1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 Bat bi hiru lau 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Watch your back, watch your back 3 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Ertzainza's gonna get you 4 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,000 Watch your back, watch your back 5 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Ertzainza's gonna get you 6 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Watch your back, watch your back 7 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Oh, there's a crime here 8 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:19,000 It's a coming from the Euskal Herria 9 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Gotta wash those red hands 10 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,000 It's the crimes of the basquelands 11 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:32,000 It's the crimes of the basquelands 12 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,000 Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad 13 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,000 Some very nice quince gin 14 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,000 My sister, by the way 15 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,000 My mom tried it, it was very nice, she loved it 16 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,000 So welcome to our podcast 17 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,000 Yes, we cover crimes in the Basque lands 18 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Which means here in the Basque country 19 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,000 Or around the world 20 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Everywhere in the world 21 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,000 Where there might be Basque people 22 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Either committing crimes or being victims of crimes 23 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Exactly, yeah exactly 24 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:53,000 Anywhere they went 25 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,000 Like that funny little line says 26 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,000 Have you seen the world map of Popao? 27 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Yes 28 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Popao is just a little part of the whole Basque world 29 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Yes 30 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000 Alright, well this week's episode 31 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,000 If we shall get into it, shall we? 32 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,000 Let's 33 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 This week's episode is a part two 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,000 So if you haven't listened to part one 35 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,000 You can go back and listen to that 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,000 So just a little disclaimer before we begin 37 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:22,000 This story involves sexual assault 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,000 And child sexual abuse 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,000 And of course murder 40 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000 So listen with discretion 41 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,000 This story also has a lot to do with the Catholic Church 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,000 And I don't know if Douglas, do you want to tell us anything about 43 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,000 The Catholic Church's presence here in the Basque country? 44 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Yeah, I mean it is always very complicated 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 When we think about it specifically 46 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,000 But in general, it's a southern European country 47 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,000 And like most southern European countries 48 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,000 The Catholic Church is the most powerful church 49 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Reign supreme, yeah 50 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 And has been that for centuries 51 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:10,000 You know, there has not been a lot of protestant movements 52 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,000 In the Basque country 53 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,000 Like perhaps we have seen in France or other areas like that 54 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000 But there's also a lot of ambiguity 55 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,000 When we start to look a bit closer at the Basque country 56 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,000 Because the fact that the mountains protected the language 57 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Also protected the Basque people over history 58 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000 From a lot of those kind of outside influences 59 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000 Like we might not have paid so much attention 60 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,000 When we were talking about the witches episode, for example 61 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:45,000 But that was a very interesting kind of side story 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,000 Towards the story of the Catholic religion here in the Basque country 63 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,000 Where people were accusing the women of being witches 64 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,000 In a way because they weren't sure how Christian they were, right? 65 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:05,000 In the sense that also there were leftover pagan beliefs in the mountains 66 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 Let's say, you know, because they were harder to reach 67 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:16,000 Yeah, it's hard to say how embedded it was until let's say the 18th century 68 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Even in the 18th century, as we already talked as well in that episode 69 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,000 There was happening this... 70 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Inquisition? 71 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,000 Thank you, Inquisition, exactly 72 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,000 When we read about it, there's like a whole lot of reasons 73 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,000 Why you could have the Inquisition, right? 74 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:39,000 One of the reasons is of course to strengthen the Catholic Church 75 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Kind of its power over people 76 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:47,000 But it's hard to take that apart, for example 77 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,000 When we're talking about a kingdom that's formed of different kingdoms 78 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,000 And where they're trying to impose their power on those other kingdoms 79 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,000 Just after having conquered them 80 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,000 If we think about like the 13th or... 81 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Well, 14th or 15th centuries basically 82 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:09,000 So there's a lot of layers and as you can see the Basque country is kind of central in it 83 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,000 Over the centuries of course after Inquisition 84 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Because it was so strong here and it lasted for so, so long 85 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:22,000 I think it finished I think in 1820s I think is when they officially finished it 86 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Ended the Inquisition, okay 87 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:29,000 You know, so after this process everybody wants to be as Christian as possible 88 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,000 That's number one priority 89 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,000 Let's not get killed by some crazy people 90 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,000 Right, let's hold on to our property and our... 91 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Yeah, yeah, and so again the Basque country, you know 92 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,000 Over the centuries like today we hear like 93 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,000 It was the purest of the purest of Christians 94 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Right 95 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,000 Well, what was that? That was clearly a reaction to that initial kind of accusation 96 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,000 That we weren't Christian enough that we were practicing 97 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,000 Religion, paganism in the mountains and things like that, right? 98 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,000 So it's a direct kind of response to that 99 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,000 Over the centuries what's also very complicated when we think about 100 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,000 The Basque country is we have kind of that political power 101 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:16,000 And so when the king tries to take away power from the Basque country 102 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:22,000 A number of times the Basque country used the church to protect them 103 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,000 Themselves, saying no we're good Christians 104 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,000 We shouldn't be treated unfairly 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,000 So you see there's lots of issues already 106 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:32,000 Right 107 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,000 So clearly yes 108 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Like everything 109 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,000 Very complicated 110 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:44,000 Yeah, but it has been a very, very big force in the Basque country 111 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:49,000 And you know maybe to wrap up this section in a slightly positive note 112 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000 We have to remember that it ended up being quite important during the dictatorship 113 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,000 In terms of the survival of Basque language 114 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Yeah 115 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,000 So they were able to preach in Basque at church 116 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:05,000 And people at least were able to sing always in Basque in church 117 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,000 As long as it had to do with church, right? 118 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:08,000 Yeah 119 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Yeah 120 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,000 So and you know, it wasn't all bad let's say 121 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,000 Okay 122 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,000 And the reason I asked Douglas to go into that is because you know this story 123 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,000 If you haven't listened to part one 124 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,000 The Catholic Church is very large in this story and 125 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,000 One of the protagonists 126 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:30,000 Yeah 127 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:35,000 All right, well we're going to conclude the story today of the death of Irene Garza 128 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:44,000 When we left off, Irene Garza had gone missing after attending confession on April 16th, 1960 129 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:49,000 The Saturday before Easter Sunday at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas 130 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Her body was discovered floating in an irrigation canal in the outskirts of town six days later 131 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,000 Yeah, terrible 132 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:00,000 It was clearly a murder and it appeared as though she'd also been sexually assaulted 133 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,000 But now I'm going to take a little turn 134 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,000 So now let's go to Edenbert, Texas 135 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:06,000 Okay 136 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:13,000 A small town 12 miles from McAllen at another Catholic Church also called Sacred Heart 137 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,000 Oh my gosh, I'm holding on to my chapella already 138 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Okay, so it's March 23rd, 1960 139 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 Three weeks before Irene was killed 140 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:28,000 And a 20-year-old college student by the name of Maria America Guerra 141 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,000 Wow, that's a cool name 142 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,000 Right 143 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,000 She went into the church 144 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,000 I mean for those anglophones listening, guerra means war 145 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:39,000 War, right 146 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:40,000 Yeah 147 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,000 It's a 148 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:42,000 America Guerra, right 149 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,000 Yeah, it's a surname in Portuguese as well 150 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,000 But like the whole name is pretty cool 151 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,000 All right, so she went into the church 152 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:56,000 She must have been there for some quiet time or she just wanted to pray because it was virtually empty 153 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,000 when she knelt down in one of the pews near the front of the church 154 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:09,000 I say virtually empty because she did notice a young man with dark hair and horn-rimmed glasses sitting alone in one of the back pews 155 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,000 What was it, the 40s or 50s again? I forget 156 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,000 1960 157 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,000 60s, very 60s 158 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,000 Yeah, the horn-rimmed glasses 159 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Yeah 160 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:21,000 She thought this was the same man she had seen earlier that