Burkablog »
And now a discussion that really matters (Fri Nov 20 at 5:02 PM)
In the Pink »
The Wrecking Coup (Fri Nov 20 at 1:33 PM)
Page Break »
Supreme Court to Rehear Exxon Case. Yes, That Exxon Case. (Sat Nov 21 at 1:45 PM)
Eat My Words »
Talking Tamales (Thu Nov 12 at 11:12 AM)
Alan says: I am in favor of limiting the governor to two consecutive terms. But blacklisting someone after eight years altogether, regardless of how good or bad they did their job, can needlessly force an effective public official out of public service. Many state governors throughout history have served well over eight years without their constituents regretting it. I would point out that such a system is wholly unworkable in twenty-first century America: we live in the era of the permanent campaign and the 24-hour news cycle. A governor facing re-election every other year would essentially do nothing but fundraise (which is close to what most do anyway even with four-year terms). (November 19th, 2009 at 11:09pm)
Stories on Crime
Perversion Of Justice »
Cathy McBroom loved working as a case manager for Samuel Kent, Galveston’s brilliant, charismatic, all-powerful federal district judge. Then he started attacking her.
by Skip Hollandsworth [December 2009]
Separated At Death »
Ernest Willis spent seventeen years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. And he has a few things to say about the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for a strangely similar crime that many experts believe he didn’t commit either.
by Michael Hall [December 2009]
Home of the Brave »
A time to grieve, remember, honor, question. Scenes from Fort Hood during the aftermath of a mass shooting on November 5, 2009. Photographs by Bob Daemmrich.
by [November 2009]
There but for the Grace of God »
Michael Hall’s exclusive interview with Ernest Willis.
by [November 2009]
Memo to Kay »
Even someone who supports the death penalty, as you do, can and should be up in arms over the Cameron Willingham case.
by Michael Hall [October 2009]
The Judgment of Sharon Keller »
Her decision to close the door on a death row inmate’s final plea has earned the state’s top criminal judge lasting infamy and a misconduct investigation that goes to trial this month. But was she wrong?
by Michael Hall [August 2009]
Bringing Down the Dogmen »
The bust that nabbed Houston’s top dogfighters was the work of two gutsy undercover cops who knew that the only way to infiltrate this secret world was to become dogfighters themselves.
by Skip Hollandsworth [August 2009]
Mismanaged Care »
A unique confluence of medicine, money, and politics is driving health care costs in the Rio Grande Valley. At the center of it all is a Democrat from Palmview, who is already under indictment for unreported income.
by Patricia Kilday Hart [August 2009]
Fight Club »
Without the cooperation of Texas law enforcement, the dogfighting subculture will continue to thrive.
by Skip Hollandsworth [August 2009]
Sex, Lies, and Videotapes »
The Texas attorney general takes a second look at the Mineola child sex ring cases.
by Michael Hall [August 2009]
Cold Cash »
Convicted congressman William Jefferson owes this former pollster money. Something tells me I'm not going to collect.
by Paul Stekler [August 2009]
Flesh and Blood »
The most shocking thing about the murder of the Caffey family in East Texas last year was not how gruesome or inexplicable the crime was. It was that it was masterminded by sixteen-year-old Erin Caffey, a pretty girl who worked at the Sonic, sang in her church, and loved her parents.
by Pamela Colloff [June 2009]
Road to Perdition »
Was the Army as much to blame for the Mahmudiyah killings as its perpetrators?
by Pamela Colloff [June 2009]
Eyewitness News »
The Legislature takes up photo and live lineup identification procedures in criminal cases.
by Jena A. Williams [May 2009]
Risky Business »
How did state representative Allen Fletcher—the chairman of a subcommittee on white-collar crime—find his very own company tangled up in a white-collar crime investigation?
by Nate Blakeslee [May 2009]
In Treatment »
Diversionary programs such as drug courts, which provide treatment-based alternatives for non-violent criminals to prisons, remain critically underfunded.
by Jena A. Williams [May 2009]
The Lost Boys »
Can a former member of a vicious Houston gang leave crime behind and build a new life for himself?
by Skip Hollandsworth [May 2009]
Across The Line »
Was the quaint East Texas town of Mineola home to a horrific child sex ring? Were the three people sent to prison last year for running it guilty? Was justice served? Depends on which district attorney you ask.
by Michael Hall [April 2009]
Behind Bars »
Four San Antonio women convicted of sexual assault fifteen years ago maintain their innocence and remain in prison.
by Darrell Otto [April 2009]
Hysteria »
When adults are accused of unthinkable crimes against children, what’s fact and what’s fiction can get lost in translation.
by Michael Hall [April 2009]
The Witches of Garland »
How a mother and daughter hired a hit man to kill their husband and father, and why they might just get away with it.
by Skip Hollandsworth [April 2009]
Crime Scene »
Read classic Skip Hollandsworth on serial killers, bank robbers, drug dealers, gangs, and more.
