Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Irene Garza Pt. 2

Episode Date: September 13, 2023

After the death of Irene Garza in a small Texas town, a massive cover-up ensued, headed by one of the most powerful institutions in the world.This episode originally aired in March 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this murder case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes dramatizations and discussions of rape, murder, and assault. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. April of 1960 marked a turning point for the people of McAllen, Texas. They used to think of their town as a safe place, but recently, that feeling of security had been shaken. Their city was gripped by a dark force. one that lurked in what should have been a sanctuary, the Catholic Church. A young woman named Maria Gera had been assaulted in a nearby house of worship.

She narrowly escaped her attacker. Three weeks later, 25-year-old Irene Garza went to confession at McAllen's Sacred Heart Church, but she never came home. Five days passed before a pair of civilians found her body in a nearby irrigation canal. locals were terrified. Before long, rumors swirled that the culprit in both cases was 27-year-old John Fight, and he wasn't a common criminal. He was a priest. The idea that a trusted official could do something so depraved was almost unimaginable. People in McAllen trusted the church, and sadly, that trust was about to be exploited.

While citizens wanted justice for Maria and Irene, religious authorities had a different aim. It was their job to protect the Catholic Church's reputation. John Fyte made the entire institution look bad, but in the eyes of certain officials, that didn't mean he should face consequences. It meant his story needed to get buried. Welcome to Solved Murders, True Crime Mysteries, a Spotify original from Parcast. I'm your host, Carter Roy. And I'm your host, Wendy McKenzie.

Every Wednesday, we step into the world of true crimes, most fascinating murder cases, and tell the tale of how real-life detectives close the case. You can find episodes of Solve Murders and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free, exclusively on Spotify. This is our second episode of the 1960 murder of Irene Garza. Last week, we followed law enforcement as they investigated Irene's disappearance and murder. Today, we'll explore how the Catholic Church helped John fight evade arrest, leading to a decades-long battle for justice. We have all that and more coming up. Stay with us.

The summer of 1960 was boiling hot in McAllen, Texas. and one person was sweating for more reasons than the weather. 27-year-old John Fyte was suffocating under legal pressure. He was suspected of murdering 25-year-old Irene Garza a few months prior, and he was about to be arrested for assaulting 20-year-old Maria Gera three weeks before that. But John Fyte was a priest. He had the power and influence of the Catholic Church behind him, and religious officials had already hatched a plan to make all of his troubles go away.

Hello, is this Reverend Pavlitsky? Don't say my name on this call, please. Oh, sorry, so, um... We've come up with a geographic solution to your problem. You'll go away while we sort out the impending indictment. Right, okay. Where? We're sending you to a medical center in St. Louis. But won't leaving the state make me a...

A fugitive? No one will know where you've gone. Just stay quiet. We'll take care of the rest. In August of 1960, McCallin authorities officially indicted John for Maria Gera's assault. But by that point, he was already long gone. John had clearly skipped town, and that threw a major wrench in law enforcement's case. Detectives were furious, but Sheriff E. Vickers seemed remarkably unconcerned. The church claims they have no idea where John is. Well, maybe they don't. Oh, come on.

They probably carted him out of town themselves. They told us they'll try to find him. They're lying. What's gotten into you, Sheriff? A couple of months ago, I practically had to hold you back from killing the guy. Now you don't care where he went? I care. But I'm not about to get myself into a tizzy over something that's out of my control.

It's our job to get it under control. It'll get settled whether we're upset or not. so forgive me for choosing a more peaceful path. If we don't convict him for attacking Maria Gera, we're going to have a real hard time arresting him for murdering Irene Garza. You saw what he did to her. He needs to pay. He does, if he's the one that did it.

