Episodes

We used to fear sexual predators stalking our neighborhoods, ready to snatch our children off the streets. We called it “Stranger Danger”. But “Stranger Danger” has moved online with Sextortion schemes on the social media platforms and gaming apps our children use daily. Organized crime rings now prowl the internet, tricking teenagers into sharing explicit images through these familiar channels. Once they have those images, the nightmare begins. These criminals blackmail their victims, threateni...

Mike Cox’s name is synonymous with Texas crime reporting. Cox spent decades covering grisly crimes, working as a police beat reporter and later as the Chief of Media Relations for the Texas Department of Public Safety and authoring books about the Texas Rangers. His latest book, Getting Away with Murder: Learning from Dateline and Other True Crime Shows, blends his sharp wit with his vast experience in law enforcement, offering readers a tongue-in-cheek take on crime and the often bizarre ways c...

True Crime Reporter® presents a story that straddles the line between horror and history. Mike Cox, a veteran police beat reporter and former chief of media relations for the Texas Department of Public Safety, spent his life documenting murder cases and bringing clarity to chaos. From unraveling the disturbing confessions of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas to sorting out the facts for the press at the Luby’s Cafeteria massacre, Cox's career has been one immersed in blood and ink. In this episode, ...

Joe Pulizzi, the Godfather of Content Marketing, takes an audacious leap into crime fiction, delivering a story that is as mesmerizing as it is chilling. Set within the haunting confines of a funeral home, "The Will To Die" unravels a dark and twisted narrative brimming with suspense, secrets, and a touch of macabre. Pulizzi's protagonist, a marketing professional, finds himself entangled in a web of deceit and danger. He is compelled to uncover the mysteries buried deep within the family-run fu...

Chaos erupted inside the impenetrable Walls Unit prison in Huntsville during the scorching Texas summer of July 1974. Frederico “Fred” Gomez Carrasco, a notorious drug lord often compared to Pablo Escobar of today, orchestrated a takeover that would become the longest prison siege in U.S. history. Carrasco, known as "The Mexican Connection," smuggled guns into the prison and, along with two accomplices, took teachers and librarians hostage. For eleven harrowing days, they threatened a massacre i...

John Dillinger was the most famous outlaw of the 1930s—a charming yet elusive bank robber who captured the public's imagination and fueled an entire genre of crime melodramas during the darkest days of the Great Depression. His daring escapades, including multiple jailbreaks and bank heists, captivated the nation and earned him the moniker of "Public Enemy Number One" from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Join me as I delve into the life and legacy of John Dillinger, the man behind the myth. Listen...

The arrival of a mysterious box at a government office in a small Texas town shattered its quiet morning routine. Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere turned to chaos as panicked men and women ran screaming from the building into the street. They were the targets of a sinister plot designed to kill them all with a powerful pipe bomb in a case of domestic violence.

In the shadow of Texas' heartland, a clandestine cult flourished under the guise of dark rituals and methamphetamine production. Known as the Devil Lovers, this group of middle-aged men and women from prominent Waco families engaged in sinister ceremonies, pledging allegiance to their enigmatic leader, David Russell Zell. Their twisted journey from occult gatherings to running the state's largest illicit meth lab in the late 1980s unfolded a tale stranger than fiction. Join investigative reporte...

Investigative Reporter Robert Riggs dives into the mind of a serial killer with author John David Bethel as we explore his latest novel “Mapping The Night.” Bethel's books stand out for their profound basis in real-life cases. His fiction and nonfiction offer a unique lens through which to explore the darkest corners of the human mind.

Genaro “Geno” Ruiz Camacho's drug empire thrived on violence. In the late 1980s in Dallas, he ruled with an iron fist and displayed an almost unimaginable cruelty towards those who crossed his path. This story is about violence, revenge, and an unrelenting pursuit of justice led by FBI Special Agent Tase Bailey. I uncover how Camacho's brutality shaped one of the most notorious federal investigations in Texas history and how it haunted the investigators for years to come.

If Minneapolis police officers had been wearing body cameras, would it have prevented the excessive force that led to the murder of 46-year-old George Floyd? Dr. Jennifer Matthews says Body-Worn Cameras are reshaping Police-Citizen Interactions, and she believes that it could have made a life-saving difference. Matthews has implemented, managed, and trained more than 3,000 Chicago area law enforcement officers in Body-Worn Camera programs. Matthews shares insights from her PhD dissertation for W...

Sandra Bridewell has fallen from grace in Dallas Society. Shunned by neighbors and most friends in the posh Highland Park community that is home to oil and real estate barons. In Parts 1 & 2 Beneath the Charm: Unveiling The Black Widow we reveal Bridewell's connection to three mysterious shooting deaths and the stories about them label Sandra, The Black Widow. She flees to the West Coast to escape her scandalous reputation. True Crime author John Leake unveils in his book The Meaning of Malice: ...

