Priest Takes the Stand in Theft Trial of His Former Assistant : Court: James McKeon says he found cash and keys in David Piroli’s room. He tells of his own odd way of handling money.

In a scene that pitted priest against priest, Father James McKeon took the stand Wednesday in the collection-plate embezzlement trial of his former assistant, Father David Dean Piroli.

In less than two hours of testimony, McKeon--once Piroli’s supervisor at St. Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley--supplied ammunition to both sides in the case.

McKeon testified that he discovered four missing sets of church keys, parishioners’ money and collection envelopes in the younger priest’s bedroom about two weeks before Piroli’s arrest in May, 1992.

But McKeon also admitted under cross-examination that he himself used an unorthodox style of handling cash--taking collection money for incidental church expenses without telling anyone.

Prosecutors are trying to prove charges that Piroli stole $60,000 in parishioners’ collection money from St. Peter Claver and from his previous posting, Sacred Heart Church in Saticoy.

In response, defense attorney Richard Beada has alleged that McKeon was the one taking collection money and that he planted it in Piroli’s bedroom, office and car to frame the younger priest, whom McKeon feared would expose his own theft.

Under direct questioning Wednesday by Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Peace, McKeon laid out details of the church’s money-handling procedures and told how he first discovered a cache of collection money in Piroli’s rooms in the spring of 1992.

McKeon testified he had lost his keys and thoroughly searched the church, rectory and residence for them.

He finally looked in Piroli’s dresser drawer one day in mid-May, McKeon testified, explaining, “I looked anyplace. . . . I needed those keys.”

There, McKeon found two complete sets of his own keys and two sets to a church car, but he did not find the church master key, he testified. The master key was found later in Piroli’s closet, church employees have testified.

McKeon said he also found cash and collection envelopes.

“I was angry,” McKeon testified, but he did not confront Piroli.

“I thought he might be planning to put it back in the collection,” McKeon testified. “I didn’t know what he was going to do.”

Two weeks later, on May 29, Hollywood police arrested Piroli after finding him and another man sitting in a church car that contained about $10,000 in cash, collection envelopes and traces of cocaine.

After learning of the arrest, McKeon said he and other parish officials pooled their personal cash and took enough from the previous Sunday’s collection money to pay Piroli’s $500 bail.

But Piroli left June 3 in the church car--the day church employees found the last of about $50,000 in collection money in his bedroom and office--and never returned to St. Peter Claver, McKeon testified.

McKeon said he had approved the search of Piroli’s rooms, and he later agreed to have the money moved to the church secretary’s house because there was too much to be counted in the church offices.

McKeon testified that he called Simi Valley police about the money but told officers that he did not want Piroli to be prosecuted. He said he later turned the money over to police after parishioners had counted it.

McKeon also testified about collection procedures that he had set up for the church. He said he would store collection money in his office until mid-Sunday morning, when the church’s volunteer money counters would pick it up.

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The counters then would separate general donations from those contributions designated to the church building and a special program for the poor. General donations went straight to the church’s main bank account and the special donations were given to McKeon.

McKeon said he or the church office staff then would count those special donations and deposit them into separate bank accounts.

McKeon testified that every Sunday, he asked the money counters to give him $125 cash from collection money so he could pay youth aides, buy dinners for himself and Piroli, or entertain visiting priests.

He logged such expenses in a ledger that he called his “little black book, so I’d have a written record of expenditures.”

But later during cross-examination by Beada, McKeon acknowledged he sometimes took cash from the collection bag for church expenses without telling the counters, who were supposed to be keeping track of all collection money received by the church.

Yet, McKeon testified, he also logged those amounts in his book.

As court adjourned for the day, McKeon asked the bailiff if he could leave a prayer card on the stand where he is to offer more testimony today.

The card carried a picture of praying hands and the “serenity prayer.”