True Crime Reporter

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Stop The Killing – How To End The Mass Shooting Crisis Jun 24, 2022

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Katherine Schweit headed up the FBI’s active shooter program, where she authored the bureau’s landmark research about mass shootings and how to respond best to save lives. In the wake of the massacre of children and their teachers in Uvalde, Texas, school safety weighs heavily on the minds of teachers and students’ families. In this episode of True Crime Reporter®, investigative reporter Robert Riggs and Schweit discuss why the number of mass shootings is spiking to the point that some parents are afraid to send their children to school. Riggs is no stranger to this tragic subject. In October of 1991, he covered the mass shooting at a crowded Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. A lone gunman crashed his pickup truck through the front door of the restaurant. He proceeded to murder 23 people with two semi-automatic pistols before killing himself when confronted by police. It was the mother of all mass killings in America, marking the start of an epidemic. In September of 1999, Riggs covered the mass shooting at the Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth and produced a profile of the mass killer with the assistance of retired profilers from the FBI. Riggs covered so many “critical incidents” in his reporting career that he was asked to serve on a study panel hosted by the Critical Incident Analysis Group at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 2000. The public university was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819. The panel was assembled to study Threats To Symbols Of American Democracy. It included the FBI case agent for the Columbine shootings and its high school principal. The report prophetically predicted the future targets of the 9-11 hijackers. Unfortunately, the report apparently fell on deaf ears at the top echelon of national security. When it comes to mass killings, Riggs has been there. He looked mass killer Doug Feldman in the eye during an hour-long interview on Texas Death Row. The episode is Interview With The Mass Killer Known As The Terminator. None of it made the slightest bit of sense to Riggs. Feldman warned Riggs at the beginning that his motives would not make sense to anybody but himself. The shootings are only getting worse. Especially when children are slaughtered. Katherine Schweit No one understands this epidemic better than Katharine Schweit, who spent 20 years with the FBI as a Special Agent Executive and U.S. prosecutor. In the years after the massacre of 20 school children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in New Town, Connecticut in December of 2012, the FBI spent more than 30 million dollars teaching police how to persistently pursue efforts to neutralize a shooter even if only one officer is present. Yet, police in Uvalde, Texas, waited 78 minutes before confronting the gunman at Robb Elementary School. The Texas Department of Public Safety Director called it the “wrong decision, period.” The murders reflect a disturbing pattern. Six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the United States since 2018 were committed by men who were 21 or younger. Who is doing this? Why are they doing it? Can we tell when it will happen? How can we intervene? Do our children need to go to school in fortresses? Katharine Schweit answers some of those questions in her book Stop The Killing – How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis. SHOW LINKS Katherine Schweit | Stop the Killing FBI Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the U.S. 2000-2013 Active Shooter Resources Katherine Schweit | Stop the Killing Podcast

She Butchered Her Sons And Took A Nap. She Was Freed To Kill. Jun 13, 2022

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For many years, Texas had a law and order image. Politicians campaigned for office about getting tough on crime. A gubernatorial candidate’s TV ads featured actors wearing black and white overalls swinging sledgehammers in the prison yard. His voice-over pledged to teach youthful criminals “the joy of busing rocks.” Texas ran a revolving-door prison system. Lawmakers passed tougher laws but refused to spend money to build prisons to hold more convicted criminals. The public did not know about this until I exposed how serial killer Kenneth McDuff was released on parole with hundreds more violent offenders. You can learn more about McDuff by listening to our recent episode titled The Broomstick Killer or watching our Freed To Kill streaming television documentary on Fox Nation. The episode you are about to hear illustrates how Texas turned loose monsters. And I mean monsters. I warn you it is a graphic story about a mother who dismembered her two boys and later walked out of that revolving door.

Rev Matt Baker – The Sinister Minister Who Almost Got Away With Murder May 30, 2022

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Matt Baker, the charismatic Baptist minister who almost got away with murdering his wife is among our most popular episodes. On his way to the pulpit in Waco, Texas, Baker molested numerous young women. An investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, revealed that church leaders covered up sexual assaults by hundreds of pastors like Matt Bakers for twenty years. A seven-month investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions released in May of 2022 found that sex-abusing pastors were often passed along to other churches with no notice or warnings. Two top officials of the Southern Baptist Convention kept their private list of abusive pastors for ten years. And the list of 703 abusers may soon become public. We expect Matt Baker to be on that list. Former U.S. prosecutor Bill Johnston, the cohost of the True Crime Reporter® Podcast, unraveled a trail of sex abuse complaints about Matt Baker during his murder investigation. Johnston and investigative reporter Robert Riggs update their original episode, The Minister Who Almost Got Away With Murder, published on October 18th, 2021. Johnston reveals how his murder investigation discovered that Matt Baker’slong history of sexual abuse allegations had been swept under the rug for years. Riggs discusses the mindset of sexual predators based on his experience of reporting from inside the Texas prison system. Link to Investigation of Sexual Abuse Allegations At Southern Baptist Convention

