Crime

February 1, 1997

Guarded

Private prisons lock out the press.

By Joe Holley

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.

Texas History|

January 1, 1997

Bonnie and Clyde

To whom were Bonnie and Clyde really married, and whose saxophone was found in their car?

By Anne Dingus

Mike Benny illustration of the Killer Cadets.

December 1, 1996

The Killer Cadets

David Graham and Diane Zamora were intelligent, young, and in love. And they shared a secret: They had brutally murdered Adrianne Jones.

November 1, 1996

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.

By Jim Atkinson

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.

By Jim Atkinson

September 30, 1996

Tough Love Story

How tough should our response to juvenile crime be? No less tough than it is now—but no tougher either.

Texas History|

August 31, 1996

A Whitman Sampler

Thirty years later, the legacy of Charles Whitman’s shooting spree at the University of Texas still towers above us.

By Joe Holley

August 31, 1996

Media Circus • Michael Irvin

Drugstore Cowboy.

The Stand Up Desk|

June 30, 1996

Skip, a Beat

JUST AS HE WAS FINISHING up “Poisoning Daddy”, his tale of a Fort Worth teenager who killed her father, senior editor Skip Hollandsworth set out to interview the sibling models featured on this month’s Face page. As it happened, one of the sisters, Wende Parks, had been

By Evan Smith

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.

Politics & Policy|

April 1, 1996

Goat or Hero?

How clueless is Congressman Steve Stockman? Plus: Life, death, and race in East Texas.

By Texas Monthly

April 1, 1996

The High Times of Gerry Goldstein

Texas’ top drug lawyer helps dope dealers and cocaine kingpins beat their raps—and he’s proud of it.

By Mimi Swartz

Being Texan|

March 1, 1996

Big Feud at Cadillac Ranch

Since the day Stanley Marsh 3 finally went too far and locked up George Whittenburg’s son in a chicken coop, all of Amarillo has been abuzz about the bizarre battle between these intractable foes.

February 1, 1996

Does DaRoyce Mosley Deserve to Die?

A young black man with a spotless record is facing a controversial death sentence for the murder of four whites. An East Texas town remains divided.

January 1, 1996

Rush to Justice

Kim Wozencraft meant to spend her life putting drug pushers behind bars—until she became an addict. Now, more than a decade later, she’s fighting against the justice system she once embraced.

By Keith Kachtick

January 1, 1996

Drag.net

When futuristic felons invade their midst, Austin’s computer firms know whom to call: the city’s high-tech police unit, which is building its reputation chip by chip.

By Carol Flake

January 1, 1996

The Public Hell of Bob Carreiro

A daughter’s gruesome murder became a grieving father’s dark crusade to find her killer and thrust him into an ever-widening spotlight as an advocate for victims of violent crime.

By Mimi Swartz

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.

Politics & Policy|

December 1, 1995

Fighting Back

Inspired by th O.J.Simpson case, Texas has taken the lead in fighting domestic violence.

By Helen Thorpe

Selena fans celebrating Yolanda Saldivar's arrest.

Music|

December 1, 1995

The Sweet Song of Justice

The verdict is in, but a complete account of what went on in the Selena murder trial hasn’t come out—until now.

By Joe Nick Patoski

August 1, 1995

Hush, Little Baby, Don’t You Cry

Eleven years after the death of her youngest daughter, Tanya Reid sits in an Amarillo prison. Is she a murderess, or has she been railroaded by overzealous prosecutors?

April 30, 1995

“I Shot to Kill”

When burglars targeted my Dallas business for repreated break-ins, I felt violated—and I fought back.

By David McCormick

Politics & Policy|

April 30, 1995

Fear and Loading

At the state capitol, where talk of concealed weapons consumes us still, emotion is winning the day.

Business|

April 30, 1995

Are Texans Gun Crazy?

During the first week of April, as the Legislature considered the case for concealed weapons, Texas mourned the consequences of two gun-related tragedies in Corpus Christi: the murder of Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla Perez and the shooting of five workers at a refinery inspection company by a disgruntled

By Gary Cartwright, Robert Draper and David McCormick

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.

By Alex Hecht

December 1, 1994

The Sheriff Who Went to Pot

Brig Marmolejo may have been convicted of bribery, but he is more than just another crooked cop in South Texas. His is the story of borders easily crossed—the ageless parable of the Rio Grande Valley.

November 1, 1994

The Seduction of Jane Doe

When a teacher romances a student, are school officials to blame? That’s the crux of a case that began in the small town of Taylor and ended up in the U.S. Supreme court.

September 30, 1994

“We Get All Hyped Up. We Do a Drive-by.”

Gangs, guns, and getting in trouble are a way of life for too many teenagers in San Antonio’s projects.

By Audrey Duff

man with shady expression looking out car window, face partially obscured

July 31, 1994

The Capital Call Girls

The shocking story of Austin’s underworld, and how a state bureaucrat got in too deep.

June 1, 1994

Defending Their Lives

Tired of constantly feeling threatened, these Houstonians won’t be caught with their guard down.

By Robert Ziebell

June 1, 1993

One Last Shot

Decades after his family controlled Galveston’s liquor and gambling, 89-year-old Vic Maceo is clinging to his gangster past—and to his pistol.

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.

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.

September 30, 1992

The Meanest Divorce

When Chuck Smith kidnapped his own small boys to keep them from his estranged wife, a simple divorce case turned into an international family feud.

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.

July 31, 1992

A System Gone Bad

Kenneth McDuff is just one among hundreds of violent criminals who never should have been paroled—but they were.

Frank Wilks, rumored to run a satanic cult, sitting on the bed where Terrie Trosper died.

June 30, 1992

Possessed by the Devil

The way two mysterious deaths affected the town of Childress says a lot about the lure of satanism and the power of gossip.

Crime|

April 30, 1992

Pet Project

You think you have a bad job? Every day, animal abuse investigators see things that shouldn’t happen to a dog.

By Jim Shahin

Richard and Nancy Lyon before the murder.

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.

By Gayle Golden

April 1, 1992

Other People’s Money

A man with big ambitions, Paul Rush bought his way into San Antonio society. Too bad the money he spent wasn’t his.

By Kathy Lowry

February 1, 1992

The Ranger Bandit

Steve Benifiel was an old-fashioned outlaw who practically owned the town of Ranger—until he was busted for running one of West Texas’s biggest drug rings.

Books|

February 1, 1992

The Real Education of Little Tree

An Alabama Klansman posing as a folksy Texas novelist almost pulled off the literary hoax of the century.

By Dana Rubin

November 1, 1991

Blood in the Streets

Blood in the Streets. Houstonians and homicide detectives struggle to cope with a deadly crime wave.

By Mimi Swartz

September 30, 1991

Benny and the Boys

Sure, they were gangsters, but they were our gangsters.

July 31, 1991

The Afrin Affair

A tale of rivalry, intrigue, and foul play in the science lab.

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.