afternoon 161 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:25,000 She'd caught him watching her in the parking lot from his blue and white sedan 162 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:26,000 Torji 163 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Mm-hmm 164 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:33,000 She dismissed any creepy vibes she was getting because she assured herself she was in the house of God 165 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Sorry, I'm still shocked by the blue and white sedan 166 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,000 It's like again, 60s, no? 167 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:39,000 Yeah 168 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:40,000 Hilarious 169 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:47,000 So Maria went up to the altar, knelt at the communion rail and began to pray the rosary 170 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:55,000 Seconds into her rosary, she felt someone grab her from behind who was trying to put a damp rag over her mouth 171 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,000 Oh my gosh, yuck 172 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:05,000 She screamed and fell backward and as she struggled with her attacker, she realized it was the man from the back of the church 173 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:13,000 He tried to muffle her screams by putting his hands over her mouth, but she fought him and bit down on his fingers drawing blood 174 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:14,000 Good girl 175 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,000 Angered, he threw her into a wall and she took this opportunity to escape 176 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,000 So she ran out of a side door crying and screaming for help 177 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:24,000 Poor thing 178 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:30,000 She went to the police to report this attack and what she felt was an attempt at a sexual assault 179 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,000 Mm-hmm 180 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:40,000 While being interviewed for her sworn statement to investigators, Maria felt ashamed to admit to them that she thought her attacker might have been a priest 181 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:41,000 Oh wow 182 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,000 Yeah 183 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:48,000 He was wearing the black pants the priest wore and it was just her general impression of him 184 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:49,000 Mm-hmm 185 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Mm-hmm 186 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:56,000 Maria's case stalled until the murder of Irene at another church piqued their interest 187 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,000 Yeah, 16 kilometers away, oh sorry, miles 188 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,000 12 kilometers away, or 12 miles away 189 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,000 Maybe I was right in kilometers 190 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:02,000 Miles 191 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,000 So maybe, yeah, who knows, I didn't do the math 192 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,000 No, I wasn't either, I was just a misremembered 193 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:20,000 Not only did the two cases coincide at a Catholic church, but a priest with dark hair and horn-rimmed glasses came forward to claim the slide viewer they'd found in the canal where Irene's body was dumped 194 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,000 The glasses 195 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Yeah 196 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,000 I want him to look at his hand now 197 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,000 Yeah 198 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,000 The investigators now started to think that the two cases might be linked 199 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:48,000 Whispers around McAllen and Edenburg among townsfolk were also pinning both crimes on a priest, but everyone involved in both the rumor mill around town, or sorry, the rumor mill around town, and within the police department couldn't bring themselves to imagine that a man of God could possibly be the culprit 200 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:58,000 A friend of Irene's who attended mass after her funeral said, quote, the feeling was that if you wanted to remain Catholic you better not discuss it, end quote 201 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:07,000 In fact, at that very mass the parishioners were sternly warned to not, quote, bear witness against any member of the clergy 202 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:17,000 She went on to add that, quote, the priest at Our Lady of Sorrows said he knew that rumors were going around about a priest being involved in Irene's murder 203 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:24,000 He told us it is impossible that a priest would commit a crime like this, don't speak of it, don't even let yourselves think it 204 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,000 That's so bullying 205 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,000 Well, yeah, it's horrible 206 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:30,000 Totally 207 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:31,000 Yeah, because, yeah 208 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,000 Totally, it's like, no, no, no, don't even talk about it, don't even think about it 209 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:45,000 If you want to maintain like an authoritarian hold on a community you also don't want them to talk, bad against the hierarchy, right? 210 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,000 Very good point, very good point, that's exactly what they are, right? 211 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:59,000 Instead of the, I mean, I'm not a Christian so my interpretation of it is suspect at least, but you know, definitely the Protestant 212 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,000 It's a way to maintain control, right? 213 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:13,000 Yeah, but like, yeah, from the beginning if you just look at the basis the Protestants are people who believe that you are allowed to read the Bible and decide what the word is saying 214 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:20,000 Whereas the Catholics rule is no, you don't interpret it, the priest interprets it 215 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,000 We interpret it, yeah 216 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,000 You just shut up and accept it 217 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:23,000 Yeah 218 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,000 Which is very, what was the word you used? 219 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:26,000 Authoritarian 220 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,000 Authoritarian 221 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:30,000 Ouch 222 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,000 Ouch 223 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Okay, so, however, this did not stop the detectives on the case from doing their jobs and they began looking more closely at the town's newest member of the clergy 224 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,000 Ten points, detectives 225 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,000 Bueno, bueno 226 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,000 I mean, at least so far 227 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,000 You say that now, but just wait 228 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,000 At least so far 229 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:59,000 So, John Fite was a 27 year old priest who had just finished up his seminary training in San Antonio, Texas 230 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:04,000 They knew very little about him, but his name just kept popping up in their investigation 231 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:15,000 He'd come to the Rio Grande Valley for a year of pastoral training where he would perform communions and baptisms 232 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:22,000 He was described as polite, intelligent, and could easily perform his sermons in fluent Spanish 233 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:23,000 Oh 234 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:32,000 But to the parishioners at the Sacred Heart, he came across as a bit standoffish and as someone who kept to himself 235 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:43,000 This was in stark contrast to the assistant pastor, Father Joseph O'Brien, who was warm and amiable and seemed to rather enjoy his duties at the church 236 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:47,000 Fite seemed quite ambivalent about his calling as a priest 237 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:52,000 When he was asked why he joined the priesthood, he said, quote, I just wanted to give it a try 238 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,000 Sounds like an American 239 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,000 No offense 240 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,000 None taken 241 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,000 I'm all for trying things 242 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,000 I'm not sure if I'm up for trying a Catholic church though 243 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,000 Let's give it a try 244 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,000 Hey, he's an adventurous soul 245 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:19,000 In the days following the disappearance of Irene, he, along with his fellow priests and parishioners present that Saturday night, were questioned by police 246 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:25,000 He was assisting the clergy that night, listening to confessions and taking part in the midnight mass 247 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:33,000 He admitted to speaking privately with Irene in the rectory, claiming that she had wanted to take confession in a more private setting 248 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:37,000 The other priests viewed this conduct as rather inappropriate 249 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:46,000 Several churchgoers recalled that Fite's confessional line was very slow going and that he seemed to be absent for long periods of time 250 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:53,000 His fellow priests gathered after the midnight mass to have coffee and noticed that Fite had scratches on his hands and arms 251 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000 Oh 252 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,000 In early May, they summoned John Fite for questioning 253 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:07,000 When asked about his slide viewer, or asked him about how his slide viewer ended up in the canal, he couldn't give them an explanation 254 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,000 So they questioned him about the night that Irene went missing 255 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,000 He gave them a rather meticulous account of his actions that night 256 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:23,000 He confirmed that he had gone to hear Irene's confession in private, but that he last saw her around 7.15 when they both left the rectory 257 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:30,000 He then said that he spent the rest of the evening hearing confessions and returning to the rectory twice to smoke cigarettes 258 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,000 Nice 259 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:33,000 Yeah, a brief spec in the day 260 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,000 There's a few photos of him with cigarettes in his hand 261 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,000 Oh, really? 262 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Yeah 263 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:45,000 He went on to say that his glasses broke at some point because he had a habit of fiddling with them while listening to confessions 264 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:57,000 So he left again to retrieve his other pair back at his residence, which was at the Pastoral House of the Oblate Fathers, five miles away in San Juan 265 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:06,000 As for the scratches on his arms and hands, he explained this away by saying that when he arrived, he found himself locked out 266 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:12,000 So he had to climb up the wall to a second-story balcony by propping a wooden barricade against the building 267 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,000 Oh my gosh 268 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:22,000 He said it was then that he scratched up his arms and hands and received an even deeper cut on his index and middle finger from the bricks on the building 269 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,000 He's not used bricks very much in his life, has he? 270 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,000 He's usually scratchy 271 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,000 He's climbing a wall 272 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,000 He don't fricking cut you, he's scratchy 273 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:39,000 He told police that he'd been troubled after finding out that the woman he'd taken to the rectory for confession had gone missing 274 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:47,000 Easter Sunday was a busy day for him. He'd performed two masses that morning and another in the late afternoon, followed by baptisms 275 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:56,000 When he returned to the rectory to retrieve his suit and collar, he ran into a priest who asked him if he would speak with Irene's parents, Josephina and Nicholas 276 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:03,000 They were desperate for information about their missing daughter and had heard that he was the priest who had heard her confession the night before 277 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:08,000 Oh my gosh, I mean, I already, he's guilty 278 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:17,000 And like to think of that situation, it's so cruel, right? 