Suspected Texas Serial Killer Taunted Police, May Have Committed Multiple Unsolved Murders, Cops Say

A Texas man called homicide detectives to tell them he was the person they were searching for in connection with the murder of an elderly man — and authorities say he may be a serial killer responsible for multiple unsolved killings.

“The caller stated, 'My name is Raul Meza, and you’re looking for me,’” Austin police Detective Patrick Reed said of the May 24 call, NBC News reported.

Five days later, on May 29, 2023, authorities located and apprehended Raul Meza Jr., 62, at a hotel in Austin.

Reed said Meza allegedly admitted to strangling and stabbing 80-year-old Jesse Fraga in Pflugerville on May 20 and provided details about the case not previously made public.

The Austin-American Statesman reported the elderly victim had known Meza since the 1990s and was a former probation officer who was trying to help him out. According to the publication, the pair were roommates for two years, but Meza had moved out of Fraga’s home approximately a week before the murder.

Meza also made another chilling admission to detectives: “I got out [of prison] in 2016, I end up murdering a lady soon afterwards,” he said, revealing the crime occurred on Sara Drive, according to Detective Reed.

Police determined that Meza was referencing 66-year-old Gloria Lofton, who was found strangled to death in 2019 at her Sara Drive home in Austin. Authorities said Meza’s DNA was determined to be a match with forensic evidence recovered during the investigation.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Brandon Filla said that at the time of Meza’s arrest, he was in possession of plastic ties, duct tape, a flashlight, a pistol and ammunition, NBC News reported.

Detective Reed said the murder suspect “was ready and prepared to kill again, and he was looking forward to it.”

Law enforcement officials said detectives are combing through other unsolved murders in the area to see if there are any connections to Meza.

“There is a good possibility that we will find additional cases,” Austin police Detective Katy Conner said, adding the department has “between 8 and 10 cases that kind of fit these circumstances.

She added, however, that the caseload “can obviously grow.”

Meza has a long criminal history, according to KXAN.

He accepted a plea deal and served 11 years in prison of a 30-year sentence for sexually assaulting and killing 8-year-old Kendra Page in Travis County on Jan. 3, 1982, and disposing of her body in a dumpster.

At the time, he was out on parole after serving five years of a 20-year sentence for a violent aggravated robbery.

Bruce Mills, a former city police sergeant who led the investigation into Page’s murder, called Meza going free “a travesty of justice.”

“Here’s a serial killer that justice was not served,” he said.