ODESSA, Texas — In December of 1981, a Catholic priest by the name of Father Patrick Ryan was murdered at a hotel in Odessa.
But decades later the case was investigated again and questions were raised about the guilt of the man originally arrested and convicted for the crime.
The initial investigation eventually led to the arrest and conviction of a man named James Harry Reyos.
Because of the questions remaining about the case, Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke decided to look into the matter.
“I believe it was probably the late fall, early winter of 2021 the case came to our attention again… And as I was reading through the case and I got to the end I just felt wow, there should be more. For this person to be convicted I felt there should be more," Gerke said.
According to OPD, the new review of the case revealed evidence that seems to show that Mr. Reyos could not have been at the crime scene at the time of Ryan's death.
This prompted action from the department.
“And with that knowledge, obviously, we don’t ignore that. We contacted the Ector County District Attorney’s Office," said Gerke.
Gerke says Reyos is no longer serving time and is on parole. A decision to exonerate him would have to be made by a magistrate.
NewsWest 9 will continue to follow this story and bring you updates as it develops.