By Kay Ebeling
Examiner
May 7, 2009
http://www.examiner.com/x-1960-LA-City-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m5d7-The-true-story-lies-in-story-never-told-in-murder-of-Texas-priest
Read between the lines.
In Nuevo Laredo, where they planned to start an orphanage, the caretaker brutally murders the aging priest, stabs him with a machete and a knife, dumps the body on top of a mattress in a junk heap. Days later he calls the priest's family demanding they wire him money at a very public place in South Mexico, as good as turning himself in. He's arrested, and in front of the news media makes a terse confession, loosely translated: "We were lovers for more than a year. I was stoned and drunk when I killed him." In a paragraph buried at the bottom of one or two stories is the news, you read that the priest had moved to Nuevo Laredo to start an orphanage, after a career with several transfers around parishes in the region. The priest had been at Cristo Rey Church on the east side of Austin, Texas, for three years, and thousands of Spanish speaking people turned out for his funeral service.
 |
| Saldana, already sentenced and in a Mexican prison |
The extreme violent nature of the crime would draw suspicion in the United States, where the priest's family were quoted as prayerfully accepting of the short sentence, considering the man would have fried if he'd faced justice in Texas. At the time of the confession, the local bishop was in the news determined to clear Fr. Jessie's name, as he was totally surprised, had never heard anything before about a homosexual relationship. On March 31, a friend discovered Fr. Jessie Euresti's home ransacked and covered in blood. The priest's body was discovered about a week later, dumped near some garbage. On May 7th Torres Sandana was sentenced to 37 and a half years in a Mexican prison for the crime.
"Bishop Gregory Aymond said Tuesday that he was shocked to hear Torres Saldana's confession. He said it was the first he has heard of a sexual relationship between the men," reports the Austin American-Statesman. "We will investigate," he said. "If there is any truth to this, we will speak the truth. If not, we want to do what we can to restore Father Jesse's good name for his sake as well as for the sake of his family and the parishioners."
Five weeks later Saldana was convicted and sentenced spending the next 37 years in a Mexico prison.
And a whole population of Mexican children were spared the danger of living in an orphanage run by an old priest with questionable private relationships.
The true story of Saldana's motives will never be known. Here are samplings of today's news media again writing stories repeating what each other are writing:
Priest's killer sentenced in Mexico
Austin American-Statesman - ?9 hours ago?
By Patrick George | Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 11:02 PM The man who admitted to murdering an Austin priest was sentenced by a Mexican judge to 37-and-a-half ...
Priest Murderer Gets 37 Years in Prison
KGNS - ?9 hours ago?
By Ray Gomez The man who killed an Austin priest in Nuevo Laredo now knows his fate for the brutal murder. Manuel Martin Torres Saldana will spend 37-years ...
Father Euresti's killer sentenced to 37 years in Mexican prison
CBS 42 - ?10 hours ago?
The family of Father Jesse Euresti says his killer, Manuel Martin Torres-Saldana, has been sentenced by a Mexican judge. Torres-Saldana will spend ...
Austin priest's killer gets 37 years in prison
Austin American-Statesman - ?8 hours ago?
By Patrick George The man who admitted to murdering an Austin priest was sentenced by a Mexican judge to 371/2 years in prison Wednesday, according to the ...
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.