John Bernard Feit, 85, was convicted in the decades-old murder of Irene Garza, a Texas teacher and beauty queen who had visited his church for confession.
Irene Garza and Fr. Feit are shown below near the time of the murder.
The jury handed down its ruling after deliberating for about 6 1/2 hours at the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg.
Feit was accused of strangling the 25-year-old woman on April 16, 1960 after she visited Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas.
An autopsy determined that Irene Garza, who was Miss All South Texas Sweetheart 1958, was beaten and raped while unconscious and asphyxiated.
Prosecutors presented evidence that elected and church officials suspected Feit of killing the woman but wanted to avoid prosecuting him because it would harm the church’s reputation and elected officials politically.
A former monk also told jurors that Feit confessed to him three years after the killing and showed no remorse.
Feit had been accused of attacking another young woman in a church in a nearby town just weeks before Garza's death. He eventually pleaded no contest and was fined $500. He left the priesthood in 1972.
Full report here.
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