[March 2009]
Overexposure? »
The Dallas Police Department’s posting of photos in its “indecency” section on its Web site is probably constitutional—the fact that prostitution cases are also listed means that gay men as a class are not being singled out—but is it responsible?
by Nate Blakeslee [March 2009]
An Isolated Incident »
After his son died of a drug overdose in his fraternity house at SMU, Tom Stiles began asking questions that campus authorities preferred not to answer. Two years later, he is still learning the truth about what happened—and why.
by Nate Blakeslee [February 2009]
A Mother’s Words »
Bonnie Haldeman, the mother of David Koresh, dies at 64.
by Pamela Colloff [February 2009]
Baghdad, Mexico »
In 2008 Juárez became a war zone. What happens next?
by Sito Negron [January 2009]
Children of the Storm »
After Hurricane Katrina, Rhonda Tavey selflessly opened her Houston home to a New Orleans evacuee and five of her children. She fed the kids, bathed them, and grew to love them so much that when their mother tried to take them back to Louisiana, she wouldn’t let them go.
by Mimi Swartz [January 2009]
The Science of Murder »
Someone killed Melissa Trotter and dumped her body in the Sam Houston National Forest. But according to six forensic experts, that someone was not Larry Swearingen.
by Michael Hall [January 2009]
Legalize It? »
The El Paso City Council may override the mayor’s veto to create a debate on the current U.S. drug policies. In these interviews, the mayor, council members, and others explain their views.
by Katy Vine [January 2009]
Crossing the Line »
The facts of this case are quite simple. Two Border Patrol agents shot at an unarmed man as he was running away from them. And then, they covered it up.
by Pamela Colloff [January 2009]
The Fugitive »
Friends and family knew Deborah Murphey as a mild-mannered nurse and a loving wife and mother. Then a U.S. marshal knocked on her door.
by Skip Hollandsworth [December 2008]
The Unusual Suspects »
The arson of the Governor’s Mansion in June was as mystifying as it was heartbreaking. Could Austin anarchists have been to blame?
by Pamela Colloff [December 2008]
A True Crime: Video »
Video interviews with wrongfully imprisoned men who have been exonerated through DNA testing.
[November 2008]
The Exonerated »
Thirty-seven men, 525 years behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit. Thanks to DNA testing, their claims of innocence have finally been proved—but what happens to them now?
by Michael Hall [November 2008]
The Killing Field »
Before they clubbed two deer to death in their tiny West Texas town, the four high school football stars were treated like royalty. Afterward, when news of their exploits hit the Internet, they were celebrities of a very different sort.
by Skip Hollandsworth [August 2008]
Compound Fracture »
Why I have no sympathy for the Eldorado polygamists.
by Skip Hollandsworth [June 2008]
The Valley of The Shadow Of Death »
Did Kari Baker, despondent over her daughter’s passing, commit suicide? Or was she killed by her husband, Matt, a Baptist preacher in Waco and an alleged sexual predator? He says he didn’t do it, but her family insists otherwise—and they say they’ll keep after him until justice is done.
by Skip Hollandsworth [March 2008]
Badges of Dishonor »
Two Border Patrol agents are sent to prison while the dope smuggler they pursued and wounded is granted immunity by federal prosecutors and goes free. A miscarriage of justice? Not so fast.
by Pamela Colloff [September 2007]
Faces of Forgiveness »
An East Texas prison ministry is trying to heal crime victims and rehabilitate criminals by getting them to talk.
Text by Pamela Colloff [August 2007]
Angel of Death »
What was it, exactly, that caused Vickie Dawn Jackson, a sweet, soft-spoken nurse at Nocona General Hospital, to become one of the most prolific serial killers in Texas history?
by Skip Hollandsworth [July 2007]
Angel of Death (Podcast) »
Skip Hollandsworth reads the cover story.
by Skip Hollandsworth [July 2007]
The Beating of Billy Ray Johnson »
The short, slight, mentally disabled black man was found on the side of a road in Linden, huddled in a fetal position. He was bloody and unconscious—the victim of a violent crime. But another tragedy was how residents of the East Texas town reacted.
by Pamela Colloff [February 2007]
“You Don’t Want to Know What We Do After Dark” »
The young, tattooed men who are members of the Southwest Cholos, La Primera, La Tercera Crips, Somos Pocos Pero Locos, Mara Salvatrucha, and other Houston gangs are vicious career criminals who regularly rob innocent people in some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. They steal cars and break into businesses. They deal drugs on street corners. And they constantly wage war with one another.
by Skip Hollandsworth [December 2006]
Acting Up »
At the Giddings State School, violent teenagers come to terms with their horrific crimes—and learn how to avoid committing them again—through role-playing exercises in a jailhouse version of group therapy. This is what your tax dollars are paying for? Well, it works. For a while, at least.
by Katy Vine [November 2006]
Free Richard Lafuente! »
They say he ran over Eddie Peltier with his El Camino on a North Dakota Indian reservation in 1983. He says he didn’t do it, and the evidence is overwhelmingly on his side—yet the Plainview native has languished in federal prison for twenty years. It’s long past time for justice to be done.
by Michael Hall [October 2006]
96 Minutes »
At 11:48 a.m. on August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman began firing his rifle from the top of the University of Texas Tower at anyone and everyone in his sights. At 1:24 p.m., he was gunned down himself. The lives of the people who witnessed the sniper’s spree firsthand would never be the same again.
by Pamela Colloff [August 2006]
The Bad Guy With the Badge »
How Conrado Cantu, the sheriff of Cameron County, lived down to people’s expectations of South Texas law enforcement.
by Cecilia Ballí [August 2006]
My Life As an Illegal »
You’ve heard enough from the politicians and the activists, the demagogues and the bleeding hearts. Here’s my story. I only wish I could put my name on it. By Immigrant X
As told to John Spong [July 2006]
The Gangstas of Godwin Park »
Whatever else you can say about it, the life and death of Bellaire High School junior Jonathan Finkelman is a tragic tale of drugs, money, race, and MySpace.
by Mimi Swartz [June 2006]
The Last Rustler »
If he was asked what he did for a living, Roddy Dean Pippin would smile and say something about the cattle business. But he didn’t exactly buy and sell cows. He stole them. And right up until he was caught, he was as good as any such thief had ever been.
by Skip Hollandsworth [May 2006]
