Film & TV
April 20, 2021
What ‘Cruel Summer’ Gets Right About Texans
The soapy teen drama takes place in a fictional Texas town that—aside from an extravagant kidnapping plot—looks like home.
Crime
Meanwhile in Texas
March 13, 2021
Meanwhile, in Texas: A Policeman and His K-9 Officer Stopped a Carjacker in San Marcos
Plus, the Stinnett police chief allegedly faked a document demonstrating an annulment of his marriage.
Politics & Policy
February 25, 2021
They Accused a Man of Sexual Assault in a Small West Texas Town. That Was Only the Beginning.
When several women spoke out against a powerful man in the former ghost town of Terlingua, the backlash was fierce.
News & Politics
January 29, 2021
After Eighteen Years Behind Bars for a Crime She Didn’t Commit, Rosa Jimenez Is Finally Free
Her ordeal included one final trauma: ICE showed up to deport her before the Mexican consulate intervened.
Meanwhile in Texas
January 20, 2021
Meanwhile, in Texas: A Potbellied Pig Repeatedly Breaks Loose
Plus, Post Malone donates thousands of pairs of custom-made Crocs to students.
Business
December 17, 2020
Russian Hackers Thrust Texas Company SolarWinds Into the Spotlight
The Austin firm whose software has become nearly ubiquitous in the networks of the federal government and Fortune 500 companies reportedly left its clients vulnerable.
True Crime
November 17, 2020
Tom Brown’s Body, Chapter 8: The Remains
“I’m definitely more paranoid wherever I go. I definitely watch my back more and pay attention to what’s going on around me.”…
True Crime
November 10, 2020
Tom Brown’s Body, Chapter 7: The Wake
“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.”…
True Crime
November 3, 2020
Tom Brown’s Body, Chapter 6: The Thicket
“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.”…
True Crime
October 27, 2020
Tom Brown’s Body, Chapter 5: Unusual Suspects
“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.”…
True Crime
August 19, 2020
The Wildest Insurance Fraud Scheme Texas Has Ever Seen
Over a decade, Theodore Robert Wright III destroyed cars, yachts, and planes. That was only the half of it.
Criminal Justice
July 7, 2020
‘Outcry’ Offers a Nuanced Look at a Wrongful Conviction in Central Texas
The five-part Showtime docu-series avoids the worst pitfalls of the true-crime genre, favoring character over sensationalism.
News & Politics
June 26, 2020
In a New Podcast, Two Journalists Seek Justice for the Missing Women of Juárez
The podcast dives into the mysteries surrounding the decades-long string of murders in the border city.
True Crime
May 18, 2020
The Santa Fe High School Shooting’s Uncounted Victims
Two years after the shooting left ten dead and thirteen injured, survivors like Isabelle Laymance and their families are still dealing with the aftermath.
News & Politics
May 11, 2020
Five Judges Say Rosa Jimenez Was Wrongly Convicted. So Why Is She Dying in Prison?
First came the sound of someone running hard on the breezeway outside, then a banging on the apartment door. Irene Vera opened it to see her neighbor, twenty-year-old Rosa Jimenez, holding a little boy who lay limp in her arms. “Help me! Help me!” Jimenez cried hysterically in Spanish. The…
True Crime
March 18, 2020
The School Shooting That Austin Forgot
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?…
News & Politics
January 2, 2020
A Houston Woman Was Killed by Celebratory Gunfire on New Year’s Eve
Psych nurse Philippa Ashford was standing in her driveway when the bullet came down.
Politics & Policy
December 30, 2019
The Best Texas Monthly Longform of 2019
Settle in for a by-no-means comprehensive list of some of the most popular stories in our pages this year.
True Crime
December 18, 2019
The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Killer
Brenda thought she and Ricky would be together forever, until he left her. Kendra thought she and Ricky would be together forever. Then Brenda took matters into her own hands. Inside the case of jealousy, spying, and murder that shook Uptown Dallas.
News & Politics
November 15, 2019
Rodney Reed Will Not Be Executed on November 20
The case, which has attracted huge amounts of attention, will go back to the trial court.
News & Politics
November 13, 2019
Inside the Death Row Case That Has Everyone From Ted Cruz to Kim Kardashian Speaking Out
Rodney Reed has been on Texas’ death row for 21 years, but new evidence and witnesses have drawn national attention ahead of his upcoming execution date. …
Politics & Policy
October 29, 2019
What Happens When the Texas Governor Shares the Worst Day of Your Life on Twitter?
As part of his campaign against Austin’s homelessness rules, Greg Abbott tweeted an old video of a non-homeless man having a mental health episode. His attorney says the governor is “retraumatizing” the man and his family.
Books
October 21, 2019
Rachel Monroe’s Life of Crime
In 'Savage Appetites' the Marfa journalist tries to understand her—and other women's—obsession with violent criminal acts.
News & Politics
October 15, 2019
Atatiana Jefferson’s Death Gives Black North Texans More Reasons to Distrust Police
Saturday’s killing of a Fort Worth woman at the hands of a cop was followed by the usual selective shaping of the narrative by law enforcement.
True Crime
September 18, 2019
The Hunt for the Serial Killer of Laredo
Last September, law enforcement officers were confounded by a murderer targeting prostitutes along the border. As the investigation intensified, they discovered that the killer had been hiding in plain sight.
Politics & Policy
September 10, 2019
Dan Patrick Is a Sworn Enemy of Gun Control, So Why Is He Proposing Background Checks Now?
The lieutenant governor's pledge to "take an arrow" from the NRA is a surprise, but the move is not as politically risky as it looks.
