Alfred J. Kunz: Partnering With AI For Cold Case Analysis

BLUF | Partnering with large language models in cold case analysis can add a tremendous value to your work, but understand its limits. Don’t rely on it as a human replacement. And do your own work first.

Analyst’s note: An analysis of the motive behind the death of Father Alfred J. Kunz of St. Michael Church, Dane, Wisconsin, was challenging due to the scarcity of official documents and photos; the complexity of the victim, his role in the church and school, his relationships with his parishioners and the greater Catholic Church; and the “right and duty” of the Catholic Church to practice secrecy, a stance based on Canon law. To address these challenges, an enhanced approach was tried, which was to bring artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT and Grok, into the analysis to assist with foundational research, indicators, and to use as an “analytical sounding board,”¹ to recheck matrices, and to generate leads.

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Details

On the morning of 4 March 1998, parish priest Alfred J. Kunz was found deceased in the hallway of St. Michael School in Dane, Wisconsin, having sustained up to 10 stab wounds (NFI) in addition to an incised wound to the neck that severed a common carotid artery (NFI). Reports are the victim bled to death, although this was not corroborated by medical examiner reporting. There was evidence of a fight in the period preceding his death. A recently released autopsy photo showed Father Kunz’s bruised knuckle. He may have sustained other defensive wounds that were not further described.

The school building, seen below on the right as it looks today, was attached to St. Michael Church. The church and school were separated by a locked door. Although the church itself was always left open, the school was secured outside of school hours. The entry doors were locked on the morning Father Kunz was found dead. Investigation has not determined how the perpetrator gained entry, whether with a key, whether he was an acquaintance of Father Kunz, or whether he gained access via a ruse. (See Appendix A for an exploration of the means of entry.) There was little evidence shared with the public to indicate if the subject could have entered through a window.

Father Kunz had spent the earlier part of the evening of 3 March 1998 in the company of another priest, Father Charles C. Fiore. Fathers Kunz and Fiore had been recording the “Our Catholic Family” radio show with a third individual, Peter Kelly, in Monroe, Wisconsin, approximately 60 miles from Dane. Father Fiore dropped off Father Kunz at the school, where the latter kept a studio apartment, around 2200 hours. Father Kunz made some food (NFI), placed a brief telephone call at 2223 hours, and turned on a talk show. Reports are the show may have been at a higher volume as Father Kunz was slightly hard of hearing. (There was no indication whether the show was still playing on the morning Father Kunz was found, and if not, how it was learned that he listened to a broadcast.)

There were limited details about the layout of the school, thus, crime scene. It appeared the main entry into the building was through a vestibule, enclosed by two sets of double doors on the west side of the structure. The first set of doors was kept locked, and indications are they were secured on the night of the murder. The second (inner) set of doors was kept unlocked. These doors led into a hallway. A sheriff’s report stated the school office was to the right. The 7th/8th grade classroom was reportedly on the left. It was unclear where Father Kunz’s studio apartment was located. One photo released of the scene appeared to show a set of lockers on one wall, and on the opposite wall, several desks. A statue that has been described as the Archangel Michael appeared to be balanced on a desk. The lights were on.

Father Kunz was lying prone in this hall, at some point in the proximity of his apartment. He was found at approximately 0700 hours by a teacher who was on his way to the 7th/8th grade classroom. The instructor used his key² to access the building. Father Kunz was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. Some reports suggested he was barefoot, with a pair of shoes found at the scene. His belt buckle was undone. He lay on his stomach, apparently facing the entry doors. A large ring of keys was to the right of the body. Father Kunz reportedly wore a scapular. This may have been described by the first officer on the scene as a “raw-hide type necklace.” The officer also reported Father Kunz wore “some type of metal chain.”

The Investigation

In his three-part report on the crime and subsequent investigation, Joseph M. Hanneman described the investigation:

“…Virtually every resident of the village of Dane, Wisconsin, was interviewed at least once by investigators. Tips sheets were handed out; public informational meetings were held. Analysts from the FBI and other agencies developed profiles of the killer; two Canadian forensic psychiatrists were consulted. More than 2,500 field interviews were conducted locally, regionally, and in Canada.

