NY priest ‘smoking crack since my sister was murdered’

A priest arrested by Long Island police for drug possession admitted he had been smoking crack cocaine since his sister was decapitated by her son.

Father Robert Lubrano was spotted by police exchanging money in a motel parking lot in Bethpage, Long Island.

When police followed the 63-year-old Catholic priest to his room, they discovered 800 milligrams of a "white/yellowish rock-like substance believed to be crack cocaine" as well as a metal pipe stained with cocaine residue.

"I have been smoking crack cocaine ever since my sister was murdered," Lubrano told police when they questioned his activities, The Post Journal reports.

In October 2014, Lubrano’s sister Patricia Ward was beheaded by her son, Derek, who had a history of psychiatric problems. After decapitating her, the 35 year old carried the body onto the street and kicked around his dead mother’s head in what neighbors thought was a "halloween hoax".

"He killed my sister because we couldn’t get the prescriptions he needed. For four days, he didn’t have his meds," Lubrano told the Daily News at the time. "He was a sick, sick kid."

Lubrano has not been assigned to a specific parish for the past number of years and The Post Journal reported that his diocese, Rockville Centre, placed him on leave five years ago.

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Charged with drug possession, Lubrano was released on bail Wednesday and is due back in court on January 10.