Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

The Sardar Khils came to San Antonio, Texas from the Khost Province of Afghanistan in 2019, after being granted a special visa by the United States. Thanks to a supportive and uplifting Afghan refugee community there, the family landed on their feet and their lives seemed to be heading in the right direction, a good direction. On December 20th, 2021, however, Riaz and Zarmeena Sardar Khil were met...

The investigation into Mary Lou Morris’s October 12th, 2000 murder was going nowhere for Harris County Texas Sheriff’s Office detectives. All the physical evidence had literally gone up in flames, which was perhaps the biggest clue – that her killer either planned the terrible crime carefully or had plenty of time after to cover their tracks. Finding a motive was damn near as impossible. Mary Lou’...

While the investigation into the murder of 48-year-old Mary Lou Morris was just beginning, another woman – 39-year-old Mary Teresa Morris – was killed brutally. Though there was far more evidence to be had in Mary Teresa’s case, Harris County Sheriff’s Office Detectives came up empty handed. As they investigated the usual suspect – Mary Teresa’s husband – another seemingly good suspect emerged, on...

On October 12th, 2000, 48-year-old Mary Morris left her Baytown, Texas home headed for work. Later that afternoon, when her husband discovered she’d never made it, he reported her missing and went searching alongside his stepdaughter. At 5 PM that day, Mary’s car was found smoldering after having been set afire. The day of Mary Lou Morris’s funeral, October 16th, 2000, another woman was discovered...

Fort Worth, Texas in the 1970s was a stomping ground for killers. In February of that year, 25-year-old June Ward was brutally murdered and thrown on the side of West Fuller. While June’s case hardly got the press and investigative effort she deserved, a slaying that occurred in the summer got much less. On June 4th, 1977, workers cleaning up at Sycamore Park south of downtown found the body of 31...

Detectives had few leads in the April 11th, 1976, slaying of 38-year-old Joyce Packey Stein. But they did have a weirdo, the victim’s boyfriend Dr. Gary Ferris. Perhaps prematurely satisfied with the alibis of other persons of interest, particularly Joyce’s abusive ex-husband Stanley, the Terrell Hills Police and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office put on their blinders and pursued Dr. Gary with fervor....

38-year-old Joyce Packey Stein was found lying in a pool of blood on April 12th, 1976. As Terrell Hills and San Antonio PDs began investigating the murder scene and collecting interviews alongside the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Joyce’s ex-husband Stanley and boyfriend Dr. Ferris become suspicious to police for their odd actions and behaviors. When a so-called “little black book” is found, it c...

In the moonlight hours of April 11th, 1976, gunshots rang out in the small, suburban town of Terrell Hills, Texas. Many heard or were awakened by the terrifying commotion, and while some might have believed there was some trouble at the nearby bar, the shots actually occurred in a home there. The home of 38-year-old Joyce Packey Stein, who was found the following day lying in a pool of blood. Divo...

On Part 2 of 2 of our Fall Texas Case Update episodes, we discuss the recent arrest in the horrific 2019 murder of Polunsky Unit prison guard Rhonda Richardson in Shepard, the arrest of Chad Earl Carl (FINALLY) for the savage 2007 slaying of Brittany McGlone in Wood County, the arrest of the man responsible for the disturbing murders of Frank Santoni Thornhill, Connie Villa, and 3-year-old Dante S...

There have been many suspect arrests, convictions, and renewed investigations in Texas cold cases already in the Fall of 2022. This episode, we’ll go over a few things in the 1996 murder case of Leon Laureles in Brown County, talk about the arrest of Feng Lu - the alleged murderer of the Sun Family in Cypress, discuss the identification of Brazoria County Jane Doe as Alisha Marie Cooks after 36 ye...

The year 1969 is one of the most historically eventful years in the history of the United States. Pop culture, counterculture, culture wars, the fight for equal rights, and a war that seemed to neither have an end nor purpose. But in the Summer of 69, folks in Fort Worth, Texas and the surrounding areas took respite from the stresses of this vital but anxiety inducing year by hunting down a thing....

In 2014, Barry Hinkle moved up to the position of Chief of Police in Blue Mound, Texas. While his responsibilities certainly grew, Hinkle still actively sought to solve the 1976 slayings of Kevin, Brian, Fae, and Wayne Joplin, and family friend Terry Trice. He’d uncovered, or simply investigated, something no investigator in the case ever had – a jailhouse letter written by an inmate to his wife....

