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The Last Confession: Murder, Family, Ethnicity, and Justice in a Texas Border Town
A Texas Murder, a Priest and the 60-year Cold Case the Church Couldn't BuryIn 1960, Irene Garza was murdered in McAllen, Texas. The prime suspect was a Catholic priest. What followed was not only a brutal crime, but a 60-year investigation marked by silence, institutional power, and a conviction that would become the oldest on record.
In The Last Confession, Dr. Lynda de la Viña—cousin to Irene Garza—reveals the inside story of a Texas murder the Catholic Church helped conceal. Blending true crime, memoir, and investigative reporting, she traces the decades-long fight for accountability in the Rio Grande Valley. Dr. de la Viña draws on meticulous research and personal memory to expose how legal barriers, district attorney refusals, church governance, and political ties obstructed justice for over half a century.
As a family member who lived under the shadow of this crime and a retired professor trained to analyze systems of power, Dr. de la Viña brings both emotional truth and factual precision to this historic conviction.
Inside, you’ll a 1960 Texas murder became one of the longest-running cold cases in U.S. criminal history—and why it took 60 years to convict.The documented inner workings of Catholic Church governance and how institutional silence protected a priest.The role of grand juries, district attorneys, and investigative process failures that delayed justice.The psychological manipulation and shifting confessions of Father John Feit.How one South Texas family refused to let corruption erase their cousin’s memory.
More than just a true crime book, The Last Confession is a record of perseverance, faith tested by power, and justice finally restored.
In The Last Confession, Dr. Lynda de la Viña—cousin to Irene Garza—reveals the inside story of a Texas murder the Catholic Church helped conceal. Blending true crime, memoir, and investigative reporting, she traces the decades-long fight for accountability in the Rio Grande Valley. Dr. de la Viña draws on meticulous research and personal memory to expose how legal barriers, district attorney refusals, church governance, and political ties obstructed justice for over half a century.
As a family member who lived under the shadow of this crime and a retired professor trained to analyze systems of power, Dr. de la Viña brings both emotional truth and factual precision to this historic conviction.
Inside, you’ll a 1960 Texas murder became one of the longest-running cold cases in U.S. criminal history—and why it took 60 years to convict.The documented inner workings of Catholic Church governance and how institutional silence protected a priest.The role of grand juries, district attorneys, and investigative process failures that delayed justice.The psychological manipulation and shifting confessions of Father John Feit.How one South Texas family refused to let corruption erase their cousin’s memory.
More than just a true crime book, The Last Confession is a record of perseverance, faith tested by power, and justice finally restored.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
303 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2026
About the author
Lynda de la Viña
1 book10 followersDr. Lynda de la Viña is dean emerita of the University of Texas at San Antonio and at Johns Hopkins University. She’s also the first Mexican-American woman to earn a PhD in economics in the United States. A nationally respected economist and public servant, she has spent her career examining how institutions shape policy, power, and public accountability.
Her mission as an author is rooted in both scholarship and family history. In The Last Confession: Murder, Family, Ethnicity, and Justice in a Texas Border Town, she brings analytical rigor and personal conviction to the decades-long investigation into the 1960 murder of her cousin, Irene Garza. Drawing on her expertise in economic systems and governance, Dr. de la Viña documents how institutional structures, legal barriers, and silence delayed justice for nearly 60 years. Her purpose is clear: to preserve the historical record, honor her family’s perseverance, and ensure that truth is not lost to power.
Born in Edinburg in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, approximately 20 miles from the Mexican border, Dr. de la Viña earned her bachelor’s degree in government and economics from the University of Texas–Pan American (now the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), and her master’s and doctorate in economics from Rice University. She served as deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury during the Clinton administration from 1998 to 2001, becoming the first Mexican American woman at the secretarial level of the Treasury. She later served as senior policy analyst for the U.S.–Mexico Chamber of Commerce and as full professor and associate dean at Johns Hopkins University, where she chaired the Department of Finance and International Business.
Dr. de la Viña resides in San Antonio, Texas. She is the mother of two adopted children and grandmother to four grandsons. A lifelong tennis player and sports car enthusiast, she enjoys British television mysteries, classic films, and writing. Readers can learn more about her work at TheLastConfession.com and vinjer.com.
Her mission as an author is rooted in both scholarship and family history. In The Last Confession: Murder, Family, Ethnicity, and Justice in a Texas Border Town, she brings analytical rigor and personal conviction to the decades-long investigation into the 1960 murder of her cousin, Irene Garza. Drawing on her expertise in economic systems and governance, Dr. de la Viña documents how institutional structures, legal barriers, and silence delayed justice for nearly 60 years. Her purpose is clear: to preserve the historical record, honor her family’s perseverance, and ensure that truth is not lost to power.
