Austin 'serial killer' accused of stabbing, killing elderly Pflugerville man

AUSTIN, Texas - We're learning more about what led to the arrest of a man, who an Austin official described as a serial killer, from court documents obtained by FOX 7.

Raul Meza Jr. is facing two capital murder charges in connection with the stabbing death of Jesse Fraga in Pflugerville and the strangling death of Gloria Lofton in East Austin. Police say he's also confessed to killing two people in San Antonio and served time for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in 1982.

In Pflugerville, police were responding to a check welfare case on May 20 on Camp Fire Trail when they found Fraga's body.

Court documents show Fraga's family member had called police because they typically talk to him every day, and they hadn't heard from him since May 11.

The affidavit says police forced their way into the home through the back door and found large amounts of blood and a knife in the bathroom, blood and puncture marks in the bed, and another knife on the bedroom floor.

Then, police found Fraga dead inside a bathroom closet.

Police interviewed Fraga's family member and learned that Fraga and his wife visited Meza while he was incarcerated in 1998 and later, Meza had moved in with him and his wife and son.

After Fraga's wife and son died of COVID, Fraga and Meza continued living together. But, his family member told police that Meza had agreed to move out of the house on May 12, the affidavit says.

May 12 was the last time Jesse Fraga was seen alive. Court documents say a neighbor's Ring camera shows him mowing the lawn at 1:21 p.m.

Police say Meza was caught on a Ring camera taking Fraga's truck on May 13, even though he did not have permission to drive it. That truck was later found towed from I-35 with boots inside that appeared to have blood on them, the affidavit says.

While police were investigating the scene on May 20, they say a man and woman arrived at the house who said they knew Fraga and Meza. The woman said she "got a bad feeling that something had happened to Raul and wanted to go by his house," the affidavit says.

The woman said she thought he was suicidal.

The man at the scene told police that he picked Meza up from Ascension Seton Hospital on May 13 and took him to Walmart. He said Meza told him that he needed to get new shoes and said "I f---ed up!" while gesturing with his hand as if he was slicing someone's neck.

On May 24, police say Meza called 311, demanding to speak to a homicide detective. In that call, Meza claimed he and Fraga had a relationship, and he got ‘frustrated’ and ‘mad’ and killed him.

Meza was arrested May 29 by U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force on North Lamar Boulevard near Parmer Lane in North Austin.

Police say he had a bag that contained duct tape, zip ties, a firearm, and additional rounds of ammunition, and he may have been planning more murders.

Crime and Public Safety Austin Pflugerville