Politics & Policy
September 4, 2019
The Governor Wants “Expedited Executions” For Mass Shooters. But Who Would That Deter?
Of the four major mass shooting suspects in Texas in recent years, the only one it would impact is the man who wants to die as soon as possible.
Politics & Policy
September 3, 2019
Video Games and Godless Hearts: The Texas Gun Debate Is at a Depressing Dead End
What politicians like Matt Schaefer are really saying is that no number of victims is worth the discomfort of a fairly small number of gun owners.
Politics & Policy
August 6, 2019
What the Shooter and Trump Don’t Understand About My Hometown of El Paso
What the rest of the country will see in the days to come is a city of resilience, compassion, and honesty.
Politics & Policy
July 8, 2019
Dallas’s New Mayor on Data, Crime, and Why Dallas Needs to Get Selfish
In a discussion with Texas Monthly last week, Johnson spoke about the crime woes, his intention to make data-driven decisions, plans for ethics reforms, and why Dallas needs to be more selfish in its regional partnerships.
Politics & Policy
June 7, 2019
North Texas Cops Caught Being Racist Online
A non-profit compiled racist, sexist, and xenophobic social media posts from police in Dallas and Denison.
May 29, 2019
Her Daughter Was Disappeared in Mexico. Despite Cartel Death Threats, She’s Determined to Find Her.
After Josefina De León’s daughter went missing in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas in 2012, she was determined to find her. Seven years later, she hasn’t given up.
True Crime
May 13, 2019
Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild
He called himself the Tiger King and plastered his face on highway billboards in Texas and Oklahoma. He bred big cats, bears, baboons, and more. He lived, with a parade of partners, on the grounds of his private zoo. He threatened a rival with murder—repeatedly, on YouTube—and tried to hire…
Best Thing In Texas
May 7, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: A San Antonio Native Stopped the San Diego Synagogue Shooting
”Armed only with a mean face,” former sailor and soldier Oscar Stewart became a hero.
News & Politics
May 6, 2019
Sandra Bland Made Her Own Recording of the Traffic Stop that Led to Her Death
Dallas news station WFAA has the footage.
News & Politics
April 21, 2019
Thefts of Austin-Based Car2Go Rentals Show the Vulnerability of Our App-Based World
More than 100 of the company's 400 cars in Chicago were stolen via its own app.
News & Politics
April 19, 2019
‘Truth & Justice’ Podcast Offers $20,000 Reward for Info in Controversial Houston Murder Case
Bob Ruff is working on his fifth Texas case in fewer than four years, this time hoping to prove the innocence of Sandra Melgar in the killing of her husband, Jaime Melgar.
News & Politics
April 5, 2019
What Drove Houston’s Armored Car Robber to Cold-Blooded Crime?
New insights about Redrick “Red” Batiste emerge after his accomplices are found guilty.
News & Politics
March 28, 2019
Texas May Outlaw Unsolicited Sexual Images. Would That Be Enforceable—and Does It Even Matter?
The potential legislation would be an example of law's "expressive" power, potentially curbing behavior regardless of how many creeps are prosecuted.
Critters
March 25, 2019
The Tragic Tale of Zero the Hero Dog
A heroic pet was shot and killed protecting his family in Houston, proving once more that dogs are the best of all of us.
News & Politics
March 13, 2019
UT Has No Records Matching $500,000 “Donated” by Nonprofit Implicated in Bribery Scheme
Where’s the money?…
News & Politics
March 12, 2019
The College Admissions Bribery Scandal Has Some Texas Connections
UT-Austin’s tennis coach and an exam administrator in Houston are facing federal charges.
News & Politics
February 20, 2019
Houston Police Chief Says He’ll End No-Knock Warrants After Botched Raid
The announcement comes amid growing questions about the legitimacy of the investigation that led to the deadly raid.
True Crime
February 20, 2019
When Does an Accident Become a Crime?
Driving through a dangerous curve in Tyler, James Fulton crossed into oncoming traffic and killed a young woman. He wasn’t drunk, and the cops said the crash was an accident. But the Smith County DA saw it differently.
The Culture
January 3, 2019
Texans Are Rallying Around the Family of Jazmine Barnes
It won’t bring back the seven-year-old girl killed in a drive-by shooting on Sunday morning, but it might make it easier for her family to get through their mourning.
News & Politics
January 3, 2019
Everything We Know About the Shooting of Jazmine Barnes
Police say the seven-year-old was fatally shot on a feeder road near a Harris County Walmart. Two suspects are in custody.
News & Politics
December 11, 2018
Plea Deal Allows Former Baylor Frat Leader Accused of Rape to Avoid Jail Time
Jacob Walter Anderson, charged with raping and choking a fellow student, will pay a $400 fine as part of the deal.
News & Politics
November 6, 2018
Meet the Women Whose Persistence Made Texas A&M Change Its Sexual Assault Policies
The university implemented sweeping changes after members of Twelfth Woman and others went public with their experiences.
News & Politics
October 31, 2018
As Demolition Begins on Schlitterbahn’s Verrückt Waterslide, Jeff Henry Faces Unrelated Felony Charges
Two years after the death of a ten-year-old boy on the ride, the waterslide is finally being removed.
True Crime
October 27, 2018
The Hero of the Sutherland Springs Shooting Is Still Reckoning With What Happened That Day
One year ago, after Stephen Willeford disrupted the mass murder at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, he was hailed as the ultimate good guy with a gun, but he's still reckoning with what happened that day—and what his life has become.