279 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:24,000 Their parents are talking to the killer of their daughter and he's just pretending to be a nice little boy 280 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:31,000 I mean, it's so fucked up, so fucked up 281 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,000 It gets worse 282 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,000 Oh my gosh 283 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,000 I don't have more chapella to hold on to 284 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,000 Yeah, hold on, hold on to that chapella tight 285 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,000 I need three chapella's right now 286 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Jesus 287 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:51,000 So he told police, quote, they wanted to know if I had perhaps said anything which might have upset or disturbed their daughter 288 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,000 I replied in the negative, end quote 289 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:59,000 He claimed that he didn't return to his residence in San Juan after speaking with them 290 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,000 He said, quote, my talk with the girl's parents had disturbed me 291 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:08,000 Perhaps I had said something unintentionally that might have upset this girl 292 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:15,000 At any rate, it seemed that no one had seen or heard from her since she left the rectory that Saturday night since she talked to me 293 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,000 I was worried and drove around aimlessly for a while, end quote 294 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,000 As if, as if, he's trying to look for an escape 295 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,000 Alibi, alibi 296 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,000 You should have thought of that first 297 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,000 He doesn't listen to our podcast 298 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:35,000 No, there was no True Crime podcast back in the day, 1960s 299 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:42,000 Fait was given a series of polygraph tests and initially the McAllen police said that he had passed them 300 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,000 But it later came out that the results were inconclusive 301 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,000 They go back and forth whether that is believable or not, right? 302 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,000 Well, yeah, it can't be used in court because it's not concrete evidence 303 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000 Because it could be someone's... 304 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:01,000 It's basically measuring your blood pressure and stuff 305 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,000 So you could just be nervous because you're talking to the cops 306 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000 The investigation hit many roadblocks 307 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:12,000 Particularly because their main suspect was a man of the cloth in a deeply Catholic community 308 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,000 And Fait knew it 309 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:20,000 One US Border Patrol agent, Harry Cecil, questioned Fait about the murder for 12 hours 310 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:25,000 Fait told him, quote, you'll never convict me of anything, end quote 311 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,000 Oh my gosh, no, he's bragging about it 312 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000 What a dick 313 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,000 Yeah 314 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,000 When Irene's parents became frustrated by the lack of progress in the case 315 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:41,000 They confronted the priests at the Sacred Heart Church where they were told by Father O'Brien 316 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,000 That if Fait had done anything wrong, the church would punish him 317 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:50,000 And that, quote, church punishment was greater than any sentence he would receive in court 318 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,000 Yeah, he'd be moved to another state 319 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,000 Poor boy, fucking dickheads, oh my gosh 320 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:03,000 So, McCallan's chief of police, Clint Moosey, believed Fait to be guilty of the murder 321 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:08,000 But he was transferred to an out-of-town precinct before completing the investigation 322 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:14,000 And the lead investigator on the case simply wouldn't believe that a priest could have committed such a crime 323 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,000 How far, how long after? 324 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,000 These are the months following 325 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,000 So, 34, 35 months, okay 326 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,000 So, shall we take a break here? 327 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,000 Sure, let's do this, I mean, OMG 328 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,000 OMG 329 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:31,000 See you guys in a minute 330 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:39,000 We're back 331 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:45,000 So, you know, hitting a wall in the Irene Garza case 332 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:52,000 They brought Fait in again to ask him about his movements on the day that Maria was attacked in Niedenberg 333 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,000 Oh, yeah, good move 334 00:21:54,000 --> 00:22:01,000 So, in his sworn statement, he admitted to being in the very church on the day that Maria was attacked 335 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,000 He's cocky now 336 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:12,000 He claimed that he had gone there to speak with a priest at the church's rectory before entering the church to kneel at a back pew to say his rosary 337 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:21,000 When asked about the car he was driving, he said it was a 1956 blue and white Ford sedan 338 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:22,000 Oh my gosh 339 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:34,000 He insisted that he had left Niedenberg at least an hour before Maria had been attacked because he needed to return to the Pastoral House in San Juan to ring the 530 bell 340 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,000 He had a job to do 341 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000 Supposedly 342 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Investigators had learned from other interviews that around this time Fait's finger had been badly cut 343 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:52,000 When asked about it, he said that on the day before going to Niedenberg, he had gotten it caught in a mimeograph machine 344 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,000 Mime? What does that again? 345 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,000 I had to look it up myself 346 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,000 Thank you 347 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:01,000 Thank you for asking because I thought Douglas is probably going to ask me what the hell a mimeograph machine is 348 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,000 So it's like a way of doing like quick printing 349 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,000 It's like quick printing press 350 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,000 Right 351 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:09,000 Sort of thing 352 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:17,000 You could put like a stenciling type thing machine where you have to have the rollers like slide out whatever you want 353 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,000 I remember what it is 354 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000 My aunt used to use that 355 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 It mines whatever you want to graph onto something 356 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,000 To make pamphlets and shit 357 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Yeah 358 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:32,000 Okay, so detectives went to check on Fait's alibis on the day in question 359 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:39,000 Several priests interviewed told them that Father Fait had not returned on time to ring the 530 bell 360 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:44,000 And that his finger wasn't injured until after the night of Maria's attack 361 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,000 Remember she bit his fucking finger 362 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Yeah, at least these priests are not lying out their elbows like they would normally 363 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,000 Yeah 364 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,000 Good to hear 365 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,000 In addition, they corroborated Maria's description of the clothing he was wearing 366 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,000 As did another witness who had seen the attacker fleeing the church 367 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,000 Oh, the pieces are getting together 368 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,000 All falling into place 369 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:04,000 So good, so good 370 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:11,000 When detectives brought Maria and the eyewitness in to see if they could pick the assailant out of a police lineup 371 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,000 They both chose John Fait out of a lineup 372 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,000 So it was the girl who was attacked and who else? 373 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,000 And then the witness that saw the attacker fleeing the church 374 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,000 Fleeing, oh, excellent 375 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,000 Yeah 376 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,000 So probably saw Maria run out screaming and like what, what's going on there? 377 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,000 And then saw him run out 378 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:34,000 And get into his blue and white sedan and drive away 379 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:39,000 I can picture one of these crazy things with like the fins at the back 380 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,000 Yeah 381 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,000 And the pointy red lights 382 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,000 Those are cool cars though 383 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,000 They look gorgeous to me 384 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,000 Those cars from the 60s, yeah 385 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:58,000 On August 10th, 1961, the Hidalgo County grand jury indicted John Fait for the assault with the intent to rape Maria Guerra 386 00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,000 Good 387 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:04,000 But when they went to the headquarters of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate 388 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,000 There's lots of these names in here, right? 389 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,000 Sure, I mean 390 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,000 To inquire as to his whereabouts, you know, to arrest him 391 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,000 They were told by church officials that he had left the state and they declared him a fugitive 392 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,000 What? 393 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:24,000 He did, however, surrender himself weeks later, stating that he'd been hospitalized after having suffered from a nervous breakdown 394 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,000 Brought on by all the police interrogations 395 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,000 Poor baby 396 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,000 Well, he's going to try out jail soon 397 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,000 See how that feels as opposed to the Catholic Church 398 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,000 Hold on to your chapella, Douglas 399 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,000 Hold on to your chapella 400 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:41,000 Oh, oh 401 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,000 I can see the ending of this episode also being 402 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,000 Now he is a bishop in the Vatican, blah, blah, blah 403 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:53,000 Okay, okay, I'm going to readjust my expectations 404 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,000 So, a fight went on trial on September 12th, 1961 405 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:05,000 This trial was declared a mistrial because the jury was deadlocked, nine to three, in favor of conviction 406 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,000 So, sidebar, okay? 407 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,000 Yeah, why the fuck do we not just kill these last three people? 408 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,000 Nope, you have to have the unanimous 409 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,000 They have to have the unanimous, that's ridiculous 410 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:21,000 So this is my sidebar, so comparison to the American judicial system and that of Spain 411 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:22,000 Okay 412 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,000 I learned from my legal consultant and friend of the pod, Gisela 413 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,000 Hi, Gisela, if you're listening 414 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,000 Yeah 415 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,000 That the juries in Spain are made up of nine members and two alternates 416 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:39,000 In order to convict on a guilty verdict, you need a seven to nine vote 417 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,000 So, a majority 418 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:42,000 Seven out of nine 419 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:43,000 Yep 420 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Not two nine, no 421 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:51,000 But on a non-guilty verdict, which I guess they make a difference between, the verdict, it has to be five to nine 422 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:52,000 So, if you're 423 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,000 Five out of nine 424 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,000 Yes 425 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,000 Five to nine seems like it's five votes against nine votes 426 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,000 Five voting in one way, nine, out of the nine 427 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:01,000 Yeah, yeah 428 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Out of nine 429 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,000 You say it in a weird way 430 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,000 Sorry 431 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:13,000 So, in the American system, you're declared guilty or not guilty, right? 