Faith in Action: The Father Rivera Story. Part 3.
Part 3 of the Father Rivera Story
During the investigation into Father Reynaldo’s murder, several letters were sent to various government agencies, the Archdiocese and a few Catholic churches that claimed that Father Reynaldo was murdered because he had something to do with the civil wars in Latin America. Several civil wars had broken out in Central and South America during the 60s. These wars lasted well into the 90s, and Catholic priests who were ministering to various Indigenous peoples in those areas were put in the middle of those civil wars. These wars were very much about the rich against the poor. While the rich had backing by the US government, the poor had missionary priests who were only armed in faith, many of which would become martyrs for staying with the people. Even if they couldn’t protect those people, they ministered to them.
We’ve done some very intensive research into Father Reynaldo and his career, nothing that we’ve seen or read has connected him to the civil wars in any way, but there are those out there who believe in the conspiracy theories that were created by these letters. After attending seminary in Ohio, Father Reynaldo’s career was spent entirely in New Mexico. He was not a missionary priest. While there is a very low probability that he had anything to do with the unrest in Central America, every lead had to be followed. It didn’t matter whether it was relevant, whether it was possible or whether it was related, every lead had to be followed.
Wars and Anonymous Letters
There was quite a bit of anonymous mail correspondence during the early years of the investigation. Remember, he was murdered in 1982, so email was not an option. The letters were very disjointed, without coherent thought or direction. Some of these letters referred to the Church of Satan, but those same letters also referred to gun sales in Nicaragua and Guatemala. And they referred to destroying the Catholic Church. The Investigative Services Division, which is now part of Homeland Security, took notice of these letters and sent them on to the Criminal Investigation Division in New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas. They had to find out who these entities were and what they were up to.
The 80’s were the height of the cold war, but hot wars were happening all over Central America. Guerilla fighters against governments. Many missionary priests were killed from the late 70s to the early 90s, so letters like these could have been intercepted and taken very seriously during that time. The civil wars in Latin America began in the 50s and raged on until the 90s. Forty years of repression, genocide, torture, and starvation for those who were already living in poverty. These were mostly Indigenous Mayan people. Many of these human rights violations were supported by several US Presidents. The Cold War had led the US government to believe that anything was better than Communism and anyone who had liberalistic ideals was considered a Communist.
While the US funded governments that they considered to be more conservative, they ignored the fact that people were being tortured, murdered, and “disappeared” in the name of that conservatism. Throughout the 80s, anti-government guerillas fought against the governments that the US had given weapons, money, and their blessings to do whatever they wanted to keep the leftists in check. It’s worth mentioning that the leftist guerillas were being supported by Russia, which also upped the ante when it came to US support for the conservative governments.
The 80s were a particularly brutal time for priests ministering in Latin America. The Catholic Church had historically been very conservative leaning, but during the late 70s and early 80s, they began to change their views and rather than ministering to the more conservative government, the Pope had sent missionaries to minister to those living in poverty. Those who decided that they were called to do so were put in the middle of the civil wars that were such an integral way of life during that time. Many priests were tortured and murdered because they chose to help the poor rather than minister to those who were causing so much pain and destruction.
Father Reynaldo’s murder occurred during this time and there were several letters intercepted by the IDS from people who may or may not have been insurgents who had infiltrated the US with the intention of destroying the Catholic Church and the US government.
The letters that were sent to Washington, DC read:
KGB
Freedom Foundation of the Americas
Meetings: Burlington, Colorado/September 12, 1982/Las Vegas
Great Bend, Kansas/September 20, 1982/Phoenix
August 1982:
We have successfully eliminated Rev. Reynaldo Rivera.
We understand that even though successful, the medical officer in Albuquerque may find some clues.
To my regret, as of today, we have contacted Albania through our embassy in Mexico of the problem.
We must eliminate the medical examiner;
We must eliminate the State police officer George Ulibarri. Destroy the car 1976 Chevrolet cream colored four-door. Find out names of officers working on car, eliminate
Find out the two people who found body around Waldo Turnoff, etc.
Eric Lucero Check home also
The Preacher:
Meeting with him in Denver, Colorado September 20, 82
Knows assassination team from either Canada or Mexico or contacts in America’s
We doped the gentlemen who had it done or gentleman or whoever it was in Sana Fe NM
The drugs works effective.
Adios Amigos
Mexico loves you
New weapons in El Salvador soon also we have American spies who went to Russia check out in your areas. We are not working on the Washington DC project senators
Russian language courses radio Moscow etc.
