Texas man Raul Meza Jr. confessed to multiple historic murders ahead of his arrest in connection with a recent fatal stabbing, according to police.
Meza, 62, was arrested on Monday, May 29 in North Austin after a warrant was filed by the Pflugerville Police Department.
He is accused of fatally stabbing Jesse Fraga, 80, at his home.
On May 20, 2023, Pflugerville police responded to a welfare-check call at 706 Camp Fire Trail, where they found Fraga deceased, according to a press release.
Police stated Meza was a suspect in the death of Fraga as the pair were roommates.
Prior to his arrest, Meza called the police to confess to the murder of Fraga, as well as an unsolved murder from years prior, Austin homicide Sergeant Nathan Sexton said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Homicide Detective Patrick Reed said the information provided by Meza has allowed detectives to identify multiple cold cases that have similarities and are now looking into those for future leads.
During the press conference, Reed recalled what Meza said during his call to the police and also gave information about his previous convictions. He said it was accurate to call Meza a serial killer.
Meza was arrested and convicted in 1975 of aggravated robbery after shooting an attendant at a convenience store.
In 1982, he was charged and also convicted for the murder and sexual assault of 8-year-old Kendra Page in Austin.
He was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison but was released after 11 years for time served and good behavior. He was returned to prison in 1994 for parole violation and released in 2016.
Speaking about the call Meza made to the police, Reed said: “On May 24, I answered the homicide main line and the caller stated ‘my name is Raul Meza and you are looking for me.'”
“Meza went on to detail his relationship with Jesse Fraga and detailed the manner in which he murdered Fraga, including details that had not yet been released to the public.”
Meza described his life in and out of prison and said ‘I got out in 2016, I end up murdering a lady soon afterwards, it was on Sara Drive.’
Meza told me case-specific facts which allowed me and my partner to reopen the case.
“I was able to confer with the Travis County medical examiner’s office and doctors reviewing the case and with the additional case facts, the death of Gloria Lofton was ruled a homicide and the manner was strangulation.”
Reed said that these details provided the police enough probable cause to file a capital murder arrest warrant.
The initial investigation into Lofton’s death was deemed “undetermined,” before a DNA profile from the scene matched Meza in 2020, however he was never sought in the case.
Meza became a neighbor to 66-year-old Lofton in 2012, before allegedly murdering her in 2019, according to a New York Post report.
An Austin Police Department press information officer spoke to Newsweek and said: “The only information we have to provide at this time is what was said in the press conference. The investigation is still ongoing.”