432 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:18,000 And in the verdict, and it must be unanimous among all jury members 433 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,000 Okay, wow 434 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000 If it's not, it's a mistrial, so they have to try it again 435 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,000 Oh my gosh 436 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,000 They have to do the whole trial all over again 437 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,000 It just smells like another waste of money 438 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,000 The US is great at that, eh? 439 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,000 They're good at spending money, yeah 440 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,000 Yeah, that's what they're doing 441 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:34,000 Okay, I didn't work 442 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,000 Let's try it again 443 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,000 Let's do it again 444 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:37,000 All right 445 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,000 Pun intended 446 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:45,000 So, in the case of our priest, he received a mistrial as the verdict wasn't unanimous 447 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:57,000 And rather than face another criminal trial, on March 28th, 1962, while in his black priest habit, Father Fite pled no contest 448 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,000 So, what is a no contest plea, you might ask 449 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,000 Yeah, I mean, I've never heard of that 450 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,000 I'll tell you 451 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,000 I mean, I'll read you the official definition from Wikipedia 452 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:07,000 Let's go 453 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:12,000 So, a no contest plea is also known as a no lo contendere plea 454 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:19,000 Which is one in which the defendant does not admit guilt but accepts punishment as if they had pled guilty 455 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:25,000 This type of plea is often used when the defendant wants to avoid a lengthy trial or a public admission of guilt 456 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,000 So, basically, it's like, do you have enough evidence to convict me? 457 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,000 Sure 458 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:31,000 And I am not able to fight it 459 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:37,000 Okay, so his plea of no contest was to the reduced charges of aggravated assault 460 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,000 And his defense stressed that in taking this deal, it was by no means an admission of guilt 461 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,000 So, it was only related to Maria Guerra 462 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,000 Yeah 463 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,000 That's terrible 464 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:50,000 Yeah, that's what the trial was about, was this attack on Maria Guerra 465 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,000 So, what, like, that's nothing, like what, like a few months in jail? 466 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,000 So, no, what do you think happened to him? 467 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:58,000 Community service 468 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,000 No, not even that 469 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:01,000 Not even? 470 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:02,000 Not even that 471 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:03,000 What? 472 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,000 He walked away with a $500 fine 473 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,000 So, $500, what do you think it is today? I want you to guess 474 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,000 A laptop 475 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,000 But in dollars, give me in dollars 476 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,000 A good laptop, let's say $3,000 477 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,000 $5,000 478 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,000 It's a better laptop but it's still a laptop 479 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,000 Yeah 480 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:23,000 Fucking bastards 481 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:24,000 I know 482 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,000 Sorry 483 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:30,000 When the court asked if he had anything to say, he said, quote, nothing 484 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,000 And he even claimed that he hadn't understood what he had pleaded to 485 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,000 He understood it 486 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,000 I'm assuming that the church paid his fine 487 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,000 But, you know, I could 488 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:41,000 On top of that 489 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:42,000 No, no, no, I don't have 490 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,000 This is my own assumption 491 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,000 No, you're probably right 492 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,000 You're probably right 493 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,000 Because I couldn't find any information to find, to confirm that, either way 494 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,000 But, you know, he's a priest, so what money is he earning? He's not earning money 495 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:54,000 He doesn't have money 496 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,000 I'm sure you do 497 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,000 I don't think you earn money 498 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:57,000 You get a salary 499 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,000 Do you think? I don't know, do you think? 500 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,000 As far as I know, yeah 501 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:02,000 Like, how do you go get a coffee? 502 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,000 They have little Pope cards 503 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,000 Well, they probably give you like a stipend, or I don't know 504 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,000 Exactly, that's a salary 505 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,000 Okay 506 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:10,000 Right? 507 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:11,000 I guess so 508 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,000 Like a minimum living, what is it, like 509 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,000 Yeah, I guess he had to put gasoline in his 510 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:16,000 Exactly 511 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,000 His blue and white sedan 512 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,000 Yeah 513 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,000 So, maybe, yeah 514 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,000 I can just imagine this, like, white credit card 515 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,000 It says Pope in front of it and just pays for everything 516 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,000 It's got a picture of the Pope on it 517 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,000 Yeah, yeah 518 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,000 Do you accept 519 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,000 You accept God? Yeah, pay for it 520 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,000 Boom, boom, cha-ching, cha-ching 521 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,000 No offense to all the believing Catholics 522 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,000 I believe it's beautiful 523 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:44,000 That's a given 524 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,000 And goodness is lovely 525 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,000 But the institution is a bit fucked up 526 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:50,000 Agreed 527 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:51,000 Sorry to say 528 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,000 So, yeah, I'm assuming they paid for it 529 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:00,000 Because, you know, we know the Church has a history of taking their, you know, taking care of their own 530 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,000 To avoid any public, you know, bad publicity 531 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Oh, yes, oh, yes 532 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:12,000 So, this very conduct by the Church will lead us into the next part of our story that I'll tell you about 533 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:13,000 Okay 534 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:14,000 Okay 535 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:19,000 So, post John Fite's conviction for the assault on Maria Guerra 536 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:24,000 The Church stepped in to, quote, handle this problem with one of their priests 537 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,000 What do you think they did? 538 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:27,000 Transfer 539 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,000 They normally do, boom, you guessed it 540 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,000 I got that, like, I guessed that 10 minutes ago 541 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000 Yeah 542 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:43,000 So, Fite was sent to the Trappist Monastery, New Malory Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa 543 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:48,000 And then on to the Assumption Abbey, another Trappist Monastery in Ava, Missouri 544 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,000 Oh, he didn't last long 545 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:58,000 A monk at this last abbey by the name of Dale Takney was assigned to counsel Fite about all his misdeeds in Texas 546 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:02,000 And to determine whether or not Fite would be fit for the life as a monk 547 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,000 Fit for a life as a monk 548 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,000 Oh, I think they're definitely going to approve him 549 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,000 How am I to believe in those institutions? 550 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:18,000 After some months of counseling with Takney, Fite found that the lifestyle of a monk was not to his liking 551 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,000 Oh 552 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:28,000 So, in 1966 he was sent to a treatment retreat for troubled priests in Jemez Springs, New Mexico 553 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:33,000 I hope there's no population around them 554 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,000 This center was run by the servants of the Paraclete 555 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:46,000 And after his quote treatment, he ended up joining the order as a staff member and working his way up to a supervisory role 556 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,000 Oh my gosh 557 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:56,000 So, in this position he was to supervise sexually abusive priests and to determine when they were fit to be placed back into contact with children 558 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,000 So, one sexual predator deciding the fitness of another sexual predator 559 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,000 Okay, now I have the perfect 560 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,000 Now your chapella is flying into the atmosphere 561 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,000 It's in pink flames 562 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,000 It's becoming a supernova 563 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:25,000 Alright, so one of these troubled priests that John released and deemed fit was a priest who had been caught sexually abusing children starting in the 1960s in Massachusetts 564 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,000 A one father, James Porter 565 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:37,000 John Fite, in his supervisory role, cleared him for placement at least four times in New Mexico parishes 566 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:43,000 And Porter was sent back to the treatment center each time because he'd been abusing boys 567 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:47,000 Mostly Hispanic boys, aged 7 to 10 568 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,000 That is sick 569 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:55,000 Like the fact, even just the fact that the Catholic Church has a position for a guy 570 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,000 And that this guy came from, oh sorry, go ahead 571 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:05,000 Yeah, you know, to assess whether it's okay to put abusive priests back into the community 572 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,000 I know 573 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,000 It's like, yeah 574 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,000 I know 575 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,000 You know, I mention their race because it probably makes them more vulnerable, right? 576 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,000 Because they're less likely to be taken seriously 577 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:16,000 Yeah 578 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,000 They went to police 579 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,000 And maybe language issues 580 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,000 Yeah 581 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,000 A lot of, yeah 582 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:29,000 So, Porter, having been sent back four separate times, is then moved on to Houston, where he continues to be a predator in another parish 583 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:37,000 After being cleared over and over again to serve in various parishes around the country, this priest was finally arrested 20 years later 584 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,000 20 years later 585 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:45,000 He pleaded guilty to abusing 28 children and received a sentence of 18 to 20 years in prison 586 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,000 He later admitted to having abused more than 100 children 587 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:55,000 There were two contradictory statements from Fite concerning James Porter in letters to Porter's home diocese 588 00:34:55,000 --> 00:35:00,000 In one he laments that Porter had, quote, lapsed into his former failings 589 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:09,000 But in another he wrote, there's been no occurrence of the problem that plagued Father Porter in the past 590 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:17,000 So he was just all over the place in his, you know, his analysis of whether or not he was fit, right? 