Raul Meza Jr., Freed in 1993 After Killing a Child, Is Arrested in Two New Austin-Area Killings
A U.S. Marshals task force caught Meza, 62, in North Austin, wanted in the deaths of Jesse Fraga, 80, and Gloria Lofton, 66. Police said 8 to 10 other cases looked similar.
Published
Raul Meza Jr. was near a bus stop on North Lamar Boulevard in North Austin on Monday, May 29, 2023, when members of the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested him. He was 62. In his backpack, CBS Austin reported, were duct tape, zip ties and a gun.
He was wanted, first, in the death of the man he had lived with. Jesse Fraga, 80, was a retired Travis County probation officer who had known Meza since the 1990s and, according to a lawsuit, had tried to help him. For about two years the two men shared a house on Camp Fire Trail in Pflugerville. A search warrant said Meza moved out on May 12. Eight days later, after a call asking for a welfare check, Fraga was found dead. Meza had taken his car, which was later found abandoned. He faced a capital murder charge in Fraga's death.
By the time of his arrest a second case had been tied to him. Police said they had linked Meza's DNA to the killing of Gloria Lofton, 66, in Austin, and he was wanted on two homicide charges and a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Five days before the arrest, according to the Marshals, Meza had said in a phone call on May 24, "I think you are looking for me." Deputy U.S. Marshal Brandon Filla called him "the worst of the worst."
At a press conference on Tuesday, investigators said the two killings might not be the end of it. Police said they were looking at "between 8 and 10 cases that kind of fit a similar circumstance, but that could grow." One official said Meza had been "ready and prepared to kill again and he was looking forward to it."
The name had been notorious in Texas for four decades. In 1982 Meza killed 8-year-old Kendra Page, who had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Her body, FOX 7 reported, was found behind Langford Elementary School in Austin. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years, and while in prison he received four more years for having a weapon. He was released on mandatory supervision in 1993, after serving 11 years of the 30, went back to prison in 1994 for violating his parole, and was released again in 2002. Bruce Mills, an assistant police chief, said that somebody had made a bad decision 40 years ago.
Early reports described the charges differently. The Austin American-Statesman reported a capital murder charge in Fraga's death, while Fox News, after Tuesday's press conference, reported two homicide charges and one of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The later indictments charged Meza with capital murder in Lofton's death and murder in Fraga's. News coverage in May 2023 gave Lofton's age as 66; the Travis County District Attorney's Office gave it as 65 when Meza pleaded guilty in 2024. The 8 to 10 cases police mentioned were possible links only; none of them had been charged when he was arrested.
Sources
- Police: Raul Meza arrested in Pflugerville killing, Austin American-Statesman, via Yahoo News
- Austin police describe Raul Meza as serial killer possibly linked to 10 other homicides, CBS Austin (KEYE), Bettie Cross
- Austin serial killer, child rapist arrested after turning himself in, could be linked to more murders, Fox News, Audrey Conklin
Related News
- September 30, 2024: Raul Meza Jr. Pleads Guilty to the Murders of Gloria Lofton and Jesse Fraga and Is Sentenced to Life