An 83-year-old former priest has been arrested in Arizona in connection with the 1960 slaying of a 25-year-old Texas schoolteacher and beauty queen.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Department arrested John Feit Tuesday. Feit faces a murder charge in the death of Irene Garza in South Texas and is awaiting extradition to the state. The Associated Press reports Feit plans to fight his extradition.
Authorities said Garza visited Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, where Feit was a priest, on April 16, 1960. Garza, who taught second grade at Thigpen Elementary School and was crowned Miss All South Texas Sweetheart 1958, had planned to go to confession that evening and never returned home.
Her body was recovered five days later in an irrigation canal and her vehicle was found near the church, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
An autopsy determined she had been raped and bludgeoned, The Dallas Morning News reported. Feit was a suspect in the killing but was never arrested or charged. The case was reopened in 2004 but a grand jury did not indict the former priest.
Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez said he presented the case against Feit to a grand jury last week.
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"We felt that we had sufficient evidence to present to a grand jury," he said. "It was presented last week, and they came back with a true bill." [[368296101,C]]
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests — the nation's oldest and largest support group for victims of clergy abuse — issued a statement saying it was "deeply grateful" Rodriguez had reopened a case his predecessor "refused to aggressively pursue."
"We hope that this move brings some hope to Garza's family. And we hope that anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered clergy crimes or cover ups in the Brownsville diocese will call police, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing," the group said.
According to the district attorney, the next step is to see if Feit will contest his extradition to Texas. It is unclear if Feit has an attorney.
The McAllen Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger Service assisted in the investigation and the arrest.