PHOENIX (AP) – The former Texas priest who has been accused of killing a schoolteacher more than 50 years ago was known in Phoenix as a tireless charity worker.
For nearly 20 years, John Feit was regarded as one of the most compassionate employees at the St. Vincent de Paul nonprofit agency for the poor. He worked with food-pantry volunteers and even raised money to buy a house for a needy family.
Feit, who left the church to marry, was able to do all this charity work despite public knowledge that he had long been a suspect in the 1960 rape and killing of 25-year-old Irene Garza in McAllen, Texas.
She was last seen at the church where Feit was a priest. Her bludgeoned body was discovered in a canal days later.
Feit, who is now 83, was arrested Tuesday for murder. A grand jury brought the charge based on yet-to-be-disclosed evidence. Feit, who uses a walker, is now in jail and plans to fight extradition to Texas.
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