Best American Crime Writing 2006 - Mark Bowden [68]
“The subject, in very deliberate and explicit words, stated there will never be any evidence turning up in the future of this case.
“He also pointed out to the examiner that there are two…murders in the area [that] had gone unsolved, one for 15 years and one for 20 years, and that this case, like those, will soon be forgotten.”
When asked why he entered the priesthood, Feit answered, “I just wanted to give it a try.”
When asked about the attack on Maria America Guerra, Feit’s answers bordered on the absurd. At one point, he claimed that Guerra’s true attacker had actually confessed to him.
“The subject was queried as to where the confession was obtained, and [Feit] told the examiner that it was not in the confessional box, not in the rectory but out in the open some place and was very vague as to where the open place was.”
When asked if the lie detector was incorrect when it indicated that he committed these crimes, he answered, “Your machine is probably functioning correctly, but these men from Austin have told me that I have a vague respiration and a bad heart.”
What everyone knew—Feit’s attorneys, the examiners themselves—was that polygraph exams weren’t admissible in court.
In effect, the stated belief by examiners that Feit was “concealing the truth” would mean nothing in a courtroom.
Feit had been taken to Austin and then Chicago for the polygraph tests.
Each time, he was escorted by Father Joseph O’Brien, his supervisor at Sacred Heart Church.
It was clear that O’Brien had been placed in charge of Feit by his superiors within the Order of Mary Immaculate.
PROSECUTORS FINALLY DECIDED to first move forward with the attempted sexual assault case against Feit.
When charges were filed, John Feit became a household name.
It was the biggest story in the McAllen valley in years. And as leaders had feared, it tore the community apart.
Feit remained confident. As he told investigators, he “had the best attorneys money can buy.”
The trial was moved to Austin. It was believed Feit couldn’t get a fair trial in Hidalgo County.
His trial ended with the jury deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of conviction.
Rather than face a second trial, Feit pleaded no contest to the reduced charges of aggravated assault and was ordered to pay the five-hundred-dollar fine.
No murder charge was ever filed.
The assumption in McAllen was that a deal had been struck to avoid both further embarrassment to the church and a prolonged fight between the church and elected officials in this predominantly Catholic town.
Documents in the case seem to support the assumption.
Indeed, it is clear that the church promised to ship Feit away from the valley and lock him up in the monastery system.
Irene’s aunt, Herlinda de la Vina, remembers Father Joseph O’Brien telling her as much.
“He told us that the church’s punishment was greater than any sentence handed down by the courts, and we believed him.”
Father O’Brien told the family that Feit would be sent to a monastery and kept there so he would be unable to hurt anyone else.
And that’s what happened. For the next decade, Father O’Brien essentially served as John Feit’s probation officer, as well as the liaison between civil and church authorities in the matter.
O’Brien was even named a “special investigator” by the city manager of McAllen.
O’Brien’s role in the case ended with a short letter sent to McAllen police in December 1971:
“Dear Chief:
“I have just received notice that John Feit has left Denham Springs, New Mexico, and is now living in the Chicago area. He is seeking employment as a layman and will no longer function as a priest. This was his own decision and was not due to a problem.
“If any further information is needed please feel free to call upon me.
“Father Joseph O’Brien, OMI.”
NOEMI PONCE-SIGLER WAS ten years old when Irene Garza was murdered.
The cousins, part of a close-knit extended Mexican-American family, were