Vickers' sudden change of heart might have been politically motivated. He was up for re-election in two years, and there was one institution that had the power and public standing to help him keep his job, the Catholic Church. So instead of trying to get justice for Irene, Sheriff Fickers worked with Reverend Pavlitsky and other church authorities, the same men who helped John leave Texas. They couldn't stop John from being charged with assaulting Maria Gera,

but they could try to get him the most lenient sentence possible. And they weren't exactly quiet about it. Pavlitsky wrote letters to other higher-ups in the church explaining what was going on. I had the opportunity to speak with the sheriff about this case. He is a Catholic and stands to lose materially by such a scandal, which suggests we can trust him. The sheriff is of the opinion that the prosecution must be made to see how weak their case is. He has suggested we hire a private detective to highlight any loopholes or discrepancies in the case. Then we can arrange a meeting with the police chief, the prosecuting attorney, the sheriff, and four priests.

There, the prosecution will realize that the church will not take this sitting down. Beyond a letter written by Reverend Pavlitsky, there's no official record of the church actually hiring a private detective or meeting with the police. However, that doesn't mean those things didn't happen. And either way, Pavlitsky and Vickers got the result they wanted. At every turn, John was protected. weeks after his indictment, John returned to Texas. He claimed that being interrogated had caused him to suffer a nervous breakdown,

and he spent some time in a church-run hospital in St. Louis. By September, John had hired an attorney who helped sway the impending trial in his favor. The lawyer managed to get the proceedings moved from McCallon to Austin, Texas. This was a big deal. Locals knew all about the terror John had inflicted. on their community, but rumors about him had yet to reach the state capital. And fortunately for John, another year passed before his case went to trial. He and his attorney likely hoped that with each passing day, the prosecution would grow

more frustrated and their case would weaken. When John's trial finally began in September of 1961, he didn't have any reason to be nervous. He pleaded not guilty to assaulting Maria Gaines. and despite all the evidence against him, the jury couldn't reach a verdict. The judge was forced to declare a mistrial. That meant the prosecution had to find a different way to hold John accountable. Eventually, in March of 1962, they offered him a deal. If he pleaded no contest to a reduced charge, he could avoid another criminal trial.

That would keep John out of the limelight, which was good for both him and the church. So John agreed. As punishment for his crime, he had to pay a $500 fine. It was a considerable amount of money at the time, but it wasn't much in the way of justice for Maria Gera. Plus, it didn't bode well for Irene Garza and her family. Two years had passed since her murder, but law enforcement hadn't managed to get much done, and it didn't look like they were ever going to. As soon as John paid his fine, the Catholic Church whisked him away again, burying the killer in the shadows. Coming up, John Fight lives in exile. And now, back to our story. In 1962, 29-year-old priest John Fight paid a fine for assaulting Maria Guerra. Her case was closed, but Irene Garza's remained open as her family.

Pined for justice, the Catholic Church worked to keep John out of sight. Religious officials sent him to an isolated Roman Catholic monastery in Missouri, where he would only interact with other members of the clergy. He wouldn't be near women at all. A young monk named Dale Tashney was assigned to be John's spiritual counselor. Officials explicitly told Dale that the church was sending him a priest who had murdered a young woman. If Dale had any reservations about working with a killer, he didn't voice them. He'd been taught to obey his superiors without question, so that's exactly what he did. He held regular counseling sessions with John, and they soon turned into confessions.

You know why they sent me here? I know what they've told me. I don't know if it's true. It is. I say that because it feels safe here. as though I could unburden myself. If you think it would help your behavior, then by all means, unburden. It was Holy Saturday, just before Easter. I heard her walk into the sanctuary.

I remember her heels clicking on the floor. Click. And you enjoyed that sound? I did. I do. It made me want to grab her. John told Dale exactly what had happened that evening. He openly admitted to assault and murder.

The only detail he left out was his victim's name. And Dale didn't press him for it. He listened to John's story trying to withhold judgment. Then, after about a year, Dale told church officials that John was ready to leave the monastery. So in 1964, John moved to another facility in New Mexico, called the servants of the paraclete. This institution housed church officials who'd been accused of sexual abuse.

