>> father john bernard feit. >> father john feit. back then, a catholic priest. >> no evidence in this case right now points us in any other direction. >> so why is he still a free man? by all accounts, irene garza was a remarkable young woman. >> she kind of broke the mold. >> irene's younger cousin, noemi sigler. >> at that time, hispanics stayed on one side of town, anglos lived on another side, and she kind of transcended that. >> she was gentle and sweet and beautiful. >> lynda de la vina is another cousin. >> she was really a role model, and to see how she had gone through college, was a teacher, was a beauty queen and yet was just a very sweet and simple person to us as children. >> but in 1960, the body of this inspiring woman was found face down in this canal. she was 25, the age for thinking about getting married and raising a family. >> she didn't have a life. irene never had that chance. >> irene garza lived in this house in what was a very nice neighborhood near downtown mcallen and remains so today. she lived here with

feit, i'm gary tuchman with cnn.arza. >> good for you. >> we wanted to hear john feit's version of what happened. we wanted his response to those that say he's guilty of rape and murder. back in 1960, this texas ranger memorandum says you expressed guilt to the texas rangers about killing irene garza, is this true? do you ever have trouble sleeping at night? can you just answer that question? the mcallen police and texas rangers believe you killed irene garza. are you worried about that sir? are you concerned? >> feit would not answer our questions, but when we interviewed him five years ago feit had more to say. did you commit the murder of irene garza. >> interesting question. the answer is no. >> he also told us what he thought 0 dale tacheny, the former monk who says feit admitted murdering irene. he says you told him you committed the murder. >> i think he's demented. >> what about the priest, father o'brien. he says you committed the murder too and knew you well. [ speaking latin ] >> what does that mean, sir?

>> father john bernard feit. >> father john feit. back then, a catholic priest. >> no evidence in this case right now points us in any other direction. >> so why is he still a free man? by all accounts, irene garza was a remarkable young woman. >> she kind of broke the mold. >> irene's younger cousin, noemi sigler. >> at that time, hispanics stayed on one side of town, anglos lived on another side, and she kind of transcended that. >> she was gentle and sweet and beautiful. >> lynda de la vina is another cousin. >> she was a role model, to see how she had gone through college, was a teacher, was a beauty queen, and yet, was just a very sweet and simple person to us as children. >> but in 1960, the body of this inspiring woman was found face down in this canal. she was 25, the age for thinking about getting married and raising a family. >> she didn't have a life. irene never had that chance. >> irene garza lived in this house in what was a very nice neighborhood near downtown mcallen and remains so today. she lived here with her siste

father john feit. back then, a catholic priest. >> no evidence in this case points us in any other direction. >> reporter: so why is he still a free man? by all accounts, irene garza was a remarkable young woman. >> she kind of broke the mold. >> reporter: irene's younger cousin, naomi siegler. >> at that time, hispanics stayed one side of town, anglos lived on the other side. and she kind of transcended that. >> she was gentle and sweet and beautiful. >> reporter: linda is another cousin. >> she was really a role model, and to see how she had gone through college, was a teacher, was a beauty queen, and yet was, you know, just a very sweet and simple person to us as children. >> reporter: but in 1960, the body of this inspiring woman was found face down in this canal. she was 25. the age for thinking about getting married and raising a family. >> she didn't have a life. irene never had that chance. >> reporter: irene garza lived in this house in what was a nice neighborhood. she lived here with her sis

. >> one of those priests was john feit. living and studying in the south texas pastor house, members of the order takes vows of poverty, chasity and obedience. but at a church nearby, father feit would be accused of sexual assaulting in young woman, maria america getta. the 20-year-old woman told police she came into the church, which was empty at the time to pray. the communion rail used to be here near the chairs. she knelt down and attacked by a man. she told police he had dark hair and glasses and bit him in the if i thinker and drew blood and ran away. >> father feit matched his description as a suspect. she identified him to police and had what appeared to be a serious bite mark on a finger. in this sworn statement, feit said the injured finger was from a printing machine, an accident. after a jury deadlocked on a felony charge of assault with intent to commit rape, feit would eventually plead no contest to misdemeanor aggravated assault. the judge found him guilty and fined him $500. no prison time. just 24 days afte