Austin police seeking Raul Meza's Google info to link him to 2018 cold case killing
Police have issued a search warrant for the Google account of Raul Meza Jr., accused by police of being a serial killer, to look for information that might link him to a 2018 cold case murder in Austin, the document said. It said investigators are searching for information in Meza's account about other homicides he might have committed, including two people in San Antonio that he said he killed at the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019.
An Austin Police Department detective said the 2018 cold case murder fit the "modus operandi" of Mesa, according to the affidavit that was filed Tuesday. It did not provide further information about the case.
Meza, 63, is charged with the strangulation murder of 65-year-old Gloria Lofton in Austin in 2019 and the capital murder of 80-year-old Jesse Fraga in Pflugerville in 2023. He has not yet been tried in either case. A driver's license showed he lived near Lofton in 2016, the warrant said.
More: Police: Raul Meza charged in two deaths, may be involved in 10 more
Meza was living in 2023 with Fraga, a retired probation officer who befriended him. Meza is also charged in connection with stealing Fraga's truck.
The most infamous case involving Meza was when he was convicted of murder in the 1982 sexual assault and strangulation of 8-year-old Kendra Page outside an Austin elementary school. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison before being released after 11 years. Meza was sent back to prison in 1994 for a parole violation and was then released in 2002. Meza was on parole until 2016.
Police have previously said Meza is a serial killer who might be involved in as many as 10 other homicides.
"Meza committed additional sexual assaults after his supervised release ended in 2016 and believe data associated with the Google LLC account herein will assist investigators in corroborating Meza as a suspect in the murder of Gloria Lofton, Jesse Fraga and the shooting he admitted to in San Antonio as well as additional cold case homicides," the search warrant said.
It said police want to search Meza's Google account from Nov. 1, 2016, to May 29, 2023.
Authorities arrested Meza on May 29, 2023, after he called Austin police a few days earlier identifying himself and saying he had killed a woman on Sara Drive, the warrant said. The victim was later identified as Lofton, according to the document. It said Meza told police in the phone call that he was promised "financial compensation" for killing Lofton.
Meza, in the phone call, also described another homicide linked to the death of Fraga and a double homicide in San Antonio, the warrant said. It said he spent 14 minutes on the phone with police before hanging up because he said he heard sirens.
Investigators had matched DNA from Lofton's body to Meza in May 2020, but what police did to track him at the time is unclear.
More: Austin police may have missed key DNA lead to stop suspected serial killer Raul Meza Jr.
When police arrested Meza on May 29, 2023, he was carrying a bag that contained a handgun, nylon rope, duct tape, a condom, zip ties and a flashlight, the warrant stated. It said police believed "the small bag contained all the necessary items to commit another sexual assault and murder."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police seek Raul Meza's Google info to link him to 2018 homicide
