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PBS Documentaries 25 May 2026 40 here now

A Murdered Priest, an Apache Man, and the Truth West Texas Buried | Full Documentary

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After a gay Apache man was convicted of murdering a closeted priest in 1981 West Texas, new leadership in Odessa

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My heart is broken, one's again a life wasted only because somebody was to arrogant and didn't want to do what they were supposed to do, protect the citizens, the vulnerable it doesn't matter if you are black, white, brown, one day it can happen to anyone we all heve seen it I'm so angry.
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James is still who he was way back when and the alcohol is his way to deal/protect. Nothing had changed but time. And tho he may pronounce forgiveness over the priest, he has yet to forgive himself. He will be free....when he can do that.
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Obviously father Ryan thought he was going to rendezvous with another man and was setup. Sadly James lost most of his life paying for it, congratulations to him on clearing his name, may God bless him and the wonderful people who fought for him.🙏🏼💜
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Thank you to The Innocence Project for helping James Reyos.
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@infonut From YouTube ↗ 29 May 2026 3
Ahhhhh... Texas. Home of manufactured justice.
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She obviously doesn't understand alcoholism. That's what we do. We drink.
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I grew up in Midland during the 70's. Odessa was a rough town, you didn't go after dark and you never went alone.
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@KM-ip4un From YouTube ↗ 28 May 2026 10
I’m not easily moved to tears but wow this documentary did it for me. I’m glad Mr Reyes got justice, even if long overdue.
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And this is the problem I have woth the death penalty. How many people have been killed who are innocent?
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I was a child when this happened. It is so sad to see how far we still have to go as humanity.
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Absolutely great to see this finally happen. It's so hard to even wrap my mind around living an entire life with this injustice.

And just to add, I'm 70 and I dread the day when someone talks to me in that slow and simplistic I'm talking to a child or old person voice like, I think her name was Allison, did to this poor guy. I was glad when the sargeant then addressed him as a full adult.
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So powerful.
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I know this would probably go against laws and regulations… but I’m sure there are tons of people from the true crime community that would gladly volunteer their time to look through these cases.
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@angieemm From YouTube ↗ 27 May 2026 52
I'm a Texan and I work in the oilfield. I'm in SE NM right now and I can so easily see this happening. Not as much now. I was a young kid when James's story was in the news and I don't remember it specifically, but I remember the overall culture and attitudes back then. I hope James can find his way back to his family and his people. Austin's great in its own way and I suppose it's been his home for decades now but, if he stays, at least it will be his choice instead of a court-mandated one.
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12:35

It makes it really, REALLY hard when somebody gives an unsolicited confession to a crime, so let’s just start there. It’s not like the authorities plucked James out of obscurity and pinned the crime on him; they were literally just going off of what he voluntarily admitted to, falsely or otherwise. Drugs and alcohol are terrible things.

Thankfully, the innocence project got the job done.
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If you didn’t know that James was going to drink exactly when he did then your safety has never depended on knowing the patterns.
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Also when people quote crime statistics, they refused to acknowledge that the justice system is extremely racist ambiguity and it's a lot of innocent brown and black people and other minorities that are wrongfully incarcerated that's why when there are exonerations decades later the vast majority of those people that were wrongly convicted are minorities because they were wrongly accused and convicted in the first place.
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Excellent documentary. I'm so glad he won his freedom. I hope he has gotten the help he desperately needs.
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The 5th night that I lived in West Texas I was awakened to the sound of an Apache war song. I went outside to see where it was coming from and when I did, I couldn’t hear it anymore. It was coming from inside of my apartment! No tv’s, no music was on, and the apartment upstairs was dark and quiet. Now, explain that to me…
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So this innocent man was in prison all these years because of an unprocessed fingerprint. The police are not here to keep the justice or keep society safe. Defund the police.
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Unfortunately, Father Ryan picked up someone homophobic.
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Congratulations Mr Reyos, justice finally came.

But were the other 3 men ever charged??!
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The just objective is convicting the villain, if not there's unlimited consequences, the innocent paying the price for a criminal deed, and a criminal free to commit more crimes.
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@RoseFire6 From YouTube ↗ 26 May 2026 34
Congratulations Mr. Reyos. I glad you have been able to close this horrible chapter of your life. May the next chapter be bright.
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@misscole06 From YouTube ↗ 26 May 2026 22
First Nations people ARE OUR PEOPLE, Our first Peoples!
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Happy Birthday Mr. Reyos 🎉
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❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ IS THE ANSWER! NOW Mr. Reyes accept all that Lovel❤❤❤❤ & Work on acceptance and healing! Fill your life with everything Good! If you fall down, get back up. Keep trying!
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Alcoholics drink and if you use other substances we use until we realize we can't. I pray to God I've realized this.
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I love you Mr.Reyos, and I love every single person involved in his liberation. This was powerful asf
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I remember seeing this a long time ago when he was still in prison. Wow!