The Orange Tree

After decades without justice, Irene Garza's case finally moves forward. Now in his 80s, John Feit is living in Arizona but is extradited to Texas when a grand jury indicts him for Irene's murder. The trial begins in late 2017, and the lead prosecutor on Irene's case brings witnesses forward to paint a picture of what happened the Holy Saturday evening when Feit heard her confession. After two weeks, the jury deliberates for more than seven hours before finding Feit guilty. Snow falls in McAllen, a rare occurrence, as Feit faces his sentencing.

McAllen police chief Victor Rodriguez recounts when he first met a key witness in Irene's case, Father O'Brien in an unlikely place – a state prison in Huntsville, Texas. After submitting their discoveries to the DA's office, Rudy and Victor feel hopeless because of comments made by the district attorney and his lead prosecutor. By 2003, the grand jury decides not to indict Feit in Irene's murder, leaving a wave of disappointment again for Irene. A whole decade passes until a new district attorney decides to take on Irene's case one more time.

In 2002, the Texas Rangers launched the Unsolved Crimes Investigation Team. Ranger Rudy Jaramillo and his partner reopened Irene's case, finding an unlikely witness to John Feit's confession–an ex-monk. During the same time as Irene's second investigation, the Catholic church was under scrutiny.   

After Irene Garza's body was found, a formal investigation into the murder began. Investigators discovered the priest who killed Irene, John Feit, had previously attacked two other women.  After a letter was sent between the church and investigators, a deal was struck to send Feit away without facing jail time–a common practice for the church.   

On Holy Saturday in 1960, Irene Garza told her parents she was going to an evening confession at their church. But Irene never came home. Her worried parents alerted the police and waited anxiously for five days until Irene's body was found floating in a canal.

A young high school student from McAllen, Texas, a small border town, went on a date with a guy from her class in early 1952. The two dated until their senior year, when they decided to go their separate ways. The young man went off to law school, not knowing his high school sweetheart, Irene Garza, would soon be murdered.

On the evening of April 16, 1960, a young woman from McAllen, Texas named Irene Garza went to church for confession. She never returned home. A week later, her body was found floating in a canal. Decades would pass before the priest who murdered Irene was brought to justice in a historic case for the church and the Rio Grande Valley. In Season five of “Darkness,” host Talisa Treviño details the decades-long fight for justice for Irene. Hear from the investigators who tackled the case and Irene's loved ones, as well as survivors of abuse in the Catholic church.  

Introducing a new series from The Drag: "Forsaken." "Forsaken" is a series that explores the systems that both enhance and oppress the lives of the more than 29 million people living in Texas. Each episode will address issues that Texans face each day – the good and the bad. We'll explore the criminal justice system, Texas politics, civil rights, social issues and even a little bit of history. Texas is the second-most diverse state in the nation and has equally diverse stories to tell. As the legendary late Texas singer Billy Joe Shaver sings: “You fathers and you mothers / Be good to one another / Please try to raise your children right / Don't let the darkness take ‘em / Don't make ‘em feel forsaken / Just lead ‘em safely to the light.” The first two episodes of "Forsaken" drop Thursday, March 7. Follow "Forsaken" on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Or your favorite podcasting app!

Fifty years after the shooting, survivors, heroes and their families return to Austin. A committee pushes for a better memorial for the victims. Some testify at the Texas Legislature, trying to stop a law allowing guns on campuses.

College students discuss their experiences growing up with school shooting drills and the constant fear of a shooter. Host Sara Kinney and a March for Our Lives representative go over the state of gun legislation today.

Forty-four years after the Tower shootings, another shooting occurs on the University of Texas campus. Survivors continue their lives while gun violence grows as a hot-button political issue. The physical wounds begin to heal, but the emotional ones remain. 

The shooting becomes national news. Students return to classes a few days later. Law enforcement continues its investigation. An autopsy is performed on the sniper. A police officer is laid to rest. Victims start their road to recovery. 

Ninety-six minutes after the shooting began, the sniper is dead. Everyone nearby converges on campus. Law enforcement and journalists work to identify the dead. Hospitals struggle with the influx of patients. Friends and families mourn their loved ones.

