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.
naked from the waist up, that he had fondled her breasts. tacheny gave detective saidler numerous details about the murder that had never been made public and even put them in writing. i was convinced that mr. tacheny knew about the murder and that this person had told him about it. rudy jaramillo could not have possibly fed information about the murder to the former monk, says the chief. i knew dale tacheny months before ranger jaramillo ever 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?
they were never called, week after week after week after week. district attorney guerra stands behind his decision not to ask dale tacheny and father o brien to testify in person, and now father o brien is dead. if you could do it over again, could it have made a difference if you allowed o brien to personally take the stand and let the grand jurors see his eyes? could that have made a difference? i don t believe so. i honestly don t believe so. and again, it s not the indictment that i need. i need a conviction, because i don t want to try just anybody just for the sake of it, for the glory, because if i start going for the glory and indictments of very sensational cases, i m going to compromise my integrity and the oath that i took. some people want to glorify themselves through solving cold cases. but i think some people want to bring a murderer to justice. sure. but isn t there some glory and some fame behind it? i m not against glory, and i m
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.
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 keep quiet. john feit left the priesthood.