Illustration by Hokyoung Kim
Marshall Stewart has been searching San Angelo for 35 years, looking for answers that might never come: Who murdered his teenage son, Shane, along with his girlfriend, Sally McNelly, in 1988? And why?
In 1978, an eighth grader killed his teacher. After 20 months in a psychiatric facility, he was freed. His classmates still wonder: What really happened?
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
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.
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.
The 1988 murder of two San Angelo teenagers has frustrated investigators for decades. ‘Shane & Sally’ picks up the cold case.
The 1988 murder of two San Angelo teenagers has frustrated investigators for decades. ’Shane & Sally’ picks up the cold case. Launching March 19.
In the first episode of this Texas Monthly true crime podcast, two teenagers go missing and a father goes searching for answers.
In this episode, friends and family remember Shane and Sally, and describe troubling warning signs in the weeks before their disappearance.
Investigators walk through their initial work after Shane and Sally went missing, and their ongoing search for clues after 35 years.
A rumored satanic “high priest,” and a teenager who seemed to know too much about the events at the lake, become suspects in the murder investigation.
The investigation heads to the Philippines in search of Jimmy Burnett, a major suspect who evaded authorities for years.
We hear from the last of the main suspects in the case, Heath Davis, who was known in the eighties as one of the toughest guys in San Angelo.
Behind the Scenes
Urban refugees fleeing high-tech Dallas have created ersatz rural communities in the nearby countryside. This isolated, pastoral life sometimes erupts into adultery and murder.
Candy Montgomery thought her affair with Allan Gore was over, until she found herself fighting for her life against Allan’s wife.
HBO Max turned my house into that of Candy Montgomery, played by Elizabeth Olsen. Then things got hyperreal.
Richard Linklater’s acclaimed new film has a release date.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Especially in the case of the dance-team mom who kidnapped a Kilgore Rangerette.
Hosts Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs discuss a mysterious piece of evidence from the crime scene.
We hear from the last of the main suspects in the case, Heath Davis, who was known in the eighties as one of the toughest guys in San Angelo.
Hosts Karen Jacobs and Rob D’Amico dig further into the suspect list, which leads them all the way to the Philippines.
The investigation heads to the Philippines in search of Jimmy Burnett, a major suspect who evaded authorities for years.
Hosts Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs examine a key suspect and discuss the challenge of reporting on individuals connected to the murder investigation.
A rumored satanic “high priest,” and a teenager who seemed to know too much about the events at the lake, become suspects in the murder investigation.
An elusive bandit was sneaking into glitzy mansions and making off with millions in jewels from some of the richest people in the world. With the FBI on his tail, could he get away with the perfect crime? An exclusive excerpt from ‘The King of Diamonds.’
Hosts Karen Jacobs and Rob D’Amico discuss the challenge of assembling a story using the evidence from the crime scene.
Investigators walk through their initial work after Shane and Sally went missing, and their ongoing search for clues after 35 years.
Learn more about the case with original videos, archival photos, and documents from our reporting.
If you’d like to share thoughts about the podcast, or about the murders of Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly, let us know here.
Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly went missing during the height of the nation’s “Satanic panic,” and hosts Karen Jacobs and Rob D’Amico discuss the impact of the cult obsession.
In this episode, friends and family remember Shane and Sally, and describe troubling warning signs in the weeks before their disappearance.
Podcast hosts Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs dive deeper into questions surrounding the abandoned car the night Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly went missing.
In the first episode of this Texas Monthly true crime podcast, two teenagers go missing and a father goes searching for answers.
Marshall Stewart has been searching San Angelo for 35 years, looking for answers that might never come: Who murdered his teenage son, Shane, along with his girlfriend, Sally McNelly, in 1988? And why?
Coming March 19—Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs investigate the cold-case murder of two San Angelo teenagers during the height of the nation’s “Satanic panic.”
Alligator snapping turtle populations in Texas were dwindling. One family of smugglers had been poaching them from the state for years.
On the series finale, a killer builds his new life on borrowed time, and people in Stephenville must confront a difficult truth.
In his own words, the man who killed Susan Woods looks back on the choices he says led him to become a "monster."
A 16-year-old assault survivor tells investigators of her attacker's chilling confession.
Armed with new forensic technology, Don Miller takes up the case and gets a break — one that raises even more questions about what happened to Susan Woods.
That left the real culprit free to prey on others, including one victim who was ignored for two decades.
One thousand miles from Stephenville, a cloud of suspicion settles over one man.
In the first episode of the Texas Monthly true crime podcast, a father makes a tragic discovery, and an investigator gets to work.
Ortiz was found guilty of capital murder this week. In 2019, Texas Monthly reported on the string of murders targeting sex workers in Laredo.
A new Netflix docuseries revisits the string of murders near League City. Texas Monthly interviewed Abel in 1999.
Austin attorney Jamie Balagia, a.k.a. “the Dude,” thought that he’d finally hit the big time. Then everything fell apart.
A man approached Cecilia Ballí and asked, “Are you looking for work?” It shook her—and helped her grasp the danger in early-aughts Juárez.
The writer looks back on his 1998 reporting on an unforgettable murder plot that inspired the 2011 Richard Linklater film ‘Bernie.’
McCurley was living a quiet life in Fort Worth when new DNA evidence linked him to the notorious crime. Police suspect it wasn’t his first murder—or his last.
Luci Zahray is an expert on poison and is a consultant to mystery writers around the world.
Greg Curtis’s first story about Sam Corey was supposed to be a colorful human interest piece, but in some ways it was actually the beginning of a heinous murder.
Pediatric nurse Genene Jones may have murdered "up to sixty" babies in the 1980s. It took three more decades to ensure she'd stay locked up for life.
What pushed an East Texas mother to kidnap at gunpoint the director of the famed college drill team and her nineteen-year-old daughter?
“I’ll never lose that hope. It could be five years from today. The door is always open at our office for anything that will bring resolution to this case.”
In “the trial of the century,” a Houston socialite was accused of plotting her husband's murder—and of having an affair with her nephew. But Candace Mossler was only getting started.
Since 1980, police and an army of amateur sleuths have puzzled over the East Texas cold case. New forensic DNA techniques have finally given a name to the teenage girl whose brutal murder has haunted so many for so long.
A shoot-out at a Big Bend ranch captured the nation’s attention: first as an alleged ambush by undocumented migrants, then as a fear-mongering hoax. The real story is much more mysterious.
The sheriff blames his death on a big cat—but animal experts aren’t buying that theory.
The young woman who mysteriously drowned in the Ropers Motel pool in 1966 might have remained anonymous forever, if not for cutting-edge genetics, old-fashioned genealogy—and the kindness of a small West Texas town.
“I’m definitely more paranoid wherever I go. I definitely watch my back more and pay attention to what’s going on around me.”
“The people of the town are calling us and saying, ‘Do we have a monster that lives in our community?’ I wish I could give them solace.”
“I’m like, ‘What in the heck is that?’ So, I walk around some shrubs, and as I get closer, I can see that it kind of looks like bone.”
“It’s kind of strange that your investigator calls this search, and, lo and behold, right after he starts the search, a cellphone is found.”
DNA evidence proved Lydell Grant's innocence. So why won't the state’s highest criminal court exonerate him?
“I'm sitting there thinking, ‘Oh God, I'm so scared right now.’ I couldn't convince them. And so I just let them hammer me.”
“Makes you want to go to the church, get on your knees, and say a few words, right?”
“My gut tells me he hasn't left Hemphill County. I think he's here somewhere, and I don't know if he intends to come out in the next day or two.”