Surrounded by other violent men, John flourished. Over the course of several years, he rose to the rank of superior. This meant he supervised over 80 priests. It was up to him a convicted criminal to decide whether others were fit to resume their jobs. And John let a lot of abusive priests go free. One of the most notable people he released was James Porter, who attorney Mike Rack called

one of the most dangerous and depraved sexually offensive priests ever. At the time, John hoped Porter's problems had been solved. But after leaving the facility, Porter went on to assault dozens of children. In the early 1990s, he pled guilty and was imprisoned for molesting 28 children, but he later admitted that he abused over 100 minors during the 1960s and 70s. In addition to having more authority at servants of the paraclete, John also had more personal freedom. Previously, the church had kept him away from women. But somehow, John managed to meet a partner and fall in love. In 1971, after seven years at the facility, 36-year-old John asked to be released from the

priesthood so he could get married. His request was granted. Over the next two decades, John and his wife had three children. He found a job as an insurance salesman, then worked at a Catholic nonprofit. It seems likely that his family remained unaware of his past, which helped convince him that his dark secrets were going to stay buried. But in the early 1990s, the Catholic Church was rocked by further scandals across the globe. news outlets accused various clergy members of sexual abuse.

In response to this negative publicity, a slew of church officials began to resign, but this only drew more attention to the controversy. It was a media frenzy and people in McAllen, Texas, took notice. Sunny Miller had been the head of crime scene investigations in the city for some time, and he was very familiar with Irene Garza's murder. He hoped the news coverage would be. give him an opportunity to reignite the cold case. Take a look at this.

Another sexual abuse scandal in the church. In every instance, the church covered up the crimes. Sir, I'm telling you, I think that's exactly what happened with Irene Garza. Come on, Miller. Don't bring this up again. I can speak to Father O'Brien, see if he's ready to admit anything from back then. Why would he do that? I don't know.

Remorse? He's got to have regrets about staying quiet. That's assuming he knew anything. Sir, I'm getting close to retirement. For decades, I've had a hunch that Sheriff Vickers worked with the church to let John go free. What's the harm in letting me explore that? You'd be accusing our Sheriff's Department of Collusion, for one. Not to mention you'd be taking on the church, which sounds like a losing battle.

What I'm hearing is you want to use your remaining time to get squashed like a bug and disappoint the Garza yet again. That's not fair. Miller, don't stir up trouble and get a family's hopes up. Until someone produces clear evidence of John Fights's guilt or until he calls us to confess, we have to let this lie. Got it? Sunny Miller's efforts were fruitless, and he retired shortly after in 1996. Around the same time, Irene Garza's parents passed away.

Her cousins remained adamant that John Fite killed her, but no one would listen to them without new evidence. Interest in Irene's story waned yet again, but the public was still interested in the corruption of the Catholic Church. In early 2002, the Boston Globe ran a series of reports on abuse within the institution. Dale Tashney, the man John had confessed to so many years prior, must have seen the stories.

Dale had left the monastery decades prior in the 1960s, and since then, he'd stayed committed to the church's secrecy. But now, something in his thinking finally shifted. He was through covering for John and being complicit in the church's behavior. In April 2002, he made a call that would change everything. San Antonio Police, Homicide Division. Go on. This woman's high heels clicking on the tile and forced to,

her into a basement bathroom. While she was trapped there, he returned to church. He was at the Easter vigil mass while a woman was suffering, terrified. Later, he went back one of the only people who's willing to tell the truth. You're doing the right thing. I can try to track down this case, but 40 years is a long time. What was that victim's name again? Don't know.

Dale's choice to come forward marked a major turning point. but there were still some issues with his claims. Irene was murdered in McAllen, not San Antonio, so the case wasn't in San Antonio's police records. Plus, officers weren't sure they could trust Dale. The explosion of Catholic Church scandals had prompted a number of false accusations, and Dale didn't even know the victim's name. So San Antonio authorities put this statement in a filing cabinet.

It stayed there for seven more months until a Texas ranger named Rocky Milliken stopped by the station. He and another detective named George Sadeler chattered about how busy the Texas Rangers' cold case unit had been. Rocky offhandedly mentioned a murder from 1960. He said it stood out because it happened on Easter weekend and the main suspect was a priest.

