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The
Priest Who Appealed to a Jury Using an eRumor
Roman Catholic Priest the
Rev. Michael Jude was sentenced to prison in December, 2007, for admitting
to using $1.3 million from the church he led in Darien, New York.
According to the New York Times Jude spent extravagantly on luxury items
including waterfront real estate but was exposed when a church bookkeeper
went to another staff member with her suspicions.
At his sentencing Jude told a moving story
about how Leonardo da Vinci had trouble finding the right models for his
painting "The Last Supper." He said that da Vinci found a model
handsome enough to be John but years later found a "most disheveled,
evening grotesque" man to be Judas. Da Vinci was shocked when the
man cried out that years ago he had been the model for John.
The priest told the judge "I stand before you a canvas of multiple
layers."
Whether he realized it or not, his moving story about Leonardo da Vinci is
a commonly circulated email rumor that has no basis in fact.