“Physical evidence collected at the scene was tested–and later re-tested–for DNA, fingerprints, and trace materials. Thousands of pages of reports were shared with the Mid-States Organized Crime Informational Center in Springfield, Missouri, in hopes more investigative eyes might help the case. The cemetery where Kunz [was] buried was put under surveillance on the 20th anniversary of the crime. Undercover investigators also attended a Solemn Requiem Mass held for Kunz in March 2018 at St. Mary of Pine Bluff Catholic Church near Madison.”

Investigators focused on several potential suspects, some of whom were later eliminated through investigation or via a partial DNA sample³ found at the scene. They explored motives including, but not limited to, an interrupted burglary; Kunz’s investigation into pedophile priests; a satanic cult; a murder and cover-up by the Catholic church itself; anger/resentment; and “‘intimate”‘ relationships with women.” Authorities took reports about Father Kunz himself as a pedophile, but dismissed the tips as lacking corroboration.

The Analysis of Competing Hypotheses

The analysis began with the classic formal technique, the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH). ACH provides structure by directing the analyst to consider each piece of evidence individually against each hypothesis, thus, reducing bias toward a favored scenario. The most plausible hypothesis, based on the evidence currently at hand, is the one with the fewest inconsistencies. An ACH matrix is fluid; the findings can change with the introduction of new evidence. Based on the crime scene, victimology, and initial reporting, the following explanations were developed.

Hypotheses:

1. Internal church conflict (dispute over church/school admin, finances, curriculum, and others)
2. Targeting of clergy (religious hate crime)
3. Blackmail (“payments” stopped, death threat carried out)
4. Kunz as abuser (Kunz, himself, as a pedophile)
5. Jealousy/anger by someone’s significant other
6. Cover up a secret told to Kunz, now regrets (confession, personal contact, counseling session, and others)
7. Psychopath (religious delusion, voices, “God told me to”)
8. Burglary
9. Dispute over church legal/spiritual matter (annulment, counseling advice, and others)
10. Person on verge of exposure (pedophile priest, embezzler, and others)
11. Gay tryst (one or both have regrets, exposure is threatened)
12. Professional hit
13. Non-professional hit (someone out to make some quick money)

Evidence:

Next, evidence was compiled. Evidence in ACH can be unconventional–it goes beyond the classic forensic material that most people consider, to virtually any facts of the case that might offer clarity (i.e., a former St. Michael student said Father Kunz had told her class his room had been broken into and his gun was stolen (circa 1994-1995 and at 2223 hours on the night of his murder, Father Kunz spoke briefly to another priest about business). Eighty-four units of evidence were compiled. Yet, as the process began, it was clear very few of those 84 were diagnostic. In other words, they were not offering the insight needed to uncover a motive. So, another tract was tried, which was to submit the hypotheses to ChatGPT and ask the model to compile indicators for each scenario. In moments, ChatGPT offered a list of indicators that would hypothetically support as well as contradict each hypothesis. For example:

H2: Targeting of clergy (religious hate crime)

Indicators that would support: prior threats against Father Kunz; other priests in area threatened/assaulted; anti-religious graffiti.

Indicators that would contradict: murder too intimate; no public controversy to make Father Kunz a target; no hate group activity or threats noted.

With the help of ChatGPT the 84 original pieces of evidence were culled to a more manageable 35, and shaped for more specific and diagnostic language.⁴ Then, the matrix was run a second time.

The goal of ACH is to reveal inconsistencies. A lot of evidence can support multiple hypotheses. However, it is the evidence that contradicts the possible explanation that exposes its weaknesses. In this case, two hypotheses rose to the top: a person on the verge of exposure, i.e., pedophile priest, embezzler, or other; and to cover up a secret told to Father Kunz, but the individual later regretted sharing.

Analyst — AI Fusion of Results:

Next, the same set of hypotheses/evidence was presented to LLMs ChatGPT and Grok. In minutes both had processed the data and turned out their own ranked versions of the 13 hypotheses. Both human-driven and AI tool models agreed on the top two rankings (“person on verge of exposure” and “cover up a secret”), although there was disagreement as to whether they held the first or second position. Father Kunz himself as a pedophile, and burglary–again with slight variations in ranking–scored in the bottom three.