More law enforcement officers swarm campus and join the efforts to stop the shooter. In the tower, a chaotic situation unfolds as a handful of officers and civilians make their way to the observation deck and exchange fire with the sniper.

A police officer assigned to divert traffic from the campus area decides to head into the action. The bookstore employee heads toward the tower and teams up with law enforcement. Together, they hatch a plan to stop the sniper. 

The shooting continues along The Drag, a nearby street full of shops and restaurants. An employee of the university bookstore helps a wounded boy. More people join the rescue efforts. Students eating lunch and shopping take cover or run to safety. Police officers, students, and others get their guns and begin firing back at the sniper.  

The sniper opens fire on the University of Texas campus and the surrounding area. He shoots a pregnant woman, leaving her on hot concrete in the middle of the gunfire. A local radio reporter heads to the scene. Students in a Shakespeare class watch out the window as a police officer is shot. 

It's August 1, 1966, a hot summer day in Austin, Texas. Not that many people are on the University of Texas campus, except the students enrolled in summer classes. As Monday morning classes start, a 25-year-old former Marine has just killed his wife and mother. He packs the trunk of his car with seven guns and enough supplies to last him days. Then he drives to campus.

On August 1, 1966, a sniper climbed the steps of the University of Texas at Austin's 27-story tower. Seventeen people were killed and more than 30 others were injured. Fifty-six years later, mass shootings make headlines nearly every week. And the University of Texas tower looms over campus, a reminder of one of the first mass school shootings in United States history that has long been forgotten. In season four of “Darkness,” host Sara Kinney walks through the day of the University of Texas Tower shooting and outlines its legacy among the decades-long epidemic of gun violence in schools. Hear from survivors, heroes and family members about their day in 1966, their lives since then and the state of gun control today.

As the bloody year of 1885 draws to a close and 1886 begins, the police are no closer to solving the vicious crimes that rattled Austin. Even more than a century later, no one knows for sure who killed these women or why. This episode explores the various theories, from the effects of the moon to the possibility that Jack the Ripper started in Texas. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

Austin's city leaders begin to panic amid the bloodshed and bring in outside detectives to help the city's underperforming police force. Although six Black women have been killed in less than a year, the city and the nation show much deeper concern when two white women are killed in just one night. The mayor, governor, the media and the Black and white communities desperately search for the killer … or killers. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

A few months after the death of the first victim, another Black woman working as a servant in Austin is killed. And then another. With three murder victims and a clear pattern, modern officials would know that a serial killer is likely behind the attacks. With few forensic tools at their disposal, Austin's small and racist police force rounds up Austin's Black men. The killings don't stop. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

As the capital of Texas celebrates the coming of a new year with exuberance, a dark shadow eclipses the city as an unknown killer stalks the streets. A Black woman working as a servant to a rich white Austinite is murdered, and her boyfriend barely survives. In a city rife with violence, the brutality of the killing shakes up its citizens. And the terror has only just begun. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

Law enforcement officers close in on the cult leaders in Mexico City as fear spreads in the communities along the border. As they learn all of the horrible details of the cult's activities, they turn to their religious faith and to superstition. Thousands gather to celebrate the life of Mark Kilroy, a college student who was so much more than just a headline in a story about a missing person. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

A mysterious young woman taking college courses in South Texas befriends a charismatic Cuban American. The two of them work their way into a drug gang in Mexico. In the aftermath of finding the bodies on a ranch, investigators seek the couple. They are focusing on Aldolfo Constanzo, the Cuban American who they believe is the cult's leader. He keeps slipping out of their grasp. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

The bodies unearthed at a Mexican ranch and the people who buried them lead investigators to believe there's something deeply sinister going on. While tabloids publish screaming headlines feeding into the “satanic panic” and the border communities fear who has been living alongside them, Mark Kilroy's family offers forgiveness. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

Across the border from Matamoros, community members and law enforcement join Mark Kilroy's friends and family in a desperate search. The friends go on the popular TV crime show, “America's Most Wanted,'' and Mark's father pleads on TV for anyone to come forward with information. Police set up road checkpoints, and a car blows right through it. The driver thinks he has powers that make him invisible to law enforcement. Police follow him to a ranch in Mexico … ending the search. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

