[ap] Trial of Ex-Priest in Reported Death Plot Opens

Odessa American
May 17, 2012

www.oaoa.com/news/priest-87472-reported-dallas.html


DALLAS Trial has begun in Dallas of a former Roman Catholic priest accused of plotting the death of a man who accused him of sexual abuse.

A neighbor of John M. Fiala when the former priest lived in suburban Dallas accused Fiala of asking him to kill his accuser. That accuser had said Fiala abused him at Fiala's former rural West Texas parish in 2008 when the man was 16.

The Dallas Morning News reports prosecutors told a Dallas County jury Wednesday that Fiala was distraught over the four-count indictment, which is still pending in Edwards County.

Now, if convicted of solicitation of capital murder, Fiala could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

Fiala's attorney told jurors the death plot was Fiala's neighbor's idea.