TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, November 10, 2015
For more information: David Clohessy, Executive Director of SNAP (davidgclohessy@gmail.com, 314-566-9790), Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director of SNAP (bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org, 314-503-0003)
Fifty-five year old murder case still stalled
Texas prosecutor pledged in his campaign to reopen the file
But District Attorney has not issued an update in six months
A victim’s group is writing him, begging for “action & transparency”
“File charges now, while the suspect and witnesses are still alive,” says SNAP
Six months ago, a high profile, unsolved, decades-old murder investigation in McAllen was re-opened by a new district attorney. Now, a victims group is writing the prosecutor and urging him to disclose the status of the case and file charges against the most widely known suspect.
A year and a half has passed since Ricardo Rodriguez won an election to become the prosecutor of Hidalgo County. During the campaign, he repeatedly pledged to re-examine the murder of Irene Garza, a 25 year old teacher.
“Irene’s family deserves justice. The public deserves protection. And citizens deserve information,” said David Clohessy, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “Rodriguez should act now while the main suspect and key witnesses are still alive. At a bare minimum, he should issue a public update and a plea to others with information to come forward immediately.”
Garza disappeared on April 16, 1960, after telling her mother she was going to confession at McAllen’s Sacred Heart Church. Four days later her body was pulled from an irrigation canal.
A priest at the church, Father John Feit, was the prime suspect in Garza’s death. The cleric admitted that he had heard Garza’s confession that evening, and other evidence also linked him to the crime. However, Feit, who now lives in Arizona, was never prosecuted for the murder.
Decades later, Rodriguez challenged long time district attorney Rene Guerra in his run for a ninth term after 32 years in the office. Rodriguez, a former judge, specifically referenced Guerra’s failure to prosecute the old murder case in his campaign.
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