Court documents detail what led to 80 year old's death, 'serial killer' arrest

PFLUGERVILLE (KXAN) -- An affidavit obtained by KXAN details what led to the murder charge Raul Meza Jr., 62, faces in the death of 80-year-old Pflugerville man Jesse Fraga. A second affidavit details why there is sufficient probable cause to believe that Meza murdered Gloria Lofton, 66, in 2019.

On Tuesday, the Austin Police Department announced it arrested Meza Jr. and connected him with "multiple murders." APD said they are looking into eight to 10 more cold cases Meza may be connected with, but said this number could rise higher as it continues its investigations. Meza Jr. pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Kendra Page, an 8-year-old Austin girl, in 1982, and served 11 years of a 30-year sentence.

“Here’s a serial killer that justice was not served. It was a travesty of justice,” Interim Assistant City Manager Bruce Mills, who was also the primary investigator on the 1982 case, said Tuesday.

Jesse Fraga

On May 20, Pflugerville Police Department officers were dispatched to a welfare check in the 700 block of Camp Fire Trail. The caller, Fraga's niece, said she hadn't spoken to him since May 11 and they normally speak every day, the affidavit states.

When officers entered the home, they found blood that appeared to be partially dried in more than one room, according to the affidavit. They also found more than one knife before finding Fraga dead.

Police interviewed Fraga's niece, who told them Meza previously lived with Fraga along with his wife and son, who both died of COVID. After Fraga's wife and son died, he and Meza lived alone in the house together until Meza moved out on May 12, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit also states that it was later learned Fraga and his wife visited Meza in 1998 while he was incarcerated after being previously convicted of homicide in 1982.

Detectives determined Fraga's last proof of life was on May 12 when he was captured on a neighbor's doorbell camera footage mowing his lawn, according to the affidavit.

While detectives were at the home on May 20, two people who said they knew Meza and Fraga arrived. One of them said they got "a bad feeling that something had happened to Raul," and wanted to go by the house, the affidavit said.

The other person told police they had picked up Meza from the hospital on May 13 where he was being treated for kidney stones, then drove him to a Walmart in Pflugerville, according to the affidavit. The person told police Meza said, "I f----- up," while they were together.

Meza was seen on Walmart video footage later that day picking up a prescription and buying a t-shirt, socks, and a pair of shoes, the affidavit said.

Evidence found at the scene and in Meza and Fraga's vehicles, like cigarettes and boots with blood on them, connected Meza to the scene.

According to the affidavit, on May 24, a person called Austin 311 claiming to be Raul Meza Jr. and demanded to speak to a homicide detective.

A detective spoke to him and recorded the conversation, in which Meza "detailed and admitted to committing several murders in Texas, including the murder of Jesse Fraga," the affidavit said.

Meza was arrested and charged in Fraga's death earlier this week.

According to court records, Meza had two first-degree felony charges and one charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle. APD was listed as the arresting agency.

Meza is currently detained in Travis County Jail. Meza told police once he was arrested that he was ready and prepared to kill again, police said.

Gloria Lofton

Meza called 311 on May 24 and told the responding officer, Detective Patrick Reed, that police were looking for him, Reed said Tuesday at a press event. 

During that call, Meza told Reed that he had been in and out of prison throughout his life, and after he was released in 2016, “I ended up murdering a lady soon afterward… it was on Sara Drive,” Reed recalled Meza telling him in the affidavit. 

Per the documents, Meza told Reed he was promised 25% of the inheritance money from a person not named in the affidavit for committing the murder. 

Following the call, police looked into deaths of women on Sara Drive in Austin from 2013 to 2021. Gloria Lofton’s on May 9, 2019, was the only incident that fit the description, according to the affidavit. 

Police found Lofton’s body in her bedroom in 2019. DNA testing was conducted on Lofton’s body, which tested positive for male DNA, according to the affidavit. The final medical examiner report on July 30, 2019, reported that based on observations of Lofton’s body, it is possible that Lofton had been strangled, per the affidavit.

Almost a year following Lofton’s death, a DNA match was obtained, identifying the person as Raul Meza Jr., according to the police documents. 

On May 25, Reed contacted the medical examiner and gave her the new information. Based on that, she updated the cause of death to strangulation in the manner of homicide, per the affidavit. 

Reed concluded in the affidavit by reporting that there is sufficient probable cause to believe that Meza intentionally murdered Lofton while committing or attempting to commit aggravated sexual assault, per the documents.  

Also in the affidavit, Reed said Meza detailed “a double murder he committed in San Antonio, Texas, years prior,” read the affidavit. 

According to a list of cold cases in San Antonio, there have been three unsolved double homicides in the city during the last 30 years.

KXAN reached out to the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sherriff’s Office for more details.

Our SAPD Homicide detectives are in communication with Austin PD and currently looking into the statements made by the suspect.

San Antonio Police Department Public Information Officer