AUSTIN, Texas – Suspected serial killer Raul Meza Jr. has been sitting in a Texas jail since last May, awaiting trial for the alleged strangulation of 65-year-old Gloria Lofton in 2019 and the capital murder of former probation officer Jesse Fraga, 80, in 2023. Law enforcement believes Meza could be connected to as many as 10 other homicides, marking a chilling escalation in his criminal activities over the years.
The case of Meza, now 63, has sent shockwaves through the local community and raised questions about whether justice has been served. Meza’s checkered history dates back to 1982, marked by a conviction for the sexual assault and strangulation of an 8-year-old girl outside an Austin elementary school. Despite serving 11 years of a 30-year sentence, Meza continued to wreak havoc, committing additional sexual assaults after his supervised release ended in 2016.
Recent developments in the case have seen law enforcement issue a search warrant for Meza’s Google account, with investigators believing there is information that will tie him to a 2018 Austin cold case and at least two homicides in San Antonio. The widespread impact of Meza’s alleged crimes is evident in the unsolved 2018 homicide of college student Nicole Coleman, whose body was found in a wooded area of Austin with signs of trauma.
The implications of Meza’s alleged killing spree have rippled through the community, leaving families and law enforcement grappling with the unsettling possibility that there could be more victims. The ongoing investigation has brought both renewed attention and fresh scrutiny to the multitude of unanswered questions surrounding Meza and the heinous crimes that have haunted the city for years.