This probably be our last meeting in Kansas or Great Bend KS
Was our meeting places now we are gradually moving to Colorado and Utah, New York City and especially the Pentagon or Washington DC main offices. We will have seven small offices in small towns to operate. We sent letters to Anderson Marietta, Georgia last night. We regret the preacher has retired not permanently though. Replacement later travelling through to contact Erigo in France next week
We have all records of banks, hospitals, defense installations in the USA last month in our Los Angeles, California Office. Our computer experts on the job. We might use Western KS or Nebraska, Colorado for a base later as of now void all contacts until 84.
The next one read:
Church of Satan
Great Bend Kansas
Moscow Russia
My dear comrades
Mexican comrades
Albanian comrades and fellow
Cuban
College
And volunteers of the Freedom Foundation of the American Way of Life
In 1984
We will have killed all of the Catholic Organization in the foreign countries France and Italy especially
The United States we will use the other methods of destruction of the Church.
Comrades of Mexico and California are well informed of our plans in the future.
As of now we want you to concentrate on the United States Senators and governors. Later penetrate military installations and the small cities of the Midwest, Dakotas, Texas, etc.
We will gradually have it our ways be patient
We will eliminate all religions in due time.
Freedom Foundation of the Americas
PS
We also gradually want you to have all the grade school children, high school children to learn Russian in school gradually concentrate on it.
We put on a program advertisement on it September 19, 82
Anything more on the Goodland murder etc.
The Church of Satan is mentioned in these letters, and yes, there were rumors of Satanic Panic surrounding Father Reynaldo’s death. While we may never know if the Church of Satan was involved in the wars in Central and South America or if they really cared to destroy every religion in existence, it’s very unlikely that they had anything to do with Father Reynaldo’s murder. The Church of Satan is a religion that was founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in 1966. LaVey founded this church based on the human condition which values materialism and individualism over the needs of others. LaVey claimed that putting oneself ahead of others were psychological principles that all humans shared.
As far as I know, the Church of Satan has never been involved in any murders, much less any murder involving the civil unrest in Central America. Nor has it ever claimed any desire to eradicate all religions, however, this idea ran rampant during the 80s and 90s. Many murders were thought to have Satanic overtones. Many murderers claimed to have some connection with the Church of Satan, or claimed to have committed those murders because “the devil made them do it”. The reference to the Church of Satan in these letters probably had some impact on the agencies involved. The fact that the letters called out Father Rivera by name would surely have gotten the attention of the local law enforcement agencies.
There were open threats that were seemingly made by what were considered “communist forces” at the time. This would have been the most concerning to Federal law enforcement agencies. Three more letters were sent to the law offices of Foust and Vignery in Goodland, Kansas.
They read:
KGB
Moscow, Russia
Albania
Managua, Nicaragua
Topic Economics
El Salvador Great Bend, Kansas
The Mexican economics of El Salvador better than expected, but problems military arms and supplies by the case ransom money from the kidnappings of businessmen in the 70s are a concern to the Cuban and Miami based Church for the income is and a large amount of about 1/5 of our Mexican based assets. The discussion will be and fully reported to the Kremlin January 5, 1983.
The Narcotic Trade is down in the Miami Area, but increasing in the Phoenix, Arizona Area of the United States.
Todor Zhivkov Bulgaria
President Haxhi Leshi Albania
President Celso Torrelio
Daniel Ortega Managua Nicaragua
The execution of Mehmet Ali Agca the Turkish Agent who shot the Pope
The execution of Brigadier General James Dozier
January of L(*#
Kgb
Narcotic Division Yuri Adpopkov
The second letter read:
KGB
Full complete orders for Central USA, Albania, Bulgaria, Moscow and Havana, Cuba, Peking and Honolulu, Edmonton
1 1969 orders to the Church of Satan, San Francisco
2 1969 orders to the South American Conquest
3 Cults Division
4 Catholic Church destruction of both Poland and Italy and Pope of Rome
United States Cities involved in this operation:
San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Georgia, Miami, Florida.
The Satan Church activities in the north and the Cuban Army by Cuban Civilians into and trained for military installations guerilla activities. 1970s and 80s
Modern Airports for Military
SanaCuisd: Code Name
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Yuma, Arizona
Great Bend, Kansas
Wichita and Kansas City
Scottsbluff, Nebraska FX Missile Watch in the *0 80s
And Western and Eastern Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska, possibly Oklahoma and Dakotas
Meeting on this matter to be discussed in 1970 January 3, Denver, Colorado
Human sacrifices in the Honolulu connection Narcotic division and the Church sponsored activities economics for future Cuban armaments for the Miami based submarines to block off military aid to Europe and South America
Argentina military buildup
Country by Country Economic and military activities
Adropov Church guerilla activities and destruction of Church 1980. Bulgarian and Albanian activities, etc
Hollywood pornographic movies Church aid to our people in USA food to Haiti and aid to our people in USA American money to pay for it etc.