591 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,000 Yeah 592 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:33,000 The head of the servants of Pericleat at the time claimed to be shocked, absolutely shocked, that a priest with a criminal past of sexual misconduct was put in the position to make decisions about priests concerning the very same crime 593 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,000 So do you think they were really shocked? 594 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,000 No 595 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,000 I also don't think they were very shocked 596 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,000 I don't understand the word shocked 597 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,000 They're using it incorrectly 598 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,000 Like 599 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:46,000 Using the word incorrectly 600 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,000 Yeah 601 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:54,000 Okay, so in the 1970s, John Fite left the priesthood for good 602 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,000 He married a woman he'd met in New Mexico and had three children 603 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:06,000 He held several jobs in Chicago before moving and settling in Phoenix, Arizona where his brother was a pastor at the St. Teresa Church 604 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:13,000 He became the director of volunteers for the Society of Vincent de Paul, becoming an advocate for the poor 605 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:22,000 He once said of the homeless, quote, many can't fend for themselves, most are in pitiful shape, hundreds need help and few are getting it, end quote 606 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:30,000 The director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Phoenix said that, quote, John went beyond what anyone would remotely imagine a man doing 607 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:38,000 He truly lived his beliefs and his passion motivated many others to do more than they otherwise would have done, end quote 608 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,000 Yes 609 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:50,000 It was even reported that at one point a colleague of his was experiencing financial difficulties and John requested that his own salary be reduced so that this money could be given to his co-worker 610 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:57,000 In 2002, John Fite retired but continued to dedicate his time to helping the poor 611 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:03,000 He established the Just Faith Program to assist other Catholics in putting their faith into action for social causes 612 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:08,000 Locally, he had a reputation as a faith-driven and compassionate man 613 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:20,000 At one point, the publication Arizona Republic asked him to comment on the revelations concerning the sexual abuse cover-ups, sexual abuse and cover-ups within the Catholic Church 614 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:31,000 The outrage from the public had prompted the American bishops to change tactics and that from then on all future cases would be turned over to the civil authorities 615 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,000 Do you know that you have an approximate year for this? 616 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,000 2002 when he retired so it must have been around that time 617 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,000 Fite stated about this 618 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,000 It's four years later already 619 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:51,000 He stated, it has to be that way. It means that if someone's doing something wrong, they're above the law simply because they're an ordained minister 620 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:55,000 Well, this would come back to haunt him 621 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,000 Okay 622 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:58,000 So, shall we take a break? 623 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:04,000 Yes, I'm looking forward to the haunting 624 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:13,000 Okay, we're back 625 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:22,000 Alright, so in April of 2002, a call came in to the Homicide Division of the San Antonio Police Department 626 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:26,000 The man on the line was one Dale Takney 627 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:31,000 He'd been struggling for some years at this point with a question of conscience 628 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,000 And he could no longer keep it to himself 629 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:38,000 Takney was a former priest living in Oklahoma City 630 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:46,000 He told Detective George Sadler that he had information about a murder that had occurred in the 1960s 631 00:38:46,000 --> 00:39:00,000 He explained that he had left the priesthood a long time ago, but that when he was living at a Trappist monastery in Ava, Missouri in 1963, he was tasked with counseling another priest by the name of John Fite 632 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,000 Who'd come from San Antonio 633 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:11,000 He said, quote, he told me that he had attacked a young woman in a parish on Easter weekend and murdered her 634 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:13,000 What the fuck 635 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:18,000 Detective Sadler was skeptical of what he was hearing, but the caller was insistent 636 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:28,000 So Sadler requested that Takney put everything that he remembered in writing, took his number, and told him that they would get back to him when they had something 637 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:33,000 He read and re-read the letter from the ex-priest, but couldn't make sense of it 638 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,000 The priest took her to the parish house to hear her confession 639 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:40,000 After hearing her confession, he assaulted her, bound her, gagged her 640 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:49,000 And like a good detective, he scrutinized hundreds of old newspaper articles from the 60s and the very few police records that had survived from that time 641 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,000 But he could find no murders that matched the details from the letter 642 00:39:53,000 --> 00:40:06,000 And as he had a backlog of over a hundred, no, fourteen hundred unsolved murders to investigate in San Antonio, he soon forgot about the phone call and the letter and moved on to other cases 643 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,000 Man 644 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000 AI, where is AI when we need it? 645 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,000 So that was in April, right? 646 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,000 April 22, 2002 647 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,000 2002 648 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:22,000 His poor family is freaking languishing for 40 years 649 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,000 Sorry, just had to pop that into them 650 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:32,000 In early November of that year, Texas Ranger Rocky Millican 651 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,000 Love that name, right Rocky? 652 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:35,000 That's a good one 653 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:40,000 He stopped by Sadler's office to collect some evidence for a case he was working on 654 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:52,000 They discussed the case he was working on and while chatting, Millican, or Rocky, he mentioned that the Texas Rangers newly established cold case unit had been very busy as of late 655 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:57,000 He commented to Sadler how incredible he found it to be that some of the cases were so old 656 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:04,000 He said, quote, They've got one out of the valley that dates all the way back to 1960 657 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:08,000 Millican was murdered on Easter weekend and the main suspect was a priest 658 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:12,000 Ten points, he got the necessary information, well done 659 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:18,000 Sadler was shocked by what he was hearing and pressed Rocky for more details 660 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:26,000 So Millican, or Rocky, relayed all of what he knew about the case and told the detective that he should confer with the detective in charge of the case 661 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:33,000 Rudy Jaramillo is how they pronounce it here, but perhaps it's Jaramillo 662 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,000 In America 663 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,000 I guess so, yeah 664 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,000 Jaramillo 665 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,000 Jaramillo 666 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:45,000 So, Jaramillo, I don't know how I should pronounce it 667 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:49,000 Great surname, I'm loving it, it's not Basque, but it's great fun 668 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:54,000 So he was one of eight detectives on the Texas Ranger cold case unit 669 00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:06,000 And in the spring of that year when Sadler had received the call from Dale Takney, he had just started reinvestigating Irene Garza's murder at the request of the McAllen Police Department 670 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:14,000 Jaramillo, or Jaramillo, and Sadler happened to live in the very same small town outside of San Antonio, Texas 671 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:22,000 The two had never met, but they met up that evening, compared notes, and realized their two investigations were one and the same 672 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:24,000 Oh wow 673 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:26,000 So 674 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:28,000 That's so many coincidences 675 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,000 Right, like this is the only reason 676 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,000 Just take forty fucking years 677 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,000 Chances, just chances 678 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,000 Better late than never I suppose 679 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:43,000 It seems Jaramillo had also hit a wall on the case 680 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:51,000 DNA testing of Irene's clothes turned up nothing new, and nearly all of the original detectives and people with any knowledge of the case had since died 681 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,000 giving him no one to re-interview 682 00:42:53,000 --> 00:43:04,000 He did find that the 1960 case was meticulously documented, but when it came to bringing the case to be tried, they couldn't answer the most basic questions that a jury would have 683 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:09,000 For example, where was she murdered? What was she killed with? When was her body dumped? 684 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:13,000 But that is until Dale Takney came forward 685 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,000 Oh 686 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:29,000 Jaramillo had reopened the case in the spring of 2002, and was pleased to find that Father O'Brien, who was at the church working with Fite on the night Irene went missing, was still alive and living in a retirement facility 687 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:36,000 O'Brien had given an interview on TV in 2000, where he claimed that he knew nothing about Irene's murder 688 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:48,000 But when Jaramillo went to interview him again in 2002, he admitted that in the summer of 1960, he confronted Fite about his involvement in Irene's death, having suspected him from the start 689 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:52,000 Fite confessed to him that he had murdered her 690 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:57,000 So now we have two priests with confessions from Fite 691 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:03,000 Now he's an enabler because he's covered it up for so many years 692 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:12,000 They contacted Fite. They informed him that the case had been reopened, and asked him if there was anything else he'd like to share with law enforcement 693 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:17,000 Anything that someone who was there the night she disappeared would want the police to know 694 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,000 He simply replied, quote, that man doesn't exist anymore 695 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:23,000 Oh, how convenient 696 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:36,000 So the DA of Hidalgo County, René Guerra, would be the one who would decide if the case could be tried in court 697 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:43,000 So the DA is the district attorney, and they are the ones that decide which cases go to court 698 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,000 They're going to be heard, yeah 699 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:55,000 So he had held his position as DA from the 1980s to 2014, so that was how long his stretch was as the DA 700 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:57,000 1980s to 2014 701 00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:00,000 So this is in 2002, right? 