DALLAS (TX)
Reporter-News
By The Associated Press
Posted May 17, 2012
DALLAS — A former Roman Catholic priest was found guilty Thursday of plotting the death of a man who accused him of sexual abuse.
The Dallas Morning News reported the Dallas County jury returned its verdict on John M. Fiala after a few hours’ deliberation.
After the verdict, testimony began in the penalty phase. Fiala could be sentenced to up to life in prison for solicitation of capital murder.
Prosecutors say Fiala tried to hire a neighbor’s brother to kill the man who accused him of abusing him in 2008. That’s when the man was 16 and Fiala was the priest at a rural West Texas parish.
During closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors urged jurors not to believe Fiala’s claims that he told a purported hit man to kill his accuser only because he thought his own life was in danger.
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