TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A state appeals court has upheld the conviction of a church custodian authorities say stabbed a priest to death after he discovered the man was a fugitive.

The court rejected multiple claims by 71-year-old Jose Feliciano, who was seeking to overturn his conviction in the death of Rev. Edward Hinds in the rectory of the St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Chatham in 2009.Feliciano claimed he repeatedly stabbed Hinds to end unwanted sexual advances. But prosecutors say he killed Hinds because he learned Feliciano was a fugitive on charges of improper conduct with a female child in Pennsylvania.Feliciano also alleged that then Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi made inflammatory and disparaging remarks against him. The appeals court agreed some of the comments were unnecessary, but didn't affect his right to a fair trial.