Hypotheses	Analyst ranking (only inconsistencies)	ChatGPT ranking (+2, +1, 0, -1, -2)	Grok ranking (+1, 0, -1)
Person on verge of exposure, i.e., pedophile priest, embezzler	1	2	2
Cover up a secret told to Kunz, now regrets	2	1	1
Dispute over church legal/spiritual matter	2	7	6
Professional hit	3	11	9
Non-professional hit	3	5	3
Gay tryst (regrets, threatened exposure)	3	10	10
Internal church conflict (church admin, finances)	3	3	5
Blackmail (death threat carried out)	4	4	4
Targeting of clergy (religious hate crime)	5	9	13
Jealousy/anger by someone’s significant other	5	6	7
Kunz as abuser (pedophile)	6	13	11
Psychopath (religious delusion, voices)	7	7	8
Burglary	8	12	12

An ACH matrix can give busy investigators a starting point in the case and help assign leads. For example, while some explanations of what transpired, such as burglary or a religious hate crime, should remain under consideration, investigators may choose to give those possibilities a lower priority, at least in the initial stages of the case.

If you don’t have a leading hypothesis after your first pass, or you feel like you haven’t thoroughly explored all aspects of the case, you may want to pause for a second session of brainstorming. In this case, a few additional ideas may be the Grok-recommended occult angle, or the ChatGPT-recommended silencing a whistleblower (church internal cover-up); mentally ill individual with no connection to Kunz (non-religiously-framed psychosis); mistaken identity; or personal vendetta from the past (unrelated to church, a long-forgotten conflict). Construct a new matrix and test these scenarios against your leading hypotheses, along with any others you’d like to retest.

Analytical Improvisation

At this point, two hypotheses appeared to lead, but they were still broad and any ability to identify a subject was greatly limited by the fact the motive (assuming a secret) rested between the perpetrator and the victim. Here we improvise and examine the case from two additional angles: was the crime premeditated or spontaneous; and, at its base, was the motive secular or religious?

Spontaneous versus premeditated:

As there was no clear analytical method to evaluate whether the crime was premeditated, or the result of a spontaneous action, perhaps precipitated by an argument, an ad hoc method was devised, which was to choose 16⁵ of the more diagnostic items of evidence and then classify each as falling into one category or the other, first by the analyst, and then by each of the two AI tools. As with the ACH matrices, the three opinions were not the same. Although all three leaned toward the crime being premeditated, the analyst and Grok found more evidence of spontaneity.

	Evidence	Analyst	ChatGPT	Grok
	Knife (“edged weapon”) brought in, brought out, did not improvise weapon, did not leave at scene	Ambiguous	Premeditated	Premeditated
	Little forensic evidence at scene (footprints, opening/closing door, DNA left at scene)	Premeditated	Premeditated	Premeditated
	Evidence indicated physical fight between the two occurred (keys flung, bruised knuckle)	Spontaneous	Spontaneous	Spontaneous
	Crime occurred at 2230 hours or after, weeknight, quiet, little traffic, farming community	Premeditated	Premeditated	Premeditated
	Sources report Father Kunz was  “knocked to his knees by a blow from a weapon”	Ambiguous	Ambiguous	Neutral, leans spontaneous
	No sign of forced entry into school	Premeditated	Premeditated	Premeditated
	No evidence of ransacking, or signs of keys used to access Kunz’s personal space, the school rooms, or the office	Premeditated	Premeditated	Premeditated
	Throat slit, but also reportedly up to 10 stab wounds on body	Spontaneous	Spontaneous	Spontaneous
	No evidence of hiding the body or trying to make the scene look anything different	Spontaneous	Ambiguous	Spontaneous
	Kunz appeared to be in a state of undress, t-shirt, belt was unbuckled possibly threw on shoes without socks	Ambiguous	Ambiguous	Spontaneous
	Killer appeared to have some knowledge of Kunz and his routine, address, who would/would not be around at that hour	Premeditated	Premeditated	Premeditated
	No struggle beyond what was seen (desks around crime scene not overturned, statue balanced on desk at scene of crime not overturned	Premeditated	Premeditated	Neutral, leans premeditated
	Action limited to tight area	Premeditated	Premeditated	Neutral, leans premeditated
	When first on scene (7th/8th grade teacher Jackson) arrived, he went back and forth from crime scene to outside of school to wait for authorities, and left bloody smears on two doors, which perpetrator would have done unless he used something to ensure no trace, i.e., his shoulder, a cloth or handkerchief)	Premeditated	Premeditated	Premeditated
	Kunz died “in action” (fighting or defending himself) as pose when rigor mortis set in showed his arms held up/out	Spontaneous	Ambiguous	Spontaneous
	Lights were on in hallway when teacher Jackson arrived on scene	Ambiguous	Ambiguous	Neutral
Premeditated		8	9	7
Spontaneous		4	2	5
Neutral/ ambiguous		4	5	4