702 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:05,000 So when investigators brought the case to him, he declined to convene a grand jury 703 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:10,000 The grand jury would decide if there was enough evidence to indict John Fite 704 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:17,000 His reasoning was that he didn't find the new witness Dale Takney credible 705 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:21,000 And that there was a lack of physical evidence connecting him to the crime 706 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:27,000 He believed the case was unsolvable and was quoted as saying at the time, quote, her killer got away 707 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:32,000 Where are you going to find the evidence? I reviewed the file some years back, there was nothing there 708 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:37,000 Can it be solved? Well, I guess if you believe pigs can fly, anything is possible 709 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:41,000 Why would anyone be haunted by her death? She died, her killer got away 710 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:48,000 What the fuck telling her freaking family that? Why would they be haunted? That is so callous 711 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:49,000 I know 712 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,000 I mean 713 00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:51,000 Yeah, he sounds like a real dick 714 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,000 Totally, totally 715 00:45:53,000 --> 00:46:01,000 Linda de la Vina, a cousin of Irene Garza, pushed Guerra to indict and prosecute Fite for her cousin's death 716 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:02,000 Good 717 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:10,000 She reported that he put his finger in her face and screamed at her, you'll never get an indictment, you'll get one when pigs fly 718 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:11,000 Let's start 719 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:12,000 To the family 720 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,000 Let's start taking some, I mean, yeah 721 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,000 So to the family interface and yelling at her with his finger in her face 722 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:22,000 I mean, rude, callous, I mean, yeah 723 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:28,000 So he would not budge, despite the fact that there were new witnesses and some physical evidence 724 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:33,000 So you remember the slide viewer they found in the canal that belonged to Fite 725 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:36,000 And of course a ton of circumstantial evidence 726 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:37,000 Yeah 727 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:38,000 Right 728 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:42,000 So in March of 2004, he finally relented 729 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:46,000 Irene's family and friends had held a vigil in front of the courthouse 730 00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:50,000 The media and the public in general placed enormous pressure on the DA 731 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:53,000 And law enforcement insisted they had enough to convict Fite 732 00:46:53,000 --> 00:47:00,000 What it took them to organize vigils and freaking protests to get justice 733 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:01,000 That is 734 00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:02,000 Yeah 735 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:04,000 It's not even to get justice 736 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,000 It's to get justice to hear the freaking case 737 00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:10,000 It's not even, yeah 738 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:14,000 I mean, hey, we don't live in a fair world, as they say 739 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,000 Yeah 740 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:24,000 So Guerra relented and asked two of his prosecutors to present the evidence to a grand jury over the course of 15 weeks 741 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:27,000 So grand juries, I'm going to tell you about that 742 00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:28,000 Go for it 743 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:29,000 From Wikipedia 744 00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:32,000 Grand juries are composed of 16 to 23 members 745 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:36,000 And that 12 members must concur in an indictment 746 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,000 So 12 out of those 16 to 23 747 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,000 Okay, so that's a grand jury 748 00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:43,000 And the previous one is a normal jury 749 00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:46,000 They have enough to take it to court 750 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:49,000 A jury is the one that would sit on the case at trial 751 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:50,000 Oh, really 752 00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:54,000 So grand juries, they call them together to go, here's the evidence we have 753 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:57,000 Is this enough to take it to court? 754 00:47:57,000 --> 00:47:59,000 So that's how many out of 16? 755 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,000 So it's 16 to 23 is the numbers 756 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:06,000 And 12 of those members must concur for an indictment 757 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:11,000 Okay, so then after it has to be unanimous, but not the grand jury beforehand 758 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:12,000 Yeah, no 759 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:17,000 Under federal law, a grand jury must be randomly selected from a fair cross section of the community 760 00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:20,000 In the location where the grand jury will convene 761 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:25,000 The names of potential jurors are drawn at random from a list of voters 762 00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:31,000 The people whose names were chosen, unless exempt or excused, must appear before the court 763 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:37,000 The judge will then direct the selection of the 23 qualified people who will become the final jury 764 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:40,000 So that's how they create these grand juries 765 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:45,000 So, many following the case found the proceedings of the grand jury to be odd 766 00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:47,000 Oh my gosh 767 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:52,000 Law enforcement wasn't called to testify until the 11th week 768 00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,000 So there were 15 weeks getting together 769 00:48:55,000 --> 00:49:02,000 And not until the 11th week did law enforcement come forward to show what evidence they had against FITE 770 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,000 Like the slide viewer 771 00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:05,000 Where's the rest of the evidence coming from? 772 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:09,000 The car tracks, you know, all the other evidence they found 773 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:10,000 That's ridiculous already 774 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:15,000 Or all the circumstances shared about he was the one that was last seen with her, etc. 775 00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:24,000 And then the two main witnesses who had confessions from FITE, Dale Takney and Father O'Brien, weren't even called to testify at all 776 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:34,000 The only witness from Sacred Heart Church from the night she disappeared that was called to testify was Elena Sanchez 777 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:42,000 She was the church's secretary and she was a witness for the defense in John FITE's criminal sexual assault case 778 00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:45,000 So she was there on behalf of his defense 779 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:50,000 And that was the only witness they called to talk about 780 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:53,000 So who decided this would be the public prosecutor, right? 781 00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:54,000 The district attorney 782 00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:56,000 Oh, it was the Dixie's attorney who decided that 783 00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:02,000 Yeah, he's the one that would send his prosecutors to present evidence to the grand jury 784 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:06,000 So he's in charge of what they're presenting, right? 785 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:10,000 What the prosecution side would present against FITE 786 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:13,000 I thought he would just decide if it would be heard or not 787 00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,000 That's just too much power for this guy 788 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:23,000 And of course, strangest of all is that John FITE himself was never even subpoenaed to appear in front of the grand jury 789 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:28,000 So he was never indicted and the police closed the case again 790 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:35,000 A very good expression for this in the Basque Country is me cago en la ostia 791 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:39,000 Explain to our listeners what la ostia is 792 00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:41,000 Do we really need to go there? 793 00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:44,000 But what is la ostia? I love that that is a curse word 794 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:45,000 It is great 795 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:48,000 Because it is very linked to the Catholic Church, right? 796 00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:49,000 Totally 797 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:50,000 So what is la ostia? 798 00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:54,000 And this is very Basque, it's a very Basque swear word 799 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:58,000 It's like when you say it, people think you're from Bobo 800 00:50:58,000 --> 00:50:59,000 Oh really? 801 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:00,000 Yeah, yeah, it's not like... 802 00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:01,000 Oh, I didn't know, it wasn't widespread 803 00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:03,000 No, no, no 804 00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:11,000 So like in Quebec where there's a lot of swearing related to the Catholic Church 805 00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:18,000 This one literally means I'm shitting on the Holy Host 806 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:19,000 The Host, yeah 807 00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:22,000 Which is the body of Christ 808 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,000 When you take communion 809 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:30,000 So saying what the F, you say I'm shitting on the Hosts 810 00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:36,000 Which is... yeah, I mean it's a crazy image when you think about it 811 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:37,000 Which you're not supposed to do 812 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:42,000 You're just supposed to say it and express disgust and horror 813 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:48,000 Yeah, and ostia can be used too to be like an exclamation of shock or like... 814 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:49,000 Like fuck! 815 00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:52,000 Ostia, ostia, or like surprise or... 816 00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:54,000 So you just yell host 817 00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:58,000 Yeah, and it can be either ostia or ostias 818 00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:00,000 Ostias, yeah, plural 819 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,000 Yeah, yeah 820 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:08,000 Okay, so when media organizations asked to see the investigative file 821 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,000 Good, good, good 822 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:14,000 You know, behind the evidence they presented 823 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:20,000 Guerra threatened to prosecute McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez if he revealed the material 824 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:28,000 Stating, quote, there are some things that have to be kept secret that just cannot be put into print, end quote 825 00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:32,000 But that material did find its way into the hands of the media 826 00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:35,000 Ten points, American media, for once 827 00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:43,000 And reporters contacted Takni and O'Brien forcing Guerra to respond 828 00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:48,000 He said that he felt both men were unreliable witnesses about the two priests 829 00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:51,000 Despite not having interviewed them himself 830 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:56,000 He dismissed O'Brien on the grounds that he had a delicate mental and physical state 831 00:52:56,000 --> 00:53:02,000 And as for Takni, he believed that he might have, quote, an axe to grind with the church 832 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,000 And was just seeking a book deal 833 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:09,000 Oh really? Is that what happened? He wanted a book deal 834 00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:16,000 He went on to say that the Texas Rangers had basically fed these two men all the information they needed to make out their statements 835 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:19,000 Wow, this guy 836 00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:28,000 When asked why Fite wasn't called before the grand jury, Guerra replied, if I make him a target, he's got the right to tell me to go to hell 837 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:37,000 So it seemed that many of the participants in the case were hung up on what it would mean for them to go after a man who represented their faith 838 00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:44,000 Much like when Irene was killed back in 1960, they just couldn't bring themselves to get between their faith and the demands of justice 839 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:50,000 Guerra said at the time, quote, if John Fite did this, I hope he will atone for his sin 840 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:58,000 And as to Irene Garza, he said, quote, I think if she died leaving the church after confession, that she died in a state of grace 841 00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:01,000 And she should be in heaven as I believe in God 842 00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:10,000 Well, even Garza's sister, Josie Cavazos, so she must have married him in 2002 843 00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:14,000 She did not want the murder case to be investigated or the killer apprehended 844 00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:19,000 She said, quote, I feel like that's between the person who murdered my sister and God 845 00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:23,000 If he's asked God for forgiveness, he's going to heaven just as much as anyone else 846 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:27,000 So what's the point in all this? The Lord takes care of all things 847 00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:34,000 She added that, quote, it was my parents wish as well as mine that the person who did this asked for forgiveness 848 00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:38,000 Because we don't want him to be damned for eternity 849 00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:41,000 We want him to go to heaven 850 00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:43,000 That's her sister 851 00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:46,000 I mean, it's a beautiful sentiment, I have to say 852 00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:47,000 And it's a very... 853 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:48,000 Yeah, and it's like having to... 854 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:50,000 It's a very Christian sentiment 855 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:56,000 For like victims, like the family members of victims too, it's like such a horrendous thing to go through 856 00:54:56,000 --> 00:55:00,000 Yeah, because 40 years with nothing, you kind of deal with it somehow 857 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:02,000 And then you're reliving it all over again 858 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:06,000 And that's a very fair attitude to have 40 years later 859 00:55:06,000 --> 00:55:08,000 Make your peace with it, I guess 860 00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:13,000 But other members of the Garza family, like the cousin that went after the DA, right? 