Human Sacrifices and money for narcotics to college, high school student and Russian training in schools.
Page one
1st meeting Denver, Colorado
Mail drops for MX missiles
Mail drops for Kansas Great Bend activities
Goodland, Kansas December
Burlington, Colorado November
Scottsbluff, Nebraska once a month
Denver, Colorado when needed 1st and 3rd Thursdays.
The following letter was the last one that was intercepted:
KGB
Moscow, Russia
Albania
Managua, Nicaragua
Phoenix, Arizona
Preacher: foreign sacrifices
Human sacrifices JANUARY EACH YEAR DECEMBER WINTER
Alice Winters 1979 age three years British
Judith Valuenza Mexican Monterrey
Santa Cruz Bolivia FALL SACRIFICE OCTOBER #432-11
aA 213 sacrifices Female American female Dee Ann Arnold Phoenix, Arizona cancelled military
Mx Missile check point Wyoming and Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Church of Satan Great Bend, Kansas sacrifices later
Sacrificed priest in USA earlier 1982
Narcotic division of the Italian Albania KGB Yuri Andopopkof
Bulgaria Plans 1979
Preacher III
South American Military Activities for Cuban Invasion to the United States of Americas
Religion weapons to Cuba Riff and Riff Raff Army to USA
Prisoners and Russian agents you will be assigned 2 members to Great Bend. One to Scottsbluff, Nebraska checkpoint
Mx Missile complex November 24, 1978-80
KGB orders
Denver, Colorado
Omaha, Nebraska
Phoenix, Arizona
Todor Zhivov Bulgaria $#L(&(
President Haxht Leshi Albania #(%(
President Celso Torrelio September 18, 1982
The attorneys turned these letters over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation who sent them to the New Mexico State Police and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. There have been several Reddit forums, blogs and podcasters who have mentioned this in their stories about Father Reynaldo. It’s a huge conspiracy theory that I felt was important to mention, even though it doesn’t seem to hold water. Could the Latin Americans have kidnapped Father Reynaldo and killed him in the name of guerilla warfare? Yes, but it seems highly unlikely when you think about it. Father Reynaldo wasn’t targeted. This is important to remember. He was a victim of happenstance. Whoever called the rectory that night didn’t care what priest came, he just wanted a priest.
Since the internet wasn’t available in the 80s, the best way to leave an anonymous tip was to send a letter. And several more letters were sent to various churches and even to the FBI Field Office in Albuquerque. The writers claimed to know who killed Father Reynaldo. These letters didn’t have anything to do with the wars in Central and South America, they laid their claims closer to home. One letter was sent on stationary from the De Anza Motor Lodge in Albuquerque and was dated January 27th, 1983. The De Anza Motor Lodge was built in 1939 and by the 80s was no more than a cheap motel. It closed during the 80s, then was put on the city’s list of Historical Landmarks. It got a facelift in 2017 and is now luxury apartments. During the 80s, the De Anza would have been one of the places those who were one step away from becoming unhoused would spend a night or two.
Possible mental illness or drug addiction could be a contributor to the tone of the letter. The letter alluded to Father Reynaldo’s death being connected to the Mafia. It said that the phones in Archbishop Sanchez’s office were tapped. The letter went on to claim that there was a Mafia informant working with a Spanish Syndicate who had gotten a job with the police to foil the investigation into Father Reynaldo’s death. The writer claimed that Father Rivera was killed because the Spanish and Italian Mafias were having a turf war over the churches. He speculated that this was because these entities wanted to use the churches to sell narcotics.
At one point, he ranted that “Your church’s doorways are a seventeen-million-dollar marketplace. This story really loses air when the writer claimed that he knew who killed Father Rivera because he was there when it happened. He claimed that Father Rivera was kidnapped in Lubbock, Texas and taken over the New Mexico State Line where he was killed at the rest stop. Father Rivera was taken from the rest stop near Waldo, New Mexico. His body was later found not far from that rest stop. The letter goes on to give a description of the vehicles that were used in the murder and descriptions of the alleged perpetrators. It was signed “Christopher Allen”.
The letter was addressed to the Archbishop, but the envelope was addressed to the “US Secret Service” in Albuquerque. It arrived at the FBI Field Office in Albuquerque. This letter was handwritten with several crossed out corrections, misspelled words and was written top to bottom, then up the side of the paper, over the top, then down the other side before continuing on the back. It was very long, the language was confusing, and the scribbles and scratches made it hard to read.
Threats Against the Church
The year before Father Rivera was murdered a threatening letter was sent to Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Albuquerque. The letter was immediately turned over to the FBI since it did threaten the church. The church had been vandalized on May 30th before the letter was sent. The vandals broke into the church and poured blood on the main altar, tracked blood throughout the church, then poured blood on the Blessed Sacrament altar. They had left a Buck hunting knife behind on the main altar.