Born in Edinburg in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, approximately 20 miles from the Mexican border, Dr. de la Viña earned her bachelor’s degree in government and economics from the University of Texas–Pan American (now the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), and her master’s and doctorate in economics from Rice University. She served as deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury during the Clinton administration from 1998 to 2001, becoming the first Mexican American woman at the secretarial level of the Treasury. She later served as senior policy analyst for the U.S.–Mexico Chamber of Commerce and as full professor and associate dean at Johns Hopkins University, where she chaired the Department of Finance and International Business.
Dr. de la Viña resides in San Antonio, Texas. She is the mother of two adopted children and grandmother to four grandsons. A lifelong tennis player and sports car enthusiast, she enjoys British television mysteries, classic films, and writing. Readers can learn more about her work at TheLastConfession.com and vinjer.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A well written true crime novel and part personal memoir about an almost sixty-year old murder finally being solved and justice rendered. Written by the first cousin of the victim with painstaking love and even-handedness, the book recreates the time, lives, location and vibrant Mexican-American culture that infuses the story with breadth snd depth. All reasons for my five star review.
Irene Garza was a twenty-five year old teacher and Texas beauty queen. She came from a humble and devoted Catholic family. Her beauty wasn’t skin deep, she was loved by her students and was very community conscious. On Holy Saturday in 1960 Irene went to confession but never returned home. Five days later her body was found floating in an irrigation canal. Her autopsy revealed she had been bludgeoned, raped when comatose and suffocated. A photographic slide viewer was found with her body. A young priest, Father John Feit wrote the authorities to say the viewer belonged to him but he had no idea had it had come to be where it was. What then emerges in the telling is the Feit was charged with an attempt on another woman just three weeks before, was charged, convicted only to pay a $500 fine. The murder, however, was a series of coverups by the Catholic Church and the local authorities. Feit eventually left the priesthood, married and lived in Arizona.
The story doesn’t end here - but no spoilers on how the case was reopened and a family’s long pursuit for justice ended. The author, a former economics professor, has studied power structures so what’s revealed in the coverup shows how institutions do these things. In this case the idea that a priest could commit such a thing was considered almost a sacrilegious thought. The outcome from the reopening of the cold case can be best stated in the words of expert witness, Father Thomas Doyle, who went on record to set in his thirty-five years of dealing with priestly cases “he had never before seen a document that so clearly implicated the Church and civilian officials in the cover up of a priest’s sexual crime.”
The book has two part. The first sets the scenario and background for Irene’s murder and then the murder itself. The second part desks with the reopening of the case and includes the author’s memories, the family dealings with the lasting effect of the murder in the family, and the arrest, trial and conviction. The epilogue is particularly moving and the afterword is a wonderful summation of the effects of power on a community.
Highly recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and Leopard Dog Books for granting me access to this ARC.
Irene Garza was a twenty-five year old teacher and Texas beauty queen. She came from a humble and devoted Catholic family. Her beauty wasn’t skin deep, she was loved by her students and was very community conscious. On Holy Saturday in 1960 Irene went to confession but never returned home. Five days later her body was found floating in an irrigation canal. Her autopsy revealed she had been bludgeoned, raped when comatose and suffocated. A photographic slide viewer was found with her body. A young priest, Father John Feit wrote the authorities to say the viewer belonged to him but he had no idea had it had come to be where it was. What then emerges in the telling is the Feit was charged with an attempt on another woman just three weeks before, was charged, convicted only to pay a $500 fine. The murder, however, was a series of coverups by the Catholic Church and the local authorities. Feit eventually left the priesthood, married and lived in Arizona.
The story doesn’t end here - but no spoilers on how the case was reopened and a family’s long pursuit for justice ended. The author, a former economics professor, has studied power structures so what’s revealed in the coverup shows how institutions do these things. In this case the idea that a priest could commit such a thing was considered almost a sacrilegious thought. The outcome from the reopening of the cold case can be best stated in the words of expert witness, Father Thomas Doyle, who went on record to set in his thirty-five years of dealing with priestly cases “he had never before seen a document that so clearly implicated the Church and civilian officials in the cover up of a priest’s sexual crime.”
The book has two part. The first sets the scenario and background for Irene’s murder and then the murder itself. The second part desks with the reopening of the case and includes the author’s memories, the family dealings with the lasting effect of the murder in the family, and the arrest, trial and conviction. The epilogue is particularly moving and the afterword is a wonderful summation of the effects of power on a community.
Highly recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and Leopard Dog Books for granting me access to this ARC.
October 14, 2026
16 April 1960 in McAllen (a border town in Texas) & 25-year-old Irene Garza left home as usual to go to confession. She was never seen alive again. Several days later her body was found in a local canal & the autopsy put the cause of death as suffocation. Irene's family was at first supported by law enforcement & their local Catholic church, but after a short investigation & possible suspect was identified, the case was suddenly quietly shelved.
