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, texas, had other ideas. the problem with the irene garza case is that you have no credible person that you could put on the stand beyond a reasonable doubt say, this man killed irene garza. how could the d.a. say that? and why?
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. father o brien was 77 when he came forward. he has since died. o brien might have been
church. irene went to confession every saturday. she was highly religious. it was very, very important to her. on that april day in 1960, irene met with father john feit, a 27-year-old visiting priest. he had come to the sacred heart church from a nearby town to help out on the busy easter weekend. kind of a nice guy, but he was a rigid fellow. dale tacheny, a former monk, says he spent six months with father feit at this monastery in missouri after irene s murder. tacheny was feit s spiritual counselor and says that in bits and pieces, he told him about a young woman he saw for confession just before easter. he offered to take her to the rectory. about sexually assaulting her. after fondling her breasts,
feit would n aotwer our questions, but when we interviewed him five years ago, feit had more to say. did you commit the murder of irene garza? interesting question. the answer is no. he also told us what he thought of dale tacheny, the former monk who says feit admitted murdering irene. he says you committed the murder. i think he s demented. what about the priest, father o brien. he says you committed the murder too and he knew you very well. [ speaking latin ] what does that mean, sir? look it up. he was speaking latin with a reference to the late father o brien. it means do not speak ill of the dead. now 80 years old, feit has done volunteer work at this local catholic food bank. i don t care what type of person he s become nowadays. he s helping the poor, he s doing this, but deep down inside, there s john b. feit
and state of mind. father o brien was 77 when he came forward. he has since died. o brien might have been credible in some aspects of the case, but because of his senility and advanced age, the question here is whether he could be reliable. i felt that he was credible. i think he had a remarkable memory. rudy jaramillo, retired lieutenant from the texas rangers, met with father o brien when he was investigating the murder. so, you judged father o brien to be credible? yes, sir. did you think he was possibly senile? no. mcallen chief of police victor rodriguez agrees. do you believe father o brien was a good, credible witness? absolutely. the d.a. also said he did not believe the former monk, dale tacheny. tacheny was not a witness that i could rely on.