Sederer stood up in shock. He pulled out Dale Tashney's statement and realized it matched Rocky's description of the crime. Suddenly, the puzzle pieces fell into place. John fights victim. The one who Dale couldn't name was Irene Garza. Sadler's adrenaline surged. They just might solve Irene's murder after all. Coming up, another confession fuels the case.

Now, back to the story. In November of 2002, San Antonio Detective George Sadler and Texas Ranger Rocky Milliken uncovered new evidence in Irene Garza's murder case. Knowing that Father John Fyte had confessed to another priest propelled the investigation forward, and detectives set out to re-interview people who were around in 1960. They met up with Father Joseph O'Brien, who had been the acting priest at McCallin's Sacred Heart Church when I, Irene was murdered. Father O'Brien, thank you for speaking with us. As I understand it, you were at Sacred Heart the evening that Irene Garza disappeared, correct?

Yes, I was. And when she turned up dead a few days later, did you have any suspects in mind? Yes, I did. I suspected John Fite was involved somehow. And why was that? He returned to the sanctuary later that night with scratches on his hands. He claimed he'd been locked out of the pastoral house and hurt himself climbing in through the balcony. But I knew those were fingernail scratches.

And because Miss Garza was missing, I wondered if she'd been the one doing the scratching. Did you act on the suspicion at all? Yes. In between services on Easter Sunday, I looked in the basement and the attic of the church, wondering if I might find her there. But I didn't see anything. What else can he tell us? That's it.

You didn't confront John? I decided it was best to leave the investigation to the police. I've got folks saying that John confessed everything to you that summer. People say a lot of things, officers. I think I'm finished with this interview. Decades later, O'Brien was still withholding information. It was frustrating for authorities. Without more definitive statements against John Fight,

they were having trouble getting the case in front of a federal grand jury. This was largely because the district attorney, Renee Gera, wasn't interested in pursuing an indictment. It's possible Renee thought Irene's case was too old to be solved, but locals disagreed. McAllen's citizens and police openly denounced the DA's behavior. In March of 2004, after almost a year of back and forth, René Gera finally caved the pressure. He had two of his prosecutors present the case to a grand jury. But the proceedings didn't sit right with many members of the public. It's been ten weeks, and the DA hasn't called in any police officers to testify. No priests

either. Father O'Brien was there that day. How come he's not being asked to give a statement? It's like our own DA doesn't want to see a murderer go to prison. I can't understand it. And yet, I know the guy was a priest that doesn't change anything. It does for some people. While law enforcement was eventually asked to testify in the 11th week of proceedings, no one from the church, Father O'Brien, Dale Tashney, or John Fight was ever summoned. And although the jury was supposed to be impartial, Rene Garra had made it clear in his argument that trying Irene's case wasn't worth the time,

effort or the money. Eventually, the jury agreed with him. In June of 2004, they declined to indict John Fight. It was a huge blow to people who wanted justice for Irene. It felt like the truth was never going to come out. It seems like Father O'Brien and Dale Tashney had been following the case waiting for the justice system to work in Irene's favor, but that simply wasn't happening. They were the only two church officials willing to speak out against John, and they were both getting older. Time was running out. With no other options, they decided to speak directly to Irene's living family members. Shortly after the grand jury proceedings, Dale visited Irene's cousins and apologized for his role in covering up John's actions.

It took Father O'Brien a bit longer, but in 2005, he called Irene. cousin, Noamie, and told her everything. I'm so sorry. Father O'Brien passed away soon after the call. Luckily, Noamie recorded their conversation and played the tape for the police. But even with this additional evidence, the DA still wouldn't bring charges against John. Once again, the people of McAllen were forced to accept that this case would never be solved. And it wasn't for nine more years.

Then, in 2014, a man named Ricardo Rodriguez made Irene's murder and issue in the race for district attorney. Ricardo said that if he were elected, he would re-examine the case. Rodriguez won the election, unseating Renee Gera, and he delivered on his promise. On February 9, 2016, law enforcement arrested 83-year-old John Fight for Irene Garza's murder. John fought the authorities tooth and nail. He tried to avoid being extradited to Texas to get his bond reduced and to get the trial venue changed, but he lost at every turn. No one was protecting him anymore.

