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True Crime

Only in Texas could crime stories contain such characters as a murderous cheer mom, a fraudulent fruitcake accountant, and a polo shirt–wearing bandit. Over the years, we’ve shone a light on these true tales to look deeper than the headlines and tell the stories of the victims.
True Crime|
January 1, 1998

A Few Bad Boys

The slashing of a cadet’s throat at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen is only the latest incident of violence at a venerable institution under not-so-friendly fire.

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True Crime|
January 1, 1998

Ku Klux Klowns

There was something comical about the plot by four Klan members to blow up a chemical plant in Wise County— and that was before their own Imperial Grand Wizard turned them into the feds.

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True Crime|
November 1, 1997

The Bookmaker’s Wife

She had a secret life, and so did her husband. For a while they seemed to have a pleasant existence in the affluent Houston neighborhood of River Oaks. But then she turned up dead.

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True Crime|
February 1, 1997

Good Fella

Now that Joe Chagra is dead, it’s time to clear his name in the 1979 assassination of San Antonio federal judge John Wood.

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True Crime|
February 1, 1997

Brenham’s Paradise Lost

An idyllic small town confronts a controversial rape case involving four high school boys and a thirteen-year-old girl and discovers that nothing is certain—except that its children can’t escape the big-city culture of teenage sex.

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True Crime|
November 1, 1996

Thrill Killers

Now that the crack epidemic has leveled off and gang violence is down, urban Texas is being terrorized by a new type of criminal: the superpredator. He murders without motive, feels no remorse, and worst of all, seldom gets caught.

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True Crime|
September 30, 1996

Death and the Matrons

What could drive a suburban housewife to murder? The bizarre cases of Rowlett’s Darlie Routier and Fairview’s Candy Montgomery hint at the answer, and it may be closer to home than we’d like to think.

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Headshot of Marie Robards, teenage murderer.
True Crime|
June 30, 1996

Poisoning Daddy

No one ever suspected a thing until she asked her best friend if she could keep a terrible secret: the bizarre story of teenager Marie Robards, the devoted daughter who murdered her father.

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True Crime|
December 1, 1995

Carrillo’s Crossing

In the billion-dollar business of drug trafficking, Amado Carrillo Fuentes is king. He's the elusive ringleader of a smuggling operation that police are powerless to stop.

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josh levine breaking the bank
True Crime|
January 1, 1995

Breaking the Bank

Gambling became a way of life for young Josh Levine. When he got in too deep, he came to believe that only a holdup could get him out.

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Charles Albright in prison.
True Crime|
April 30, 1993

See No Evil

Dallas police say Charles Albright is the coldest, most depraved killer of women in the city’s history. To me, he seems like a perfect gentleman. Maybe too perfect.

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True Crime|
January 1, 1993

Scarred

Not long after she made her trek from Texas to New York, Marla Hanson saw her modeling career end at the hands of a razor-wielding thug. Six years later, the cuts on her face have healed, but the emotional wounds remain.

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True Crime|
November 1, 1992

The Almost Great Bank Robbery

It seemed like the perfect inside job: A respected cop conspires with his teller girlfriend to pull the biggest bank heist in San Antonio history. If they hadn’t been so careless, they might have gotten away with it.

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Kenneth McDuff black and white headshot.
True Crime|
August 1, 1992

Free to Kill

Once, the State of Texas was going to put Kenneth McDuff to death as payment for his crimes. Instead, it set him free to murder again.

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Richard and Nancy Lyon before the murder.
True Crime|
April 1, 1992

The Killer Next Door

For six years, my landlord and his wife were the perfect neighbors. Then he was accused of murdering her—and suddenly I didn’t know what to believe.

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True Crime|
July 31, 1991

A Guard in Gangland

Never before had a correctional officer been tried for the murder of an inmate—and never before had such chilling details been revealed about how our prisons really work.

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Art|
August 1, 1990

A Soldier’s Secret

In the farming town of Whitewright, stolen tenth-century illuminated manuscripts and ivory reliquaries weren’t all that Joe Meador had to hide.

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Terri Hoffman taught that the line between life and death was meaningless. For some, the idea was fatal.
True Crime|
May 1, 1990

The Curse of the Black Lords

Terri Lee Hoffman was a New Age Aunt Bee whose gospel attracted many followers. But some of those believers ended up on a dark, twisted path that led to violent death—and the enrichment of their guru.

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True Crime|
August 31, 1989

“I Loved the Dapper Bandit”

She was a hooker. He was a race car driver. They fell in love. She moved in. He put on his three-piece suit and went to work. She was always on call. They fought. She moved out. Then she found out that his real job was bank jobs.

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True Crime|
March 1, 1989

Forgery, Texas Style

As Texans’ pride of place rose with the price of oil, collectors scrambled for the few documents of the Texas Revolution. Suddenly there seemed to be plenty to go around. But no one thought to ask why.

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