A group of friends takes a break from the rigors of college by hitting the beaches of South Padre Island during spring break. Just a short ride and a bridge crossing away, the Matamoros, Mexico nightclubs beckon the partying students with cheap alcohol and nonstop dancing. The friends get separated amid a swarm of students. They can't find Mark, their buddy who goes to the University of Texas. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

In March 1989, University of Texas student Mark Kilroy had everything going for him. He was preparing to take the MCAT exams and apply to medical school. He'd just turned 21. He was ready to finally take some time off from school and celebrate with his friends at America's biggest Spring Break party spot…South Padre Island, Texas. In far south Texas, it wasn't uncommon for students to cross the border into Mexico to continue the party. But after a night of partying in Matamoros, Mark Kilroy never came home. His family searched for him for a month until they learned of Mark's grisly end at the hands of a cult led by the handsome and charismatic Adolfo Constanzo, or “El Padrino.” In season three of “Darkness” from The Drag Audio Production House, which brought you “The Orange Tree” and “Darkness: Austin Bomber,” hear the story of how Mark Kilroy's family maintained their faith while searching for their son, and the tale of “Los Narcosatánicos,” the drug gang behind his death. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

"Devilish Deeds" is out now wherever you get your podcasts! Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/devilish-deeds/id1616011815 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2NB2HT09wMWO7LbaXIEtJN?si=480c3136308547ac About episode one, "Wicked Work": As the capital of Texas celebrates the coming of a new year with exuberance, a dark shadow eclipses the city as an unknown killer stalks the streets. A Black woman working as a servant to a rich white Austinite is murdered, and her boyfriend barely survives. In a city rife with violence, the brutality of the killing shakes up its citizens. And the terror has only just begun. Additional sounds from www.zapsplat.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

Coming soon: A new historical true crime podcast from The Drag In 1885, a few years before Jack the Ripper went on a killing spree in London, an axe-wielding killer stalked the streets of the dusty frontier town of Austin, Texas. The victims, mostly Black women who worked as servants for Austin's wealthy white residents, were brutally killed in the middle of the night. In a new podcast from the creators of the popular true crime series “Darkness,” host Megan Parker brings you back to the time when the first known American serial killer terrorized a community. Subscribe to Devilish Deeds wherever you get your podcasts: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2NB2HT09wMWO7LbaXIEtJN?si=44af3ca91e9e45b3 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/devilish-deeds/id1616011815 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

In this bonus episode, host Ashley Miznazi and executive producer Katey Psencik Outka interview Paul Watler, a First Amendment lawyer and former journalist. In April 2018, nearly a month after the bombings, Paul wrote an opinion column published in several Texas newspapers urging law enforcement agencies to release the bomber's confession tape. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

It has been nearly three weeks since the first bomb killed Stephan House, beginning an unprecedented time of terror in Austin. Law enforcement officials are closing in on the top suspect, and no one knows what will happen as the net closes around him. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

At a FedEx distribution center near San Antonio, a package explodes. Law enforcement officials quickly realize that another package that likely has a bomb in it has also been shipped via FedEx, and they race to find it. An FBI agent works to match receipts for equipment bought in the Austin area that could be used to make a bomb with a database of vehicles. She finds a match and officials believe they have identified the bomber. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

In a residential neighborhood on the other side of the city from where the three bombings had struck, a young man parks his truck and strings a wire across the sidewalk. The wire is connected to an explosive device, and the trap is set for random victims. As Austinites descend into panic, law enforcement officials get their first big break in the case. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

On the day investigators work the scene of the bomb that struck Draylen Mason's home, 75-year-old Hope Herrera spends the morning caring for her 93-year-old mother. Hope picks up a package from her porch, and it explodes. Six hundred federal agents descend on Austin to work the case and to try to figure out the bomber's identity, and no one knows where the serial bomber will strike next. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

Teenager Draylen Mason dreams of being a neurosurgeon, and he also excels in music, which draws an offer to study the double bass under world-renowned professors at the University of Texas. Ten days after the first bomb exploded in an Austin suburb, Draylen notices a package on the porch and brings it into his family's home. The package explodes, and it becomes clear that the death of Stephan House, a 39-year-old Black man, was not an isolated incident. Since Draylen is also Black, the community fears that Austin's Black population is being targeted by an unknown serial bomber. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

