Austin serial killer Raul Meza may be connected to more cold cases

AUSTIN, Texas – Investigators say a convicted serial killer may be linked to more cold cases in Austin. The rest of Raul Meza Jr.’s life he will spend time in prison, but the case is not closed yet.

“The work on this case continues,” said Patrick Reed, an Austin police homicide detective.

Though Serial killer Meza is scheduled to die in prisonmaybe he’ll make some court appearances in the future.

“We still have other cases that we think he may be involved in,” Detective Reed said.

Meza called Austin police in March 2023.

“This time was a little different than ever before when I answered the phone. The caller said, ‘My name is Raul Meza and I think you’re looking for me,'” Detective Reed said.

Detective Reed said Meza was revealing a lot of information. The call lasted about 14 minutes until Meza hung up.

“He was providing dates and locations, so we were just trying to confirm the dates, locations and names he provided and narrow down the time frame,” Detective Reed said.

Meza told Reed over the phone that he killed a man he lived with in Pflugerville, Jesse Fraga, as well as a woman who lived on Sara Drive in 2019.

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“We have the facts that were established in the 2019 case. We got a hit on CODIS and then we called, so we were able to quickly confirm a lot of the information,” Detective Reed said.

They put together a case for the murders of Gloria Lofton and Jesse Fraga. An arrest warrant was issued, law enforcement found him at a North Austin bus stop and he was taken in for questioning. Detective Reed described this conversation as unique.

“Someone like Mr. Meza has been incarcerated, he’s been through the system for quite a long time, he’s been questioned by the police probably countless times, more than most, so he’s very familiar with the situation he finds himself in, so he hasn’t been caught not alert or seemingly concerned in any way,” Detective Reed said.

Meza murdered 8-year-old Kendra Page in 1982. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but was released on parole after just 11 years.

Last month, Meza pleaded guilty to the murders of Lofton and Fraga and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“I think that sentence highlights as much the work that has been done as it can highlight what it means to the community for someone like him to be sentenced to life without parole,” Detective Reed said.

Detective Reed said the work isn’t done.

“We are still working to confirm some of the information he said during the phone call,” Detective Reed said.

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Lofton’s daughters said in a telephone interview that Meza had implicated someone else in their mother’s case.

“There may be two other people involved who are family members,” said Gloria Lofton’s daughter, Sonia Houston.

“We know some of the things that Mr. Meza claims, so we also need to verify this information to determine whether it is true and, if so, whether another person was involved and to what extent,” Detective Reed said.

“We want an answer to a completely real, ethical, moral and completely authentic case, completely open and shut, like let’s do it right,” said Gloria Lofton’s daughter, Christina Fultz.

Meza has been eliminated so far for her involvement in eight cold cases in Austin.

“We still have four cases where we’re waiting for DNA testing to be re-done to determine whether we have any connection to him or not,” Detective Reed said.

Detective Reed said there is another active case in Pflugerville from 2022. It is related to a field search by the FBI, Austin Police and Pflugerville Police in July 2023.

“The case is progressing, we have leads, but the case is still active and open,” Detective Reed said.

As for the San Antonio cases, agencies said they couldn’t find any that matched Meza’s timeline of potential murders there.

“This is definitely one of the unique cases I think we’ll see in Austin,” Detective Reed said.

If Meza is found to be connected to more cases, it will be up to the District Attorney’s Office to investigate those charges.