After the grand jury wrapped up their investigation into the Joplin and Trice murders, unhappily at that, the media essentially turned their back on the story. More disturbingly, it seems the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office did the same. While most folks the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex over were paying attention to the new high profile murder case in town, residents of Blue Mound were stuck wond...

The first two-thirds of Gregg Wayne Joplin’s testimony at the grand jury investigation into the murders of his entire family and friend Terry Trice were riddled with inconsistencies and, seemingly, impossibilities. The final hour or so was no different. After he was dismissed, Terry Trice’s close friend Valdemar Gomez Junior took the stand. It’s unclear if the teenager was nervous or simply could...

As Gregg Joplin’s testimony about what happened on Monday, February 23rd, 1976 continued, the of murder case of the Joplin Family and Terry Trice seemed to grow even more complicated. The Grand Jury’s investigative efforts were certainly hindered, at the very least, by Gregg’s claimed lack of memory. Oddly, he remembered certain details quite well, but others – important details – not at all. Was...

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram shocked the locals when on March 3rd, 1976, they ran an article in their evening edition announcing that a grand jury investigation into the Joplin Family and Terry Trice murders in Blue Mound. It came out of nowhere. But Tarrant County Sheriff Lon Evans had asked for it the previous week, and subpoenas had gone out since. Because of an unwarranted arrest, a portion of...

After Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper reporters uncovered relatively solid evidence that 17-year-old Terry Trice did not kill Wayne, Fae, Brian, and Kevin Joplin, Tarrant County Sheriff Lon Evans became heavily involved in the investigation. In fact, it seemed as though he didn’t want anyone making any decisions or talking to any reports other than himself and his Chief Deputy Earl Brown. Damag...

After the murders of Wayne, Fae, Brian, and Kevin Joplin on February 23rd, 1976, both Blue Mound Police Chief Gary Erwin and Tarrant County Deputies who assisted at the scene thought the case was open and shut: a family friend, 17 year old Terry Trice, killed them all and was trying to make out with two vintage firearms when he was surprised, shot, and killed by Gregg Joplin after he came home. Wi...

Blue Mound, Texas in 1976 was a quaint and quiet working class family town, it’s low violent crime rate in stark contrast to the city directly to the south, Fort Worth. In February of 1976, however, Blue Mound forever changed when five people were slaughtered in a suburban home there. The sole surviving member of the Joplin Family, 20-year-old Gregg, told police that after visiting a relative, he...

Part 2 of 2. After moving back to her hometown of Paris, Texas at age 80, Mary Searight quickly became a beloved resident. Mary shot straight, had seemingly endless tales to tell, and always took care of the places she lived through philanthropic gestures. But 8 years after coming back home, when she was 87 years old, someone brutally raped and beat Mary Searight to death in her home. The investig...

Mary Searight came from a family of great means and influence in Texas law and state government. Her husband, too, came from a prominent Austin, Texas cattle ranching family. After he died, Mary spent 30 more years on their Austin ranch before realizing she could no longer handle the responsibility of raising cattle and keeping up with the land. Though moving back to her hometown of Paris, Texas s...

On November 11th, 1982, 20-year-old Kathy Mae Goad took the day off work to run some errands in the Fort Worth, Texas suburb of Hurst. She never made it back to the east Fort Worth home she shared with her husband, who reported her missing that evening. The Fort Worth Police believed that Kathy had simply left her husband and more or less refused to investigate the case. But authorities in her Ken...

This episode, we discuss developments in a few more Texas cases, including the 1992 murder of Shenda Denise Hayes, the identification of the remains of 16-year-old Sylvia Nicole Smith, the apprehension of a 75-year-old serial killer in Fort Worth, the murders of Heather Willms and Esmeralda Herrera in 2005 and 2011 respectively, and the 2002 robbery / murder of Subir Chatterjee. Also, a little abo...

This episode, we discuss developments in several Texas cases, including the 1989 murder of Mary Hague Kelly, the identification of the remains of Pamela Darlene Young, the 2002 slaying of Dannarriah Finley, the murders of Laura Smither, Jessica Cain, and Kelli Cox in 1997, the 1979 murder of Lesia Michelle Jackson, the 2006 Pizza Hut Murders of Patricia Ann Oferosky and Stephen Dale Mitchelltree,...

This is an excerpt from The Fall Line Podcast’s episode on the unsolved disappearance of Carlos Ariel Delgado Mancha. Carlos Delgado disappeared in 1997, but there’s no formal record of this fact—at least, not one his family can access. Although ICE allegedly holds that information in their internal records, there is no listing for Carlos, who was in the US on a temporary residency visa, with NamU...