861 00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:14,000 Good, yeah, I like her 862 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:18,000 They reported that they had been chastised for seeking justice for Irene 863 00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:23,000 And had been threatened, quote, if we were truly Christian, we should forgive and forget 864 00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:27,000 Victims of clergy, sexual abuse were regularly told the same thing 865 00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:31,000 That they should forgive and forget, as it says in the Bible 866 00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:33,000 It's a perverse system 867 00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:34,000 Another standstill, right? 868 00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:35,000 Yeah 869 00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:37,000 Again, it goes cold 870 00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:38,000 Oh my gosh 871 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,000 Right, okay, ready? 872 00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:42,000 Sure, I'm holding all my... 873 00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:45,000 So, in 2014 874 00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:47,000 14, Jesus 875 00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:50,000 10 years later 876 00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:56,000 A new DA, Ricardo Rodriguez, was elected in Hidalgo County 877 00:55:56,000 --> 00:56:00,000 And during his campaign, he promised to look into the case of Irene's death 878 00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:04,000 Oh, because now it's a media thing and everybody wants... nice 879 00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:09,000 So he used it to his advantage to win the campaign and he is now the new DA 880 00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:14,000 But also, I mean, you know, from a let's take five or ten steps back 881 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:19,000 It's, you know, just highlighting how important the media is a part of democracy 882 00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,000 If we don't have the media, we don't really have democracy 883 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:24,000 It just falls and breaks 884 00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:25,000 Agreed, agreed 885 00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:26,000 So... 886 00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:27,000 Journalists, we love you 887 00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:28,000 We love you very, very much 888 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:29,000 You do great work 889 00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:32,000 Shout out to all my journalist friends 890 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:35,000 And not friends 891 00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:37,000 As in, let's include everybody 892 00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:40,000 Yeah 893 00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:45,000 So, look into the case he did 894 00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:49,000 And in February of 2016 895 00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:51,000 In Scottsdale, Arizona 896 00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:59,000 John Fite, aged 83, was finally arrested and charged with the murder of Irene Garza 897 00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:00,000 Okay? 898 00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:01,000 Yeah 899 00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:03,000 2016 900 00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:08,000 So, the prosecutor in the case, Mike Garza, no relation to Irene 901 00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:11,000 56 years later-ish 902 00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:17,000 He said at the time, quote, there may be people who don't understand why an old man is being prosecuted 903 00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:20,000 But make no mistake, this man is evil 904 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:21,000 He was a predator 905 00:57:21,000 --> 00:57:26,000 He's a wolf in priest's clothing, looking to attack 906 00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:31,000 By this time, Father O'Brien had since died in 2005 907 00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:36,000 So, the prosecution's main witness for the details of the crime was Dale Takni 908 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:48,000 After much stalling by the defense for various reasons, like requests for change of venue, bond hearings to release Fite for health reasons, scheduling conflicts, blah, blah, blah 909 00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:53,000 Fite finally went on trial November 28th of 2017 910 00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:55,000 My gosh 911 00:57:55,000 --> 00:58:01,000 Obviously, our biggest witness was Dale Takni 912 00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:03,000 He was now 85 years old 913 00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:04,000 Wow 914 00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:14,000 He testified in court that in 1963, when he was a monk at the Trappist Monastery in Ava, Missouri, the abbot presented him with an unusual assignment 915 00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:18,000 He was told that, quote, there's a priest who murdered a woman 916 00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:19,000 What? 917 00:58:19,000 --> 00:58:20,000 Who's in the guest house 918 00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,000 He wants to become a monk 919 00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:25,000 We're instructed to take him in 920 00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:36,000 During his counseling of Fite, Takni said that Fite told him that he was bothered and made anxious by, quote, women with high heels who walked on hard floors, end quote 921 00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:41,000 He also testified to Fite's confession of the murder of Irene, but without naming her 922 00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:43,000 So, Fite never said her name 923 00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:47,000 But he did so without showing any signs of remorse 924 00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:58,000 Fite said that he, quote, had a sexual compulsion to attack women from behind, especially when he knelt behind them in church, end quote 925 00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:02,000 Takni asked him why he wasn't in prison for this crime 926 00:59:02,000 --> 00:59:06,000 And Fite replied that, quote, the church is behind me 927 00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:14,000 Because the higher-ups didn't want the faithful to be scandalized by learning that a priest had murdered one of their flock 928 00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:18,000 He then went on to detail what had happened to Irene 929 00:59:18,000 --> 00:59:23,000 Fite told Takni that he convinced Irene to give her confession in the rectory 930 00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:31,000 And after hearing it, he subdued her, took part of her clothes off from the waist up, and fondled her breasts 931 00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:37,000 He then took her to the rectory basement, tied her up, and returned to the church to hear confessions 932 00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:43,000 He returned to the rectory basement, retrieving her, and then moved her to his living quarters 933 00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:47,000 So this is probably when he went back to his house 934 00:59:47,000 --> 00:59:48,000 Yeah, he said he was going to get his glasses 935 00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:49,000 To get his glasses 936 00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:51,000 Mmm, bastards 937 00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:58,000 The next day, Easter Sunday, he put her in the bathtub of his bathroom and placed a bag over her head 938 00:59:58,000 --> 00:59:59,000 I think it was a plastic bag 939 00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:04,000 As he left, he heard her saying, I can't breathe, I can't breathe 940 01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:12,000 When he returned between the Easter services, because there was like two in the morning, one in the evening, she was dead 941 01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:20,000 He put her in the car, and this is a quote from Dale, what he said to him 942 01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:25,000 Patting her on the breast, telling her everything will be okay 943 01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:28,000 Then he presumably dumped her body in the canal 944 01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:29,000 Disgusting 945 01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:31,000 Yeah 946 01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:36,000 So Takni felt that women were safe as long as he was in the monastery 947 01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:44,000 But when Fite decided that the life of a monk didn't suit him, his job at this point was to assist John in dealing with his impulses 948 01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:54,000 To test this, he sent Fite on unsupervised visits to churches in Chicago and Missouri, telling him to kneel behind women to see if he felt the urge 949 01:00:54,000 --> 01:01:00,000 Oh my gosh, I think our producer is going to explode 950 01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:02,000 That is fucking ridiculous 951 01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:03,000 I know 952 01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:09,000 Fortunately for these women, Fite no longer had these impulses, or so he said 953 01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:11,000 At least that's what he told Takni 954 01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:14,000 And that was the end of the matter 955 01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:20,000 So the Trappists could not keep Fite against his will, so when he said he didn't want to be a monk 956 01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:29,000 So the Oblates sent Fite to Chemez Springs, to that treatment center, where he was to receive further treatment 957 01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:33,000 And then went on to pursue his career as a supervisor at the center 958 01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:34,000 Of people 959 01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:36,000 Where he released pedophiles out to the world 960 01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:37,000 Great system 961 01:01:37,000 --> 01:01:39,000 Hey Catholic Church 962 01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:42,000 So should we take another break here? 963 01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:45,000 Quick little break 964 01:01:45,000 --> 01:01:51,000 AYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY 965 01:01:51,000 --> 01:01:52,000 So we're back 966 01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:54,000 Mm-hmm 967 01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:56,000 That was Dale's testimony, right? 968 01:01:56,000 --> 01:01:58,000 Yes 969 01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:03,640 Another notable testimony in the trial came from a childhood friend of Garza's, 970 01:02:03,640 --> 01:02:10,120 Anna Maria Hollingsworth, who testified about a time during Holy Week in 1960 971 01:02:10,120 --> 01:02:16,760 when Garza spoke to her about the new priest at the church, John Fite. She said 972 01:02:16,760 --> 01:02:21,080 to her, it's not the same going to confession anymore because I don't get 973 01:02:21,080 --> 01:02:25,720 to stay in the confessional. He comes to pull me out and says, oh this place isn't 974 01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:29,440 good enough for you. Let's go to the rectory where you'll be more comfortable. 975 01:02:29,440 --> 01:02:34,920 How icky already. Sorry to say. And then they would walk off and go to the 976 01:02:34,920 --> 01:02:40,720 rectory, Hollingsworth said. Another witness stated that she too had had a 977 01:02:40,720 --> 01:02:45,600 creepy encounter with Fite in 1960. She was walking down the street when Fite 978 01:02:45,600 --> 01:02:49,320 pulled up in his car and asked her if he could take pictures of her dressed in 979 01:02:49,320 --> 01:02:56,000 black in the cemetery. She luckily declined. And if you see the photos of 980 01:02:56,000 --> 01:03:00,880 these women they all have a look like he had a type. They all look very similar. 981 01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:06,520 So Maria, the one that was attacked in the church, Irene, and then this woman. So he 982 01:03:06,520 --> 01:03:13,280 had a type. Most damning of all, no pun intended, was the evidence presented at 983 01:03:13,280 --> 01:03:17,520 his trial concerning the Catholic Church's involvement in covering up and 984 01:03:17,520 --> 01:03:23,920 derailing law enforcement efforts in solving Irene's murder. Thomas Doyle, a 985 01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:29,880 Catholic priest and expert on sexual abuse and church law, testified. He read 986 01:03:29,880 --> 01:03:35,040 a letter in court recovered via subpoena from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, 987 01:03:35,040 --> 01:03:41,360 dated August 1st, 1960. The letter sent between clergy officials Joseph 988 01:03:41,360 --> 01:03:48,320 Wapaliki, these names, a pastor at the church at a church outside 989 01:03:48,320 --> 01:03:54,080 Austin wrote to Lawrence Seidel, the head of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the 990 01:03:54,080 --> 01:04:00,360 order to which Fite belonged. In it he expressed concerns that if a 991 01:04:00,360 --> 01:04:04,840 priest was charged in Garza's death, Kennedy's presidential campaign and the 992 01:04:04,840 --> 01:04:08,640 reelection chances of the local Catholic sheriff would be at stake. 993 01:04:08,640 --> 01:04:14,640 What year was that? 1960. It was 60. So he was running for president. