she was highly religious. it was very, very important to her. reporter: 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 a busy easter weekend. kind of a nice guy, but he was a rigid fellow. reporter: dale, a former monk, spent six months with the father at this monastery in missouri, after irene s mother. he was fite s spiritual counselor. and he told him about a young woman he saw before easter. he offered to take her to the rectory. reporter: about sexually
voice. she had a way with children, and she smelled like flowers. reporter: in 1960, irene garza was raped and murdered in texas. the one thing i remember is just screams. reporter: there was a suspect. who do you believe killed irene garza? father john fite. back then, a catholic priest. no evidence in this case points us in any other direction. reporter: so why is he still a free man? by all accounts, irene garza was a remarkable young woman. she kind of broke the mold. reporter: irene s younger
john feit left the priesthood. he has lived a full life. i m gary tuchman with cnn. i want to talk to you about irene garza. good for you. reporter: it s not surprising he doesn t want to talk about irene, because not only do her relatives and dale believe he killed her, so does every police officer and law enforcement agency that s dealt with this case. do you believe you know who the murderer is? we have developed evidence sufficient to probable cause that he was involved in this particular homicide. reporter: but with so much heat, why did the case go cold? early on, why do you think he wasn t prosecuted? a cover-up. reporter: who were they trying to protect? john b. feit.
assaulting her. after fondling her breast, he took her to the basement. he put something over her head. reporter: about her struggle to live. she was saying, i can t breathe. i can t breathe. reporter: and about dumping her lifeless body at the canal. on the way over there, he 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. reporter: even though he knew she was dead? yeah, yeah. reporter: while it was not unusual at the time to deal with criminal priests internally, he says he asked feit about the secular authorities? why was he sent to the monastery in your opinion, not to the police? i asked why are you here and not in prison?
he offered to take her to the rectory. reporter: about sexually assaulting her. after fondling her breast, he took her to the basement. he put something over her head. reporter: about her struggle to live. she was saying, i can t breathe. i can t breathe. reporter: and about dumping her lifeless body at the canal. on the way over there, he 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. reporter: even though he knew she was dead? yeah, yeah. reporter: while it was not unusual at the time to deal with criminal priests internally, he says he asked fite about the secular authorities? why was he sent to the monastery in your opinion, not to the police? i asked why are you here and