i asked, why are you here and not in prison, and he said, simply the church protected me. the autopsy states that irene showed evidence of recent trauma, sexual intercourse, and trauma to the head. evidence of strangulation could not be found, but suffocation could have been carried out by placing a cloth over the mouth and nose, especially if irene was unconscious. the subject was dead when placed into the canal. i believe he killed her, and i believed that then. i had no doubt about it because he said he did. so you have no doubt at all that john feit killed irene garza? correct. but dale tacheny did not come forward with any of this until four decades later when he said the guilt became too much to
parting ways with a heavy burden that he had carried for a long time. father o brien died in 2005, but before his death noemi, this is father o brien. i ll call you later. he spoke with irene s cousin about what he knew, and she recorded the conversation. so he told you also, sir, that he had killed her? yes. oh, my god. well, i suspected from the very beginning. we searched the attic and searched the basement looking for her. that s how suspicious we were. and father o brien told noemi that the church sent feit away for a reason. we knew he was dangerous. yeah? so, they shipped him off to a trappist monastery. and then there was the second witness, dale tacheny, the former monk at our lady of the assumption monastery in missouri who finally decided to end his
come forward with striking details about the murder of irene garza. investigators thought they could at last close the case. we thought at that point in time that we had reached that threshold of probable cause. i had prepared an affidavit for an arrest warrant. so, you were ready to arrest john feit for the murder of irene garza? yes, sir. but one man was not convinced and never has been. you have no credible person back in 04 and even before that you could put on the stand that would convict feit. rene guerra is the district attorney for hidalgo county, texas. he says he s not protecting the church. he just doesn t believe the two witnesses, father o brien and dale tacheny, partially because they both changed their stories after years of silence, and he questions father o brien s age and state of mind.
when the grand jury was convened, father o brien and the monk, dale tacheny, were prepared to testify to reveal what they say john feit told them about the murder. they certainly would have been the star witnesses, but the district attorney never called for them. instead, the grand jury only had a transcript of what tacheny and o brien told police. and the main suspect, john feit, he was never subpoenaed to testify. eventually, the jury voted not to indict john feit. irene s family was crushed. they re supposed to be representing the people of the state of texas. they re supposed to be representing the victims. all we wanted was a grand jury to hear the facts. if they don t build it on their own, then so be it, but it just seemed like he was hampering the evidence to be presented because
it was obvious that he was parting ways with a heavy burden that he had carried for a long time. father o brien died in 2005, but before his death noemi, this is father o brien. i ll call you later. he spoke with irene s cousin about what he knew, and she recorded the conversation. so he told you also, sir, that he had killed her? yes. oh, my god. well, i suspected from the very beginning. we searched the attic and searched the basement looking for her. that s how suspicious we were. and father o brien told noemi that the church sent feit away for a reason. we knew he was dangerous. yeah? so, they shipped him off to a trappist monastery. and then there was the second witness, dale tacheny, the former monk at our lady of the assumption monastery in missouri who finally decided to end his