy Schuler Middaugh.
"Met him a few times after mass. Always friendly. Always had a smile and a good word to say. What a heartbreaking end to an awesome man," noted Lisa Ehrlich.
Along with his work as a priest, Freed also taught in the Religious Studies Department at Humboldt State University and was director of the campus' Newman Center, according to the Humboldt State University website.