Religious versus secular:

As a next step, it was hoped that determining the underlying motive–whether religious or secular–may add some clarity to the overarching question: Why was Father Kunz murdered? Again, there was no set methodology to make a determination, so it was necessary to improvise. In this case, the 13 hypotheses were examined for their underlying motive. Both ChatGPT and Grok began by setting forth what defined a secular motive versus a religious motive. Both noted it wasn’t what the crime might appear on the surface, or Father Kunz’s position as a priest, but instead, what drove the crime at its core.

ChatGPT: Secular motives are based on interpersonal, emotional, or situational factors not inherently tied to Kunz’s religious position or beliefs. Religious motives involve belief systems, spiritual roles, or doctrinal conflicts. They either originate from, or are intensified by, religious context.

Grok: Secular motives are based on individual conflicts or opportunism, even if facilitated by his position. Religious motives align with his traditionalist stance or priestly duties.

	Analyst assessment	ChatGPT assessment	Grok assessment
Person on verge of exposure, i.e., pedophile priest, embezzler	religious secular (concede)	secular	secular
Cover up a secret told to Kunz, now regrets	religious secular (concede)	secular	secular
Dispute over church legal/spiritual matter	religious	religious	religious
Internal church conflict (church admin, finances)	religious	religious	religious
Targeting of clergy (religious hate crime)	religious	religious	religious
Kunz as abuser (pedophile)	religious secular (concede)	secular	secular
Gay tryst (regrets, threatened exposure)	religious secular (concede)	secular	secular
Professional hit	secular	secular	secular
Non-professional hit	secular	secular	secular
Blackmail (death threat carried out)	secular	secular	secular
Jealousy/anger by someone’s significant other	secular	secular	secular
Psychopath (religious delusion, voices)	secular, religious (concede)	religious	religious
Burglary	secular	secular	secular
	9 secular; 4 religious	9 secular; 4 religious	9 secular; 4 religious

Findings

ACH (analyst-driven, ChatGPT, and Grok) all found the murder appeared to result from a secret. It might have been a secret about to be, threatened to be, or had the possibility of being divulged, such as a pedophile priest, embezzler, or a crime or serious matter Father Kunz learned of that the perpetrator sought to keep private. Or else, the perpetrator may have told Father Kunz something in confidence, or in the confessional,⁶ or Father Kunz may have heard something from a third party that the individual sought to keep hidden. Other aspects of the crime learned through analysis was the crime was likely secular in nature, and it appeared to be planned, but had elements of spontaneity.

While these revelations appeared to offer direction, especially since ACH reduced the number of hypotheses, the obvious problem was, at its core, a secret/confidence was virtually undiscoverable assuming both parties keep/kept quiet.

Adding to the complexity was the presence of the Catholic Church. If the subject sought to absolve himself after the fact and confessed as a Catholic to the murder, a priest hearing his confession would be bound by the Seal of Confession⁷ never to disclose the confidence. Even if the individual was not a Catholic, but sought absolution, many priests would likely consider such a conversation “morally or pastorally confidential”⁸ and would also refuse to reveal it. Of course, the individual may not have felt any guilt or remorse at all believing Father Kunz “deserved it.”

The murder of Father Kunz appeared to arise from planned confrontation with a deeply personal (and secular) motive that may have taken an unplanned turn. The subject may not have set out to kill Father Kunz, however, he was prepared to go as far as necessary to accomplish his goal of silence.

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Final Thoughts

While the analysis of the Father Kunz investigation may have had a less than satisfactory ending, keeping an open mind and thinking creatively and unconventionally means every project is an opportunity to devise new ways to analyze your data. Your improvisation may lead to a new technique that is a key contributing factor to bringing clarity or resolution to the next case.

Intelligence Gaps

1. Was the “edged weapon” something he carried routinely for use in a job, hobby, or for protection, and then he grabbed it in the heat of the moment, or was it something he carried intentionally as part of a premeditated crime?
2. How did the subject arrive at the school? Did he pull up and park in the church/school lot, potentially alerting Kunz to his arrival? Did he park at a distance and walk to his car while covered in blood?
3. What kind of a secret was worth killing a priest over?