On a quiet suburban street in northeast Austin, 39-year-old father and husband Stephan House prepares to go to work. He spots a package on his porch. The box explodes in his hands. His neighbor runs to his porch and tries to help the bleeding man as he talks to a 911 operator, but there's nothing he can do. In the aftermath, the Austin police tell the public that the bombing seems to be an isolated incident and that there is no cause for alarm. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/darkness-podcast/support

While just seniors in college, Haley Butler and Tinu Thomas started work on The Orange Tree, a seven-episode podcast about the life and tragic death of a young woman who was killed near the University of Texas. So many of you listened to and appreciated the work of The Drag Audio Production House that we decided to make a new season based on a completely different case. In season two, Ashley Miznazi examines a series of crimes that put the city of Austin on edge in the spring of 2018. And we have more true-crime seasons that we've started working on as well, so we have decided to make The Orange Tree season one of a new multi-season podcast that we're calling "Darkness." Here's a preview of the second season of Darkness, which is coming Tuesday, November 2. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

The post Full trailer: ‘The Orange Tree’ appeared first on The Drag. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

Sharon Cave knows something is wrong the second she gets a call from her daughter Jennifer's boss saying Jennifer didn't show up for her first day at work. When no one can give her an answer as to where Jennifer was the night before, Sharon and her family set out on their own investigation. They find themselves in front of the door of Jennifer's friend Colton Pitonyak just a few blocks from the University of Texas at Austin. They can't get in, but what's behind that orange door changes their lives forever. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

In 2005, Jennifer Cave was navigating through the best and worst parts of her early 20s. She moves to Austin after high school in hopes of figuring out what she wants to do with her life and gets caught up in a party lifestyle. One night, right before the start of a promising new job, she goes out with her friend Colton Pitonyak to Austin's famous Sixth Street … and is never heard from again. In 2005, Jennifer Cave was navigating through the best and worst parts of her early 20s. She moves to Austin after high school in hopes of figuring out what she wants to do with her life and gets caught up in a party lifestyle. One night, right before the start of a promising new job, she goes out with her friend Colton Pitonyak to Austin's famous Sixth Street … and is never heard from again. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

Austin Police detectives search for a UT student wanted in connection with the death of Jennifer Cave. Colton Pitonyak, a promising business student and Jennifer's friend, fled the scene of the crime right before her body was discovered at his condo. Since his Toyota Avalon is still parked at the Orange Tree Condos, police have to find out where he's fled to but also how he's getting there. They have reason to believe that he's not alone. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

It's January 2007, and Colton Pitonyak has been sitting in a Travis County jail awaiting his trial. His family didn't post bail, so he has been behind bars since August 2005 when he was arrested after fleeing to Mexico for six days with Laura Hall. The Travis County Courthouse is packed for what everyone expects will be a sensational trial, and Court TV prepares to stream the details across the nation. A legendary Texas lawyer stands by Colton's side. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

A few days after Colton Pitonyak and Laura Hall were found in Mexico, Laura is called in to pick up her impounded car's keys at the Austin Police headquarters. When she shows up, she's led to a small room to be questioned by the police. Detectives are trying to figure out what her involvement is in the crime. She waives her rights to having an attorney present during an eight-hour interrogation. Her version of what happened the morning Jennifer Cave was killed sets in motion another major trial, and her lawyer worries that Laura's own words might be her downfall. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

Fellow inmates say Laura Hall has been talking in jail about her role in the Jennifer Cave case. She continues to talk when out on bond, others say. As Colton Pitonyak's appeals lawyers look for an angle to try to get him a new trial, the lawyers convince several people to swear that Laura had a much larger role than anyone knew. Will it be enough to get Colton a new trial? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support

Laura Hall seeks to move on after her release from prison ... and she has a lot to say. Colton Pitonyak remains in a West Texas prison as his parents hold onto hope that he'll someday return to Arkansas. Sharon and Jim continue to fight on Jennifer Cave's behalf, and they also fight for strangers who find themselves in tragic and traumatic situations. Fifteen years later, the wounds have not healed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-orange-tree/support