EDINBURG (TX)
San Antonio Express-News
December 7, 2017
By Aaron Nelsen
[Note: See also a PDF of the original Pawlicki letter and See also South Texas DA Refuses to Pursue Ex-Priest, by Brooks Egerton, Dallas Morning News, November 21, 2004.]
EDINBURG — Former priest John Feit was convicted Thursday of murder with malice aforethought in the killing of a beauty queen in 1960 and now faces a sentence of up to 99 years.
Sentencing begins today with victim impact statements.
Jurors deliberated about six hours Thursday before deciding Feit, now 85, committed murder in the death of Irene Garza, a 25-year-old schoolteacher, whose death during Holy Week that year has haunted South Texas.
Feit, who was 27 at the time of the killing, sat stone-faced as the verdict was read. He declined to comment as deputies escorted him out of the courtroom.
“Justice was served,” Noemi Sigler, Garza’s cousin, said after the proceedings. “Irene finally got her day in court. Now she can rest — her story has been told.”
Members of Garza’s family lingered in 92nd state District courtroom after the verdict was read, tearfully embracing McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez, a witness during the trial, and District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez, who fulfilled a 2014 campaign pledge to reopen the case.
“Today pigs are flying, a little bit of snow, but pigs are flying,” said Lynda de la Vina, another Garza cousin. “We’ve spoken truth to the power of the Catholic Church, and to the former political leaders of Hidalgo County.”
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