It took the author almost 60 years of fighting the system to get the justice Irene deserved, & it took so long because of who was involved. It turned out that Irene was murdered by a Catholic priest (who had already attacked one young woman) & a deal was done behind the scenes to keep it out of the press & allow the Church to move John Bernard Feit to a monastery.
I went through a whole host of emotions whilst reading this: sadness for the young woman who had her life taken from her, anger at the Church & the law enforcement & judicial system that went along with it, & disgust that Feit not only didn't answer for what he did until the very end of his life, he never expressed any remorse. What was even more galling was to find out that Feit was not only NOT confined to a monastery for life, but that he was allowed to rise within their ranks & counsel other sex offender priests! You think you've read it all until you read something like that.
I also felt admiration for the author & other relatives who would not let this crime go unpunished. This is the kind of read that stays with you long after you close the cover. It's very moving & I'm so glad I requested an ARC of the book.
SUMMARY:
Research: 5/5 - Such determination & tenacity to fight for almost 60 years to get justice.
Writing Style: 4/5 - It’s very moving & obviously written from the heart.
Enjoyment Level: 5/5 - I feel that this is one of those books that will stay with me long after finishing it.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Leopard Dog Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
It took the author almost 60 years of fighting the system to get the justice Irene deserved, & it took so long because of who was involved. It turned out that Irene was murdered by a Catholic priest (who had already attacked one young woman) & a deal was done behind the scenes to keep it out of the press & allow the Church to move John Bernard Feit to a monastery.
I went through a whole host of emotions whilst reading this: sadness for the young woman who had her life taken from her, anger at the Church & the law enforcement & judicial system that went along with it, & disgust that Feit not only didn't answer for what he did until the very end of his life, he never expressed any remorse. What was even more galling was to find out that Feit was not only NOT confined to a monastery for life, but that he was allowed to rise within their ranks & counsel other sex offender priests! You think you've read it all until you read something like that.
I also felt admiration for the author & other relatives who would not let this crime go unpunished. This is the kind of read that stays with you long after you close the cover. It's very moving & I'm so glad I requested an ARC of the book.
SUMMARY:
Research: 5/5 - Such determination & tenacity to fight for almost 60 years to get justice.
Writing Style: 4/5 - It’s very moving & obviously written from the heart.
Enjoyment Level: 5/5 - I feel that this is one of those books that will stay with me long after finishing it.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Leopard Dog Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Author Lynda de la Viña grew up in the Rio Grande Valley during the 1950s-1960s. She belonged to a close knit Mexican-American family, and one of her favorite relatives was her older cousin Irene Garza. Ms. Garza, 25, was a beloved second-grade teacher, a winner of beauty pageants in the past, and a devout Catholic who found great comfort in her religion. On Easter weekend in 1960, she went to confession at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas and never returned home.
Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in a massive search for her, until her body was found in a canal five days later. She had been beaten, raped and suffocated. The massive search then turned into a massive investigation, once again involving multiple law enforcement agencies. The prime suspect ended up being a Catholic priest named John Feit who was currently serving at Sacred Heart Church. He was also the main suspect in an attack of another woman in a nearby Catholic church a few weeks before Irene Garza was murdered. All involved were confident they had their killer.
Yet they were not allowed to arrest Father Feit for Ms. Garza's murder. Why? Because of a deal between a sheriff, a district attorney and the Catholic church. The church did not want the bad publicity and promised to send the pervert priest to a monastery for life, which did not happen. This book explains all the sickening details of that agreement. It further describes all the attempts over many, many years to get justice for Irene Garza, by her family and by others who knew a great injustice was done when John Feit was allowed to live a long life as a free man. It would take over 50 years to end his freedom.
(Note: I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher or author.)
Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in a massive search for her, until her body was found in a canal five days later. She had been beaten, raped and suffocated. The massive search then turned into a massive investigation, once again involving multiple law enforcement agencies. The prime suspect ended up being a Catholic priest named John Feit who was currently serving at Sacred Heart Church. He was also the main suspect in an attack of another woman in a nearby Catholic church a few weeks before Irene Garza was murdered. All involved were confident they had their killer.
Yet they were not allowed to arrest Father Feit for Ms. Garza's murder. Why? Because of a deal between a sheriff, a district attorney and the Catholic church. The church did not want the bad publicity and promised to send the pervert priest to a monastery for life, which did not happen. This book explains all the sickening details of that agreement. It further describes all the attempts over many, many years to get justice for Irene Garza, by her family and by others who knew a great injustice was done when John Feit was allowed to live a long life as a free man. It would take over 50 years to end his freedom.
(Note: I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher or author.)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews