True Crime Reporter

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, alo...

John Dillinger & The Lady In Red Confronted Leaving The Biograph Theater in Chicago July 22, 1934. Artists Rendition 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 jailbre...

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. FOLLOW the True Crime Reporter® Po...

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&#821...

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. FOLLOW the True Crime Reporter® Podcast   S...

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...

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 enforce...

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...

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...

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 Dalla s 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 hig...

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 her...

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 t...

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 Presid...

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 B...

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...

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&#8...

Death Row Calling–I Know Where Your Daughters Live 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 pho...

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight 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 Di...

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...

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&...

During the Great Depression, Newsreels about John Dillinger, the first gangster declared Public Enemy #1, drew cheers from movie audiences across America and hisses when pictures of J. Edgar Hoover appeared on screen. Crowd Outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater After John Dillinger was shot in 1934 Agents from what would become the FBI killed Dillinger in a hail of gunfire while leaving Chicago...

There’s a crime trend sweeping the United States of flash mob thieves charging into department stores to make off with armfuls of loot. Gangs rush inside affluent suburban neighborhoods in night to break into cars. This episode of the True Crime Reporter® podcast responds to those of you asking me what they should do amid a growing wave of violence in urban America and overseas. A U.S. busin...

Investigative Reporter Stephen Michaud , among the nation’s best, spent six years unraveling how an iconic ranch was taken from a dying Texas Cowboy. It’s a sprawling Texas ranch near the border with Mexico where the biggest producing gas well in the United States was struck in 2004. The ranch and its mineral assets have amassed a 750 Million dollar fortune.   But, the cowboy who o...

Doug Noll says murderers are not born, they’re bred. Today kids revert to what they see around them…violence. Doug Noll founded the Prison of Peace Project. Noll teaches hardcore inmates how to de-escalate an angry, emotional person in 90 seconds or less. It’s a skill that we can all benefit from learning in this era of violence. Hello, this is Robert Riggs taking you inside the crime...

The Bandido’s Intimidating Presence On U.S. Highways A violent war for control of illicit drugs and weapons leaves a deadly trail of bullets and blood across highways in the U.S. Southwest. It started eight years ago in a hail of gunfire between the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang and the Cossacks at the Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco, Texas. The violence escalated starting in May of 2023, le...