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

AUSTIN, Texas - Investigators said a convicted serial killer may be connected to more cold cases in Austin. Raul Meza Jr. is already set to spend the rest of his life in prison, but the case isn’t closed just yet.

"The work continues on this case," Austin Police Homicide Unit Detective Patrick Reed said.

Although serial killer Meza is set to die in prison, he may have some appearances in court in the future.

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

Meza called the Austin Police Department in March 2023.

"This time was a little bit different than any other time I've ever 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 disclosing a lot of information. The call lasted about 14 minutes until Meza hung up.

"He was giving dates and locations, so we were trying to just corroborate the dates, locations, names that he would provide and try to narrow down the timeline," Detective Reed said.

Meza told Reed on the phone he killed the man he was living with in Pflugerville, Jesse Fraga, and he killed a woman who lived on Sara Drive back in 2019.

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"We have the case facts that were developed in the 2019 case. We had the CODIS hit, and then we had the phone call, so we were able to corroborate a lot of information quickly," Detective Reed said.

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

"Someone like Mr. Meza has been incarcerated, he's been through the system quite a bit, he's been interviewed by the police probably countless times, more than most, so he’s very attuned to the situation he was in, so he wasn't caught off guard or seemingly concerned in any way," Detective Reed said.

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

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 the work that was done just as much as it may highlight what it means to the community for someone like him to be incarcerated for life without parole," Detective Reed said.

Detective Reed said the work isn’t over.

"We're still working to kind of corroborate some of the stuff that he said in the phone call," Detective Reed said.

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Lofton’s daughters said in the call Meza implicated someone else in their mother’s case.

"There's two other people who could be involved who are family members," Gloria Lofton’s daughter Sonia Houston said.

"We know some of the things that Mr. Meza has claimed, and so we have to vet that information as well to determine if there's any accuracy to that and if so, was someone else involved and to what degree," Detective Reed said.

"We want answers to a full actual, ethically, morally, completely genuine done case, completely open and closed, like let's do it right," Gloria Lofton’s daughter Christina Fultz said.

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

"We still have four cases that we're still waiting for DNA testing to come back on to determine if we have any linkage to him or not," Detective Reed said.

Detective Reed said there’s another case in Pflugerville from 2022. It’s related to the FBI, Austin police, and Pflugerville police search of a field back in July 2023.

"It's moving forward, we have leads, but it's still active and open," Detective Reed said.

As for cases in San Antonio, agencies said they couldn’t find any to match the timeline Meza gave for potential murders committed there.

"It's certainly 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 pursue those charges.