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 silence. i was told a priest was coming to the monastery who had murdered a young woman. and what was that priest s name? father john feit. at that time in 1963, you re not thinking, why don t you call the cops? it never entered my mind. how come? we were taught to obey and to
do as a superior tells us. tacheny was assigned to be feit s spiritual counselor. but i remember in telling, it was very close to easter, and a young woman came to him to confession. tacheny told police that feit gave up more details over time about sexually assaulting irene and holding her bound and gagged. he put something over her head and put her in the bathtub. this is what he told you? yes. and as he was leaving, she was saying, i can t breathe, i can t breathe. later on that day, he came back and she was dead in the bathtub. with father o brien and dale tacheny, the former monk, finally coming forward, the police were ready to make an arrest, but one man in mcallen,
knew about dale tacheny and the details of the case. i certainly found him credible enough that i was convinced that he knew about a murder. but guerra says he doesn t believe saidler either, and despite the new witnesses, the d.a. told the family and law enforcement that he would not take the case forward. so, guerra fought your request to bring the case before a grand jury, correct? yes. what did he say to you? when pigs fly. it can t be prosecuted. it can t be prosecuted. old case, old people. and he basically told me to my face with a finger in my face, saying he will never be indicted. you know, it s an unfortunate statement that i made. about the pigs flying. yes, because it comes across that i m insensitive and callous, which is not true. it was not until irene s
family organized vigils and demonstrations outside the courthouse that the district attorney in 2004 finally agreed to bring the case before a grand jury. 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.
her. after fondling her breasts, he took her to the basement. about keeping her bound and gagged. he put something over her head. about her struggle to live. she was saying, i can t breathe, i can t breathe. and about dumping her lifeless body at the canal. on the way over there, father feit said that he patted her on her breasts, she was in the back seat, and was saying to her, irene, everything will be okay, everything will be okay, irene. even though john feit knew she was dead? yeah, yeah. while it was not unusual at the time for the church to deal with criminal priests internally, tacheny says he asked feit about the secular authorities. but why was he sent to the monastery, in your opinion, and not to the police? i asked, why are you here and