The letter was received by Reverend Ronald L. Bruckner who was pastor at Our Lady of Assumption.
The letter read:
I was once the soul who sought the priesthood. What held me from becoming one was the constant evil conflict within me. I sought help from several priests who simply gave up on me. The faith that they proclaimed did not hold true in their hearts. They were weak in faith. The hour has come my friends. Your church is only the first. I will pay all the priests back in full. But the church is only the beginning. The priest at St. Pius shall be last. His infliction will be special. You will see the wrath of evil at conflict with so called good and faith!
There were also anonymous phone calls, and threats.
On August 11, 1982, Father Benito Suen, Parish Priest of the church in Hurley, NM had gotten a phone call from a female who had a Bostonian accent. This woman claimed that Theodore Venous was Father Reynaldo’s murderer. The same woman called a telephone operator named Sally Prezzano on that same day. Father Rivera was killed on the 5th. Six days before. Sally tried to get the woman to keep talking, but the woman hung up on her. Sally would later tell police that the woman had an Eastern accent and told Sally much the same thing that she had told Father Suen. The number was traced to a home in Hurley, New Mexico.
When the police went to the home to find the woman, they were told she didn’t live there. They didn’t know her. The police couldn’t find any evidence that she had ever been at that home, so it was a dead end.
On August 18, 1982, a post card that was postmarked Hurley, New Mexico was received by Father Griego who was a priest at Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Albuquerque.
The postcard read:
The killer of Father Rivera from Santa Fe is Mr. Theodore Venous from Boston, Massachusetts. Venous is in exile from Boston and is now living in Phoenix, Arizona. Look for him among the Phoenix Mafia. Pornographic theatres and pornographic bars. Homosexual Venous is anti-religion and kills clergy from all religions, as well as his arson on churches. He burns them down. Venous is now broke has lost his financial holdings in Boston and is lying his way through life. I hope you catch him!!!
On August 16, 1982, the Governor’s Office received a postcard telling the same story. The card was handed over to police who found that it had no post office stamp. That means it wasn’t sent through the mail, it had been hand delivered. Of course, not much came of anything that was sent to police, or the anonymous phone calls, but Sergeant Ulibarri was determined to follow up on every lead. He flew from one end of the country to the other trying to find everyone who was mentioned in the case. This was time consuming and expensive. And exhausting. It was an emotional roller coaster for everyone attached to Father Rivera. The police, the church, his brethren, but most of all, his family. Hopes would rise so high with every tip that was called in, only to crash when they would be proven false.
There are several reasons that I addressed this part of Father Reynaldo’s case. One of them being that no matter how crazy these things sound from our living rooms today, they were taken very seriously at the height of the investigation. The letters that were sent to the FBI and the attorneys in Kansas were taken extremely seriously since they were not only a part of a murder investigation, but also considered a national security threat.
Remember this was the height of the Cold War. When you combine that with civil wars fought in Latin America, Castro’s Cuba, and hot wars in other parts of the world, those communications, no matter how strange they seem to us, were probably the things that were most investigated. These false leads used manpower that could have been used for better things. It was a waste of energy and resources. They had to be followed to ensure that they weren’t going to amount to anything, but at the same time, they were such a waste of time and money.
Speculation Continues
There is still speculation that Father Rivera was killed by the Church of Satan, the KGB, the Nicaraguans, the Mafia, or the CIA, but that speculation was put to rest years ago. Even the theory behind it doesn’t make much sense in the light of day. Why would any of those entities want to kill him? He wasn’t involved with anything that had anything to do with the conflicts in Latin America.
We’ve done some very intensive research into Father Reynaldo and his career, nothing that I’ve seen or read has connected him to the civil wars or the Mafia in any way. His lifetime was spent ministering to the people of New Mexico. And the one thing that everyone forgets when they talk about this case: He wasn’t targeted. Remember the caller saying, “Any priest will do.”These communications make it seem like he was targeted. Someone wanted to kill Father Reynaldo, specifically. But this is simply not true.
Father Geier answered the first call that came through. He was the one that was originally asked to come. Since he couldn’t drive at night, he asked the caller to wait and call back when another priest was there. There was no mention of Father Reynaldo. If Father Reynaldo hadn’t been so dedicated, he might have told the caller to wait until morning. Other churches may have done that, not many would have been willing to go out at night to meet someone at a rest area. Father Reynaldo was acting on the teachings that were so ingrained into his life. He was dedicated to his ministry and his faith until the very end.
As the investigation moved forward, Father Reynaldo would be connected to the deaths of other priests, and those connections would be proven false as well. Next time on True Consequences.