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Sources

Dane County Sheriff’s Office Incident Report Case #98-011295, dated 4 March 1998

Dane County Sheriff’s Office Supplement Report, “Death Investigation (Fr. Kunz),” filed by Reporting Deputy David Cattanach, dated 4 March 1998

Dane County Sheriff’s Office Supplement Report, “Kunz Homicide,” filed by Reporting Detective Dawn Johnson, dated 16 February 1999

Dane County Sheriff’s Office Supplement Report, “Homicide – Fr. Kunz,” filed by Reporting Detective Kevin Hughes, dated 17 December 2000

Gina Barton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10-part written series and podcast, “The Devil You Know,” first aired 23 January 2019, https://projects.jsonline.com/topics/unsolved/season-three/the-devil-you-know.html

Joseph M. Hanneman, The Catholic World Report, three-part series, “The unsolved murder of Fr. Alfred Kunz, dated 8 August 2018, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/08/the-unsolved-murder-of-fr-alfred-kunz/; “‘I don’t know if they will ever reveal why he was murdered,'” dated 15 August 2018, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/15/i-dont-know-if-they-will-ever-reveal-why-he-was-murdered/; and, “Detectives hope trail won’t go cold in priest’s murder probe,” dated 22 August 2018, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/22/detectives-hope-trail-wont-go-cold-in-priests-murder-probe/

Russell Shaw, Catholic Answers, “Does the church have too many secrets?”, 1 April 2008, http://www.catholic.com.

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Footnotes

1. Language from ChatGPT, conversation dated 14 September 2025 ↩︎
2. It was not disclosed how many keys existed and to whom they were issued, under what circumstances they were reissued, whether there was a system to account for their distribution, whether they were reclaimed when a person to whom one was issued left the service, who/how many people were in charge of their issuance, how easily an unauthorized person may have been able to access a key, and how easy they may have been to duplicate. Additionally, there was a locked door between the church and school. Father Kunz surely had a key for that portal, but the same questions as noted above arise here. ↩︎
3. The DNA was described as a partial sample, not enough to enter into nationwide databases for a match. It was apparently enough to eliminate subjects. It was confirmed to belong to a male. ↩︎
4. Evidence: (1) Killed in school (restricted access); (2) no signs of forced entry; (3) scene indicates familiarity with building layout; (4) killed after 2230 hours at end of his daily schedule; (5) 10 or fewer stab wounds/throat slit (“overkill”); (6) bruised knuckle (fight); (7) traditionalist, openly contemptuous of modern church; (8) safety-conscious, kept school locked at night; (9) no reports of anti-church graffiti, hate calls, assaults on priests, vandalism in the area; (10) Kunz had access to sensitive information (church records, confessions, confidences); (11) no publicly reported threats to his life; (12) office door was found locked in the AM; (13) no apparent theft or signs of theft (ransacking, office door was locked); (14) no publicly reported accounts of Kunz as a pedophile (post-death interviews, historic accounts); (15) known interpersonal conflicts withy some parishioners who left parish because of him; (16) reports of close relationships with female parishioners; (17) one role of parish priest is confidant; (18) one role of priest is to counsel persons who may be involved in criminal, scandalous behavior; (19) no reports of Kunz becoming secretive, changing behavior; (20) very bad record-keeper, kept notes on scraps of paper; (21) small community (621), small church, small school (50 or so students, no rumors of misbehavior); (22) area of murder relatively orderly (desks present, but not overturned, statue balanced on desk in place); (23) weapon (edged weapon, apparently, carried in and carried out; (24) appeared to have wide geographic range (breakfast at diner 10 miles away, situated teacher/principal in apartment 15 miles away) from school); (25) relatively little evidence left behind (partial DNA, no fingerprints, shoe prints despite bloody scene; (26) not a “clean kill,” evidence of fight and overkill; (27) body not repositioned, nor scene made to look different, no signs of coverup; (28) possible occult activity 24 hours before crime (calf killing); (29) no reports of arguing, loud voices coming from school late at night or cars reported in vicinity of school post 2200 hours; (30) edged weapon and evidence of wounding, up close and personal attack; (31) no evidence of struggle at door (ruse? let killer in?); (32) one role of Kunz was to offer spiritual guidance on sensitive topics (annulment, abuse, marital counseling); (33) known to be discreet with sensitive/personal matters; (34) killer able to flee scene without detection; (35) killer appeared to be from outside Dane and not interviewed (extensive interviews in town no tips about person with visible injuries). ↩︎
5. Knife (“edged weapon”) brought in, brought out, did not improvise weapon, did not leave at scene; 
   Little forensic evidence recovered at scene (no footprints, fingerprints, little, if any, DNA);
   Evidence indicated physical fight between the two occurred (keys flung, bruised knuckle);
   Crime occurred at 2230 hours or after, weeknight, quiet, little traffic, farming community;
   Sources report Father Kunz was “knocked to his knees by a blow from a weapon”
   No sign of forced entry into school;
   No evidence of ransacking, or signs of keys used to access Kunz’s personal space, the school rooms, or the office;
   Throat slit, but also reportedly up to 10 stab wounds on body;
   No evidence of hiding body or staging to make it look like anything different;
   Kunz appeared to be in a state of undress, t-shirt, belt was unbuckled, possibly threw on shoes without socks;
   Killer appeared to have some knowledge of Kunz and his routine, address, who would/would not be around at that hour;
   No struggle beyond what was seen (desks around crime scene not overturned, statue balanced on desk at scene of crime not overturned);
   Action limited to tight area;
   When first on scene (7th/8th grade teacher Jackson) arrived, he went back and forth from crime scene to outside of school to wait for authorities, and left bloody smears on two doors, which perpetrator would have done unless he used something to ensure no trace, i.e., his shoulder, a cloth or handkerchief);
   Kunz died “in action” (fighting or defending himself) as pose when rigor mortis set in showed his arms held up/out;
   Lights were on in hallway when teacher Jackson arrived on scene. ↩︎
6. Ironically, if Father Kunz did learn something in the course of a confession, he, too, was bound never to disclose it. ↩︎
7. “The Seal of Confession (Catholic Canon Law): Absolute and inviolable–under Canon 983 §1, a priest may never reveal the contents of a confession, under any circumstances, even under threat of death or legal pressure…violation results in automatic excommunication (Canon 1388 §1).” Conversation with ChatGPT, 16 September 2025. ↩︎
8. Conversation with ChatGPT, 16 September 2025. ↩︎

