1981 Odessa murder case of Catholic priest reopened as cold case

The 1981 murder case of a Catholic priest has been reopened by the Odessa Police Department after a review showed “compelling doubt” of the man’s guilt convicted in the case, according to a press release from OPD. 

Father Patrick Ryan was murdered on December 1981 in an Odessa hotel. The investigation led to the conviction of James Harry Reyos. Reyos’ conviction was based almost solely on a confession that he provided in New Mexico while he was intoxicated. He later recanted the confession. 

In 2021, OPD Chief Michael Gerke became aware of the public questions as to the guilt of Reyos. “The questions were so compelling that Chief Gerke ordered the Odessa Police Department Special Operations Bureau to conduct a review of the case. During the review, Investigators developed serious questions as to Mr. Reyos’s guilt,” OPD said in a press release. 

During the original investigation, corroborative evidence did not substantiate the confession, according to OPD. The review of the case revealed evidence that show Reyos could not have been present at the crime scene. The case review found latent fingerprints found at the crime scene that did not belong to Reyos. It also revealed that his known whereabouts during the murder led the “investigators to believe that another party (or parties) committed this murder.”

The Odessa Police Department presented its findings to the Ector County District Attorney’s Office, which also conducted its own investigation. “Both agencies agree that there is compelling doubt to James Harry Reyos’s guilt in this case,” according to the press release. 

The case was reopened as a cold case investigation and is assigned to the cold case detective.