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 994 01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:20,120 yeah, I know it's sad. And as a Catholic, Kennedy was like, yeah, was like a 995 01:04:20,120 --> 01:04:27,120 Catholic. Yeah, was he the first? Yeah. But Biden's the second then? Yes. Okay. 996 01:04:27,120 --> 01:04:32,640 In addition, he insisted that Seidel hire a private investigator to find quote 997 01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:38,640 loopholes in Fite's case. This letter provided some clues as to why for decades 998 01:04:38,640 --> 01:04:43,200 Fite's case went cold. Yeah, and so many others because if that's their modus 999 01:04:43,200 --> 01:04:49,640 operandi. Mm-hmm. Thomas Doyle testified, quote, in my experience in the thousands 1000 01:04:49,640 --> 01:04:53,680 of documents I've studied, it's the first time I've seen an organized plan of 1001 01:04:53,680 --> 01:04:59,360 obfuscation, collusion, and cover-up played out step by step in coordination 1002 01:04:59,360 --> 01:05:07,200 with the civilian law enforcement. So shall I read the letter? Okay, I'll interrupt 1003 01:05:07,200 --> 01:05:15,760 if I have to. All right, dated August 1st, 1960. Father Seidel, last week I had the 1004 01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:20,240 opportunity of speaking with the sheriff about the case. His observations are not 1005 01:05:20,240 --> 01:05:24,800 only keen and based on much experience in such matters, but seem to be the 1006 01:05:24,800 --> 01:05:30,000 course we should follow. I gave this same set of observations to Bishop Reichter, 1007 01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:33,600 and he too is impressed with the saneness and practicality of the 1008 01:05:33,600 --> 01:05:38,520 sheriff's conclusions. After outlining to the sheriff the many facts I had 1009 01:05:38,520 --> 01:05:42,760 received from Father Nash, the sheriff is of the opinion that the case is quite 1010 01:05:42,760 --> 01:05:48,220 weak for the prosecution. He's also of the opinion that the prosecution must be 1011 01:05:48,220 --> 01:05:53,000 made to see just how weak their case is, lest they go off half-cocked and set the 1012 01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:57,000 wheels into motions that would bring this out in public print and give the 1013 01:05:57,000 --> 01:06:01,200 opponents of the Catholic Church a field day. He's also the opinion that the case 1014 01:06:01,200 --> 01:06:05,600 would be tried here and would not be judged by on logic, but on the prejudices 1015 01:06:05,600 --> 01:06:10,560 of the jury. There are also political implications to this that could make this 1016 01:06:10,560 --> 01:06:15,920 a juicy scandal for the opposition to Kennedy. And last of all, there are the 1017 01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:24,040 Masons whom the basic bishop feels smell a chance to hurt the church, just as the 1018 01:06:24,040 --> 01:06:29,560 H.E.B. Baptist paid for the prosecution of the priest in East Texas who was 1019 01:06:29,560 --> 01:06:35,200 killed by the lad he befriended. Don't know that story. What to do of all this? 1020 01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:39,720 First, the sheriff said that we should follow the idea of not hiring a lawyer 1021 01:06:39,720 --> 01:06:44,800 for the reasons given by Father Nash. Second, we should not put a detective on 1022 01:06:44,800 --> 01:06:48,440 the case hired by us, since that would mean he'd be snooping around, 1023 01:06:48,440 --> 01:06:54,000 re-questioning witnesses, and stirring up things again. However, he does feel that 1024 01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:58,240 we should hire a person, something like a first-class private detective, who would 1025 01:06:58,240 --> 01:07:04,320 be able to sit down with Father Nash and Father Pastor of McAllen to get all the 1026 01:07:04,320 --> 01:07:09,320 information on this case. Then let him write it up and present it on paper in 1027 01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:14,240 such a way as to highlight the loopholes that are so numerous in this case. Once 1028 01:07:14,240 --> 01:07:18,560 this is done, arrange a meeting with the police chief of McAllen, the prosecuting 1029 01:07:18,560 --> 01:07:22,680 attorney, and the sheriff, plus four priests. At this meeting, the whole 1030 01:07:22,680 --> 01:07:26,160 situation is brought out and the prosecution will be able to see how 1031 01:07:26,160 --> 01:07:30,120 strong the opposition is to their charges. They can also be brought to 1032 01:07:30,120 --> 01:07:35,240 realize in a nice way that the church will not be take this sitting down. 1033 01:07:35,240 --> 01:07:39,920 The sheriff does not want more than the number mentioned, and he 1034 01:07:39,920 --> 01:07:45,320 thinks that this will quiet things considerably. Once this is done, then 1035 01:07:45,320 --> 01:07:49,600 after three or four months, or even less if possible, have this young 1036 01:07:49,600 --> 01:07:54,480 man transferred to another part of the country as a normal obedience. He feels 1037 01:07:54,480 --> 01:07:57,920 that everyone knows that the priests are always being transferred around, so this 1038 01:07:57,920 --> 01:08:02,940 would not be strange. After some time in this new place, a year or two, then we 1039 01:08:02,940 --> 01:08:07,360 have him sent out to a foreign mission. The reason for this first move is to get 1040 01:08:07,360 --> 01:08:12,120 him out of the area of suspicion. If something happens, the officers of the 1041 01:08:12,120 --> 01:08:17,520 area will always be suspicious of him. The sheriff concludes that the longer 1042 01:08:17,520 --> 01:08:22,600 time we have, the weaker the case gets, and so he suggested all this forgoing. 1043 01:08:22,600 --> 01:08:27,240 He has much experience in such things, and I believe this is extremely 1044 01:08:27,240 --> 01:08:31,840 wise. He's also a Catholic, and he also stands to lose materially by such a 1045 01:08:31,840 --> 01:08:38,560 scandal here in such a non-Catholic area. You see? I feel that he has rendered us 1046 01:08:38,560 --> 01:08:43,160 in invaluable service. I submit these ideas after having consulted with 1047 01:08:43,160 --> 01:08:48,080 Bishop Reigter, who is also in agreement with this course. The bishop wishes to 1048 01:08:48,080 --> 01:08:51,480 see you, Father, at your convenience. Let me know if I can do anything in the 1049 01:08:51,480 --> 01:08:55,840 future to help this thing along. Your worries are ours, since we fight the same 1050 01:08:55,840 --> 01:09:00,840 evil one who has concocted this thing in his ceaseless fight against the church, 1051 01:09:00,840 --> 01:09:06,120 and to stop the good being done by your wonderful congregation. My prayers and 1052 01:09:06,120 --> 01:09:10,160 mass intentions are with you, Father. I'm sure our priests will pray hard for a 1053 01:09:10,160 --> 01:09:15,680 special intention mentioned as such to them." The way they talk. Father Palbuci. He's 1054 01:09:15,680 --> 01:09:22,080 actually referring to the devil. Evil one, yeah. It's in capital letters. Wow. 1055 01:09:22,080 --> 01:09:29,520 Wow. All right, so the final testimony that I will mention in this case is that 1056 01:09:29,520 --> 01:09:36,160 of a former reporter who in 1962 was called to an off-the-record meeting 1057 01:09:36,160 --> 01:09:41,480 between reporters and the district attorney's office. In that meeting, the DA 1058 01:09:41,480 --> 01:09:46,000 said that they knew that Fite had killed Irene, and that they had struck a deal 1059 01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:51,520 with the church. In exchange for his no-contest plea in the Maria Guerra sexual 1060 01:09:51,520 --> 01:09:57,000 assault case, they would not prosecute him for Irene's murder, and that no one 1061 01:09:57,000 --> 01:10:02,440 in the community should be worried as Fite would be sent off to a monastery. 1062 01:10:02,440 --> 01:10:08,040 That sounded weird when you said it. Yeah. Cover up. Because like that's why we'd 1063 01:10:08,040 --> 01:10:12,120 never heard of this term, because it never happens. It was for 1064 01:10:12,120 --> 01:10:28,440 Kennedy. Was it worth it, Julie? I mean he did a lot of good things. On December 7th, 1065 01:10:28,440 --> 01:10:35,160 2017, Fite was convicted of Irene Garza's murder. During the sentencing phase of 1066 01:10:35,160 --> 01:10:40,040 the trial, Fite's lawyers requested probation, considering his lack of felony 1067 01:10:40,040 --> 01:10:46,120 convictions after Garza's death. The prosecution asked for a sentence of 57 1068 01:10:46,120 --> 01:10:49,480 years, symbolizing the period of time that had since passed since she was 1069 01:10:49,480 --> 01:10:55,720 killed. See, I like that. That's beautiful for me. On December 8th, 2017, the jury 1070 01:10:55,720 --> 01:11:04,080 did them one even better, giving Fite life in prison. I mean, he was 87. So 57 years he 1071 01:11:04,080 --> 01:11:33,920 wasn't likely to live. I would prefer him to give 57. He was incarcerated at the W.J. Estelle Unit, 10 miles or 16 kilometers north of Huntsville, Texas. He died of natural causes on February 12th, 2020. So in the 48 hours episode on this case that I watched, there's an amazing clip of Irene's cousin, Linda de La Vina, when she was leaving court after his 1072 01:11:33,920 --> 01:12:03,400 conviction. Go watch, go watch. She sounds like a cool girl. She was, you know, the one that continued to pressure the former DA, Rene Guerra, for an indictment on Fite. She's a hero. Back in the early 2000s. And he angrily pointed in her face, yelling, You'll never get an indictment. You'll get one when pigs fly. Well, pigs fly. So, Linda is being interviewed by TV reporters outside the courthouse, and she says, quote, After 57 years, we have found justice for Irene. And for today, pigs are flying. 1073 01:12:04,800 --> 01:12:05,320 And that's the end. 1074 01:12:05,320 --> 01:12:07,040 Yeah, it's beautiful. 1075 01:12:09,960 --> 01:12:18,840 All right. So Douglas, did you want to share any stories about Catholic cover-ups that you may have found? 1076 01:12:19,280 --> 01:12:24,840 Well, you kind of asked me to kind of, kind of contrast it with the best country, right? 1077 01:12:24,840 --> 01:12:25,120 Right. 1078 01:12:25,120 --> 01:12:25,520 A little bit. 1079 01:12:25,640 --> 01:12:25,920 Yeah. 1080 01:12:26,120 --> 01:12:30,440 And so scandals, Catholic Church, Spain. 1081 01:12:30,800 --> 01:12:31,200 Okay. 1082 01:12:31,240 --> 01:12:32,800 Right. That was my search. 1083 01:12:32,800 --> 01:12:33,520 Okay. 1084 01:12:34,280 --> 01:12:54,840 The result is from, this is a very long name for an association, the Federacion Espadañola de Asociacion de Profesionales de los Archivos, las Bibliotecas, los Centros de Documentación de Informacion de Interpretacion, los Museos y los Yacimientos Arqueológicos. 1085 01:12:54,880 --> 01:12:55,560 Oh my God. 1086 01:12:55,560 --> 01:12:57,600 And this place is called... 1087 01:12:57,600 --> 01:12:58,560 What a name. 1088 01:12:59,080 --> 01:13:00,720 Anabads.org. 1089 01:13:01,000 --> 01:13:01,400 Okay. 1090 01:13:01,400 --> 01:13:08,400 So anabads.org estimates, I had never heard of this before I came here. 1091 01:13:08,440 --> 01:13:10,160 And I think maybe you neither. 1092 01:13:11,200 --> 01:13:24,880 The kids that were taken from their parents and given new families by the Catholic Church when they were given birth in Catholic hospitals and things like that. 1093 01:13:24,880 --> 01:13:25,480 Mm hmm. 1094 01:13:25,480 --> 01:13:34,880 300,000 babies over, I'm not sure how many years, maybe 20. 1095 01:13:34,880 --> 01:13:35,480 Yeah. 1096 01:13:35,480 --> 01:13:39,320 And then the second story was very cute. 1097 01:13:39,320 --> 01:13:47,080 It was like, I don't like to give a lot of credit to Il País, but you know, it's a reasonable source of information. 1098 01:13:47,080 --> 01:13:50,880 And it was very cute kind of how they put it. 1099 01:13:50,880 --> 01:13:56,880 They were like, oh, you know, it was just a few, I'm sorry, I don't have a date here. 1100 01:13:56,880 --> 01:13:59,080 The thing is from 2023. 1101 01:13:59,080 --> 01:13:59,680 Okay. 1102 01:13:59,680 --> 01:14:08,480 But they were saying like, oh, initially we wanted to know how many cases of abuse, like sexual abuse, there were in a church. 1103 01:14:08,480 --> 01:14:12,880 And then they were like, so we contacted the Catholic Church. 1104 01:14:12,880 --> 01:14:15,080 To find out what the numbers they had. 1105 01:14:15,080 --> 01:14:16,080 Yep. 1106 01:14:16,080 --> 01:14:16,880 They admitted. 1107 01:14:16,880 --> 01:14:17,880 They were like zero, zero. 1108 01:14:17,880 --> 01:14:19,680 No, well, they admitted to four. 1109 01:14:19,680 --> 01:14:20,480 Four. 1110 01:14:20,480 --> 01:14:20,880 Yep. 1111 01:14:22,080 --> 01:14:26,080 And then they say we searched the internet or, you know, they didn't quite say that. 1112 01:14:26,080 --> 01:14:32,080 We're like on a first initial search, we found 34 cases. 1113 01:14:32,080 --> 01:14:32,680 Oh God. 1114 01:14:32,680 --> 01:14:33,080 Right. 1115 01:14:33,080 --> 01:14:40,480 And then they have a list going and right now there are 1027 accused. 1116 01:14:40,480 --> 01:14:41,280 Accused. 1117 01:14:41,280 --> 01:14:41,680 Yeah. 1118 01:14:41,680 --> 01:14:45,280 With 2000, well, basically 2200. 1119 01:14:45,280 --> 01:14:47,080 When did they start taking these stats? 1120 01:14:47,080 --> 01:14:49,680 Anybody who's alive, Julie. 1121 01:14:49,680 --> 01:14:51,480 Anybody who's alive, basically. 1122 01:14:51,480 --> 01:14:52,280 I mean, no, not. 1123 01:14:52,280 --> 01:14:56,080 Like starting from when to when have they come up with like 2000 cases? 1124 01:14:56,080 --> 01:14:58,280 2000 victims. 1125 01:14:58,280 --> 01:14:58,680 Right. 1126 01:14:58,680 --> 01:15:05,480 From 1027 accused people and it just goes, any case they can find. 1127 01:15:05,480 --> 01:15:06,080 Okay. 1128 01:15:06,080 --> 01:15:06,680 Any case. 1129 01:15:06,680 --> 01:15:07,880 Documented case. 1130 01:15:07,880 --> 01:15:08,680 In Spain. 1131 01:15:08,680 --> 01:15:11,880 That's what their, you know, outlook was. 1132 01:15:11,880 --> 01:15:14,280 So I'm going to say they're very powerful. 1133 01:15:14,280 --> 01:15:18,880 And I'm going to say they fucked up a lot of lights. 1134 01:15:18,880 --> 01:15:19,880 That's all I'm going to say. 1135 01:15:19,880 --> 01:15:22,080 So yeah, pretty powerful. 1136 01:15:22,080 --> 01:15:22,280 Yeah. 1137 01:15:22,280 --> 01:15:22,480 Yeah. 1138 01:15:22,480 --> 01:15:27,480 I mean, even researching a cheeky so one time I came across the story about a priest who 1139 01:15:27,480 --> 01:15:29,480 got moved around to different schools. 1140 01:15:29,480 --> 01:15:29,880 Yeah. 1141 01:15:29,880 --> 01:15:31,080 Here in Vizcaya. 1142 01:15:31,080 --> 01:15:32,080 Oh my gosh. 1143 01:15:32,080 --> 01:15:32,680 Yeah. 1144 01:15:32,680 --> 01:15:34,380 It's already smelling bad. 1145 01:15:34,380 --> 01:15:35,680 Yeah. 1146 01:15:35,680 --> 01:15:37,780 I hope all of our listeners enjoyed. 1147 01:15:37,780 --> 01:15:38,080 Yeah. 1148 01:15:38,080 --> 01:15:46,080 And yeah, contact us at crimes of the Basque lands, gmail.com. 1149 01:15:46,080 --> 01:15:50,880 If you want to give us like story ideas or just send us an email. 1150 01:15:50,880 --> 01:15:51,280 Yeah. 1151 01:15:51,280 --> 01:15:54,480 Little like smiley faces or mini crime times. 1152 01:15:54,480 --> 01:15:56,080 We would love that. 1153 01:15:56,080 --> 01:15:57,480 And see you next time. 1154 01:15:57,480 --> 01:15:58,280 Yes. 1155 01:15:58,280 --> 01:16:00,480 So we bid you a good. 1156 01:16:00,480 --> 01:16:03,980 Good. 1157 01:16:03,980 --> 01:16:08,880 Crimes of the Basque lands is written and produced by Douglas de Carvalho, Julie Garcia, 1158 01:16:08,880 --> 01:16:10,080 and Megan Dooley. 1159 01:16:10,080 --> 01:16:13,880 The sound and editing for each episode by Douglas de Carvalho. 1160 01:16:13,880 --> 01:16:15,180 I'm Megan Dooley. 1161 01:16:15,180 --> 01:16:16,480 Theme song written by. 1162 01:16:16,480 --> 01:16:17,480 Douglas de Carvalho. 1163 01:16:17,480 --> 01:16:18,480 Julie Garcia. 1164 01:16:18,480 --> 01:16:19,680 I'm Megan Dooley. 1165 01:16:19,680 --> 01:16:23,380 Sung by the choir with no name and produced by Tom Squires. 1166 01:16:23,380 --> 01:16:25,880 Podcast art by Distinct Signal. 1167 01:16:25,880 --> 01:16:31,380 Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at crimes of the Basque lands and contact us at crimes 1168 01:16:31,380 --> 01:16:36,280 of the Basque lands at gmail.com with story ideas worldwide which have a connection to 1169 01:16:36,280 --> 01:16:39,480 the Basque country or any rave reviews. 1170 01:16:39,480 --> 01:16:43,780 If you like our podcast, please subscribe, like, rate and review wherever you get your 1171 01:16:43,780 --> 01:16:44,980 podcasts. 1172 01:16:44,980 --> 01:16:45,980 Until next time. 1173 01:16:45,980 --> 01:17:14,980 Agur.