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Appendix A:

Exploring How An Intruder Could Gain Entry

If authorities have learned how the perpetrator gained entry, they have not released that information to the public. Following is an exploration of four options.

Slipped inside during the day, hid, laid in wait

One of the main challenges to this hypothesis was St. Michael was a small school in a small community. Strangers were easily identified. It would be difficult for a person without legitimate business to slip past staff and even students, find a suitable hiding spot, and then lie in wait for hours until Father Kunz was alone. All persons associated with school were likely interviewed. There were no reports of suspicious persons lurking on the day of Father Kunz’s death, and no reports of persons displaying the types of injuries likely suffered in a fight.

Used key for entry

As stated previously, it was not disclosed how many keys existed and to whom they were issued, under what circumstances they were reissued, whether there was a system to account for their distribution, whether they were reclaimed when a person to whom one was issued left the service, who/how many people were in charge of their issuance, how easily an unauthorized person may have been able to access a key, and how easy they may have been to duplicate. Additionally, there was a locked door between the church and school. Father Kunz surely had a key for that portal, but the same questions as noted above arise here. Likely, authorities interviewed all known persons who held keys or had access to keys without identifying a logical suspect.

Accessed open window, or unlocked door

Father Kunz was reportedly security conscious. He kept the church doors unlocked at all times, but he kept the school, and the door between the church and the school, secured. The subject could have entered through an open window if a latch had been broken or disabled ahead of time, but an actual open window in early March in Wisconsin seemed implausible.

Ruse (getting Father Kunz to let him in)

1. Someone non-threatening (female, young person)
2. Pre-planned (counseling session, appointment)
3. Check out noise, suspicious activity, smoke, voices
4. Someone known
5. Someone in need displaying urgency (parishioner stating someone was sick, dying, died, in need of sacrament; having car trouble; needed directions; was physically hurt (Kunz’s belt was unbuckled at the time of his death, and he possibly slipped shoes over bare feet, which could indicate urgency to get to door)
6. Someone in authority (displaying badge, possible uniform)
7. Can I use your phone?
8. Forceful demand (knocked, displayed gun, threatened to shoot if denied entry)