Ex-Priest Convicted of Murdering Texas Beauty Queen in 1960
He strangled 25-year-old Irene Garza to death.
Former priest John Bernard Feit has been found guilty of murdering a Texas beauty queen who was a member of his parish. Twenty-five-year-old Irene Garza was strangled to death in McAllen, Texas, in 1960. Feit, now 85, was serving as a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the town. Garza, a teacher who had been named Miss All South Texas Sweetheart 1958, told others she was going to confession that night but never returned home. A mammoth Texas Monthly story about the murder, published in 2005, sparked new interest in the long-unsolved case. Police finally arrested Feit in February of last year.
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