July 2002 Cover

Photographed for Texas Monthly by Artie Limmer and T. J. Tucker

July 2002

Table of Contents

Features

In 1996 the body of a cheerleader from a small town in Oklahoma was found on the Texas side of the Red River. She had been raped and shot. The brutal crime destroyed several families and the illusions of an isolated slice of the world.

Darlie Routier has been on death row for five years now, always insisting that she didn't kill her sons Devon and Damon. And as her lawyers prepare to head into court yet again, new information about her case raises the possibility that she may have been telling the truth all along.

Indians slain by settlers and vice versa. Lynchings and shoot-outs. Poisonings and dismemberings. Assassinations and massacres. Our past three hundred years or so have been, uh, colorful. A fond look back at the murder and mayhem.

A killer's-eye view of three of the seven famous crime scenes today.

He was a ladies' man who owned a tavern. He kept gators in a pool behind the place, into which he liked to toss small animals. He hired women to wait tables, and some of them disappeared. What happened? With Joe Ball, it was easy to believe the worst.

Columns

Crime

Spending 169 days in jail taught me how to use toothpaste as an acne cream, a toilet as a telephone, and a Maxi pad as a mop. Learning to keep my dignity wasn't as easy.

Behind the Lines

It's the insanity defense that's insane.

Crime

What's the most unsettling thing about interviewing murderers? In many ways, they're just like you and me.

Crime

In 1991 I was eating lunch with a friend when a maniac opened fire at the Luby's in Killeen. We were both hit. I lived. She didn't.

Crime

During the 21 years I served as the district attorney for Harris County, people always attacked me for never hesitating to seek the death penalty. Here's my defense.

Crime

In the mid-seventies my girlfriend was strangled by a serial killer. I eventually got on with my life, but I nver could have imagined the toll it would take.

Reporter

First Person

The daughter of a corrections officer lets down her guard.

Reporter

What happened to former Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson.

Reporter

Pamela Colloff counts down Napoleon Beazley's final hours.

The Filter

Pat’s Pick

Miscellany

The Last Roundup

The truth—scouts honor—about Charles Whitman.

Web Exclusives

Senior editors Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall talk about this month's special crime issue.

Texan Mark Oliver Gebel explains how his job as the animal trainer for the Ringling Brothers is, has, and always will be his life.

Senior editor Anne Dingus offers a list of Texas true-crime books to die for.

Gary Tanhauser, who illustrated "Two Barmaids, Five Alligators, and the Butcher of Elmendorf," talks about how he approaches his work.

The robber who fled to a police station and other criminally stupid stories from our Bum Steer archives.

The 1800's had its share of criminal activity.

‘Twas two days before Christmas, when all through the town, not a creature expected St. Nick to come ‘round. To Cisco Santa strolled, more naughty than nice, and stirred quite a story, filled with robbery and vice.

Step behind the walls and take a peek at the history of the Texas State penitentiary at Huntsville.

There's more to Fredericksburg than antiques shopping—honest.

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