DALLAS (TX)
Statesman
The Associated Press
DALLAS — A jury began deliberating on Thursday the fate of a former Roman Catholic priest accused of plotting the death of a man who accused him of sexual abuse.
John M. Fiala is facing a charge of solicitation of capital murder. Authorities say he tried to hire a neighbor’s brother to kill his accuser. That accuser had said Fiala abused him at the ex-priest’s rural West Texas parish in 2008 when the man was 16.
Fiala faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/LfSaxz ) reported that 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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