A Texas man police are describing as a “serial killer” who served time for killing a young girl in 1982 was arrested this week after confessing to the slayings of two other people, authorities said.
Raul Meza Jr., 62, called police and admitted to killing an 80-year-old man in Pflugerville, Texas, this month and a 66-year-old woman in Austin in 2019, and investigators believe he could be involved in as many as 10 other killings, according to police.
When police arrested Meza on Monday, he told them he was “ready and prepared to kill again and looking forward to it,” Austin Police Department Detective Patrick Reed said.
Suspect phoned police, turned himself in
Police said they have charged Meza with capital murder in the death of 80-year-old Jesse Fraga in Pflugerville and in the death of Austin resident Gloria Lofton, 66, who was killed in May 2019.
Meza called police on May 24 while he was being sought for the death of Fraga, Austin police said in a news conference Tuesday.
“My name is Raul Meza, and you are looking for me,” Reed said Meza told him on the phone. “I got out (of prison) in 2016 and ended up murdering a lady soon after, and it was on Sara Drive.”
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The U.S. Marshals Service’s Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested Meza in North Austin on Monday, according to Pflugerville police. When Meza was arrested, police said, he was on a bicycle and had a backpack with him containing duct tape, zip ties and a .22-caliber gun.
Austin police are also investigating Meza in connection with eight to 10 other cold cases that have similarities to Meza’s other killings, Detective Katy Conner said.
Search for Meza after old roommate found dead
Police began searching for Meza as a person of interest after Fraga, a retired Travis County probation officer, was found dead by officers on May 20 while they were conducting a welfare check because Fraga’s loved ones hadn’t heard from him in several days.
Fraga’s body was found with a belt around his neck, said Austin Police Detective Nathan Sexton at the Tuesday news conference. The Travis County medical examiner found a puncture wound on Fraga’s neck and a severed cervical spine, Sexton said.
Police said Meza stole Fraga’s car but later abandoned it. Meza’s car was found parked in the driveway of Fraga’s residence with duct tape, gloves, a hammer and a hatchet inside of it, according to a search warrant.
Fraga had known Meza since the 1990s and had tried to help him after he was released from prison, according to a lawsuit. A search warrant said Meza had been Fraga’s roommate for two years but had moved out of Fraga’s house on May 12.
Suspect implicates himself in 2019 death of a woman
When Meza called to turn himself in to authorities, Reed said, he also implicated himself in the 2019 killing of Lofton. He didn’t name her but mentioned the street where she was killed. Lofton had been strangled to death, Reed said.
At the time that Lofton died, her death was considered suspicious, police said. After Meza confessed to killing her, police were able to match DNA from the scene to Meza, investigators said. A review of records by the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, revealed police may have had key evidence in that investigation linking Meza to the crime sooner.
READ MORE:Austin police may have missed key DNA lead to stop suspected serial killer Raul Meza Jr.
Raul is a convicted murderer in 1982 rape, strangling of 8-year-old girl
Meza was convicted of murder in the sexual assault and strangling of 8-year-old Kendra Page in 1982 in Austin.
Interim City Manager Bruce Mills said at the news conference that he helped investigate Page’s death in 1982 when he was a police detective.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Mills said. “Eight-year-old Kendra Page was found Jan. 3 behind Langford Elementary School and she had been assaulted and murdered.”
The girl was riding her bicycle on the playground of Langford Elementary, several blocks from her family’s home, when Meza killed her.
WHAT WE KNOW:Who is convicted murderer Raul Meza Jr.?
Mills said Meza pleaded guilty to the murder of Page in exchange for a 30-year sentence. He later received another four-year sentence for having a weapon in prison. Police were disappointed that he never went to trial and then was released 11 years later, Mills said.
At the time of Page’s murder, Meza was on parole for the robbery of a convenience store in 1975, during which he shot and injured a store attendant.
Meza initially was released from prison in 1993 when the time he served plus additional time counted off for good behavior equaled the length of his sentence under the state’s mandatory supervision law, which has since been changed.
He was sent back to prison in 1994 for a parole violation and was then released in 2002.
“Here’s a guy who probably should have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Mills said.
Meza was run out of Texas towns
After being released from prison in 1993, Meza moved to a halfway house near El Paso, where protests by community members prompted officials to move him.
Similar protests led to transfers from Wichita Falls, San Antonio, Mineral Wells and Sweetwater.
Meza didn’t have any stable employment in the Austin area when he was arrested earlier this week and his parole had expired, police said.
Police said investigators do not believe Meza is responsible for either of the recent deaths that have taken place near the Rainey Street entertainment district downtown. Bodies have been found in Lady Bird Lake this year, stoking fears in the community, but police have said there is no evidence of foul play in those deaths.
Contributing: Tony Plohetski and Ryan Maxin, Austin American-Statesman; The Associated Press