John's trial began in late November of 2017. Right away, the prosecution showed evidence that the Catholic Church had conspired to cover up John's actions. Two other women also came forward to say that John had threatened them, suggesting that he might have assaulted or at least intimidated more victims. John declined to testify, but even without his statements, the jury had a solid picture of what he'd done to Irene Garza. On April 16, 1960, Irene Garza walked into McCallin's Sacred Heart Church.

Her high heels clicked along the floor. We can't know exactly what went through John's mind, but suddenly a violent urge overtook him. He led Irene Garza into the rectory, claiming it was a more private location for him to listen to her confession. But as Irene spoke, all John could hear was the sound of her heels, clicking against the tile not moments ago. All he could think about was overpowering her. as soon as Irene finished speaking, he pounced on her. Irene fought back, scratching at him, leaving marks on his hands. He bound her arms and gagged her.

As she struggled to fight back, he groped her breasts. It's possible that Irene lost consciousness in the struggle. From her autopsy, we know that she was comatose when John raped her. Suddenly, John heard footsteps overhead. It was Holy Saturday, and people were, were waiting to give their confessions. He needed to get back to work, back to his position as a moral guard. So he dragged Irene down to the basement, then walked upstairs with his hands still bloodied. As John listened to confessions from the other parishioners, he kept an eye on the door

to the rectory. Although Irene was gagged and possibly unconscious, he worried she could still make enough noise to call attention to herself. Once all the churchgoers had left for the evening, John went back to the basement. He grabbed Irene and forced her into his car. Then he took off towards another location, possibly the pastoral house a few miles away where the priests lived. There he put her into a bathtub and tied a cellophane bag over her head. By this point, Irene was definitely awake. She cried out that she couldn't breathe, but John didn't care. He left her there while he went back to church for midnight mass. When he returned a few hours later, John found Irene motionless. She'd suffocated to death while he was gone. The next day, Easter Sunday,

John needed to get rid of her body. He loaded her into his car and took a short drive, throwing some of her belongings out of the window along the way. Then he stopped at an irrigation canal and dumped her body in, along with the candelabra and a slide viewer. Detectives later speculated that John had used the candelabra as a weapon. As for the slide viewer, some officials speculated that there once might have been photos of Irene or another victim inside. The story was harrowing.

The prosecution recommended. ended a sentence of 57 years, the exact amount of time that had passed since Irene's murder. Since John was 85 now, the prosecution figured that this was basically the equivalent of life in prison. But the jury took it one step further. After six hours of deliberation, they decided on a real life sentence instead. John was sent to the Estelle Supermax Penitentiary in Texas, where he died of natural causes, in February of 2020. Even though John Fyte was ultimately put behind bars, it's arguable whether or not justice was really served.

He lived a life of relative freedom and only spent three years in prison before he died. The damage he caused vastly outweighed the punishment he received. John killed Irene Garza, assaulted Maria Gera, and inflicted incalculable pain on many others. He had threatened at least two other women who had to deal with that fear. He also let James Porter out of the monastery, and James went on to assault hundreds of children.

And John couldn't have done it without the help of the Catholic Church. Officials like Reverend Pavlitsky put the institution's reputation above the safety of their parishioners. They repeatedly covered up priests' crimes and allow dangerous men to prey on innocent people. If nothing else, this case is a reminder that no person and no organization should be above the law. Thanks again for tuning into Solved Murders. We'll be back next Wednesday with a new episode.

You can find all episodes of Solved Murders and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. If we live till next time. Solve Murders, True Crime Mysteries is a Spotify original from Parcast. It is executive produced by Max Cutler, sound designed by Michael Langsner, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Travis Clark.

This episode of Solve Murders was written by Ellie Reed with writing assistance by Karas Allen and Abigail Cannon, fact-checking by Claire Cronin and research. by Mickey Taylor. The amazing cast of voice actors includes Tom Bauer, Marcy Edwards, Brian Green, Joe Hernandez, Melissa Medina, and Charlie Wes. Solve Murders stars Wendy McKenzie and Carter Roy.