Dallas Socialite Sandra Bridewell cultivated an image of elegance and vulnerability. In part one of our series, Beneath the Charm: Unveiling The Black Widow, Sandra Bridewell’s first husband’s life tragically ends with his alleged suicide. Was the promising young dentist driven to shoot himself in a fit of depression over the crushing burden of mounting debt from Sandra’s lavish lifestyle? Or was there a sinister motive for murder? True crime author, John Leake continues the story from his book ...

Amidst the sprawling cityscape of Dallas, where power and prosperity intersect with secrets and lies, Sandra Bridewell's story unravels. Bridewell was a beautiful, alluring socialite in the affluent enclave of Highland Park when Dallas was the world’s most popular TV show and the Dallas Cowboys were America’s team. It is a tale woven with deception, sex, and the dark underbelly of high society in a close-knit community known as the Beverly Hills of the Southwest – Highland Park. Known infamously...

In the shadowy underworld of early 20th-century New York City, a nefarious counterfeiting operation run by cunning Sicilian criminals thrived—until William Flynn and the U.S. Secret Service set their sights on bringing the ring to justice. At the heart of the story is the classic clash between good and evil, law and lawlessness. But in William Flynn, we have the archetypal determined detective hero - relentless, clever, and utterly committed to justice. This is a follow-up to our last episode ab...

Through the mist of forgotten histories, the figure of William J. Flynn beckons, offering a glimpse into a life that, though eclipsed by time, remains a testament to human endeavor and spirit. In the early 20th century, Flynn, known as the “Bulldog Detective,” was one of the most famous detectives in America. As head of the U.S. Secret Service and later the Bureau of Investigation (forerunner of the FBI), Flynn led the chase for counterfeiters, took on the first Mafia crime family, pursued Germa...

The mystery of Patty Hearst's transformation from a college student born into privilege to a Marxist militant wielding an M-1 carbine in a bank robbery remains as compelling as ever on the 50th anniversary of her kidnapping. The abduction of William Randolph Heart’s granddaughter captured America’s attention in 1974. The saga of 19-year-old Patty Hearst pushed the impeachment of President Richard Nixon off newspaper headlines. Searching for Patty Hearst by journalist Roger Rapoport delves into t...

David Berkowitz, known as the “Son of Sam,” terrorized New York City for a year in the late 1970s with a series of random murders and cryptic taunts to police and the press. Ever since then, the question of why he did it and if Berkowitz had accomplices from a Satan-worshipping cult has produced ceaseless speculation. Now, Dr. Michael Caparrelli provides new insights into the mind of David Berkowitz in a new book titled Monster Mirror. Dr. Caparrelli is a behavioral scientist and was a pastor fo...

I opened my reporter's notebook to the historical case called the "Nine Days Queen." It's a tragic story from 16th-century England about Lady Jane Grey. Her life, a fleeting moment in the annals of English royalty, ended abruptly with her execution at just 16 years old. I take you to London's National Gallery to see her last moment poignantly captured in oil on canvas. National Gallery painting "Execution of Lady Jane Grey": https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-delaroche-the-executi...

This story shrouded in mystery, involves a Texas prison escapee that could be ripped straight from a spy novel. Bank robber and suspected drug smuggler Charles J. Woods of Dallas made a daring escape from a Texas prison and subsequently disappeared into the realm of the Mena Arkansas Conspiracy. In my exclusive interview with fugitive hunter Louis Fawcett, we unravel the threads of Woods' escape to the mysterious town of Mena, Arkansas. The town's small airport in the Quachirta mountains was the...

I delve into the shadowy underworld of contraband communication, where prisoners wielding illegal cell phones orchestrate a web of threats and criminal enterprises from behind bars. My story revolves around the chilling case of Richard Tabler, a serial killer on Texas Death Row. Tabler's audacious use of a smuggled cell phone to threaten a Texas Senator ignited a political firestorm, unmasking a glaring security breach within the prison system. Contraband Cell Phones Seized at the Polunsky Priso...

In the vast, rugged terrain of Texas, where the stories of outlaws and the law are etched into the very soil, we find a beacon of knowledge in an unexpected place: the walls of a maximum-security prison. My guest, David Stacks guest is a seasoned Texas prison warden, a guardian of society's most dangerous individuals. The retired Warden is now the Director of the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, Texas. Having spent decades overseeing some of the most notorious criminals in the state, Stacks br...

In this episode, I’m going to take you behind the high walls and razor wire into the dark corners of the largest prison system in the world. David Stacks, a former Texas prison warden with 30 years of frontline experience, provides an unfiltered look at life behind bars. Today, Stacks is the director of the Texas Prison Museum. He’s here with stories from inside the toughest Texas prisons that held the meanest of the mean.

This episode marks a somber milestone. The 25th anniversary of the execution of Kenneth Allen McDuff – a name that chills the soul of the men and women in law enforcement who hunted him down – and the families of his victims. McDuff, infamously dubbed the 'Broomstick Killer,' was a figure of unparalleled brutality. His story isn't just a tale of sadistic crimes. It's a saga that shook the very foundations of the Texas criminal justice system. Kenneth Allen McDuff being escorted into the Texas De...