Jail House Romances: Why Do Women Fall In Love With Serial Killers? May 23, 2022

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Can you imagine yourself falling in love with a serial killer or murderer to the point you will give up your family, career, and even your life for them? A veteran Alabama jail officer, Vicky White, did just that in April of 2022 when she staged a getaway with a capital murder suspect. The 56-year-old White had an unblemished record. She was on her last day of work before retirement. Her colleagues had just voted her Corrections Employee of the Year for a fifth time before she went on the run. At first, the Lauderdale County Sheriff in Florence, Alabama, thought White had been kidnapped when she disappeared with a 36-year-old Casey White, no relation. 56-year-old Vicky White But White had been involved in a two-year-long jailhouse romance with a career violent criminal named Casey White, no relation to her. He certainly didn’t have fashion model looks. Casey White, a 300-pound, muscular, burr-headed 6 foot 9, heavily tattooed inmate, was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for murder and other charges from a terrifying rampage. Confederate Flag Tatoo Signifies Casey White's Membership In Racist Prison Gang He had a large image of a Confederate flag tattooed on his back with the words Southern Pride connected by a chain to the image of a pit bulldog. It signified his membership in a white racist prison gang called the Southern Brotherhood, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. The tattooed sleeve covering his right arm featured large SS symbols favored by neo-Nazi gangs Casey White was awaiting trial for stabbing 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway to death in her apartment. It had been a cold case for five years until White suddenly confessed in a letter to investigators. He later pleaded not guilty because of mental disease and was awaiting trial in the Lauderdale County Jail. But was his confession a ploy to get back to the jail to see Vicky White, its supervisor? According to the convicted felon's mother, Casey White called the jailer his wife, and she visited his son and grandson and even gave them Christmas presents. Vicky White gave a phony cover story when she took the capital murder suspect out of jail, claiming it was for a mental health examination. A week earlier, she sold her house for 95 thousand dollars, far below market value, sold her car, and applied for retirement. She also bought an AR-15 rifle, a shotgun, men’s clothes, and sex toys. Vicky White had been making dry runs to escape the jail with Casey White handcuffed and wearing a jail-issued jumpsuit in the backseat of her patrol car. The couple’s getaway came to a deadly end in Indiana when U.S. Marshals rammed their Cadillac during a high-speed chase. Marshals pulled Vicky White out of the wreckage, still gripping the handgun that she used to kill herself. So what could she have possibly seen in a violent felon to throw her life away? Investigative reporter Robert Riggs searches for answers in this episode of the True Crime Reporter® Podcast. He interviews John Moriarty, the former Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inspector General. You may recall from our earlier episodes about serial killer Kenneth McDuff that Moriarty was an undercover prison investigator who played a significant role in catching McDuff. The tough-talking transplanted Irish cop from New York also tricked McDuff into revealing the location of the body of one of his victims before he was executed. Moriarty is also featured in the opening of the promo about our five-part documentary news series about McDuff titled Freed To Kill on Fox Nation Streaming. The stories of women and men falling in love with killers may sound like pulp fiction, but it is all too common inside jails and prisons.

The Greatest Escape From Texas Death Row Since Bonnie & Clyde May 23, 2022

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In this vintage photo 1993, Peabody Award-Winning Investigative Reporter Robert Riggs stands on a guard tower overlooking Texas Death Row. Poking up behind him to the right of the large spotlight is the steeple of the prison, the chapel, where seven condemned prisoners made their daring break for freedom five years later. 29-year Martin Gurule, a cold-blooded killer from Corpus Christi in South Texas, made it over the prison’s fence on a foggy Thanksgiving night under a hail of rifle fire from guard towers. The last time condemned killers had broken out of prison in Texas was in 1934, when two members of the notorious Bonnie and Clyde gang made a daring escape. Prison guards were killed by machine gunfire. That set off a manhunt led by legendary Texas Ranger Frank Hammer that ended in the deadly ambush of Bonnie and Clyde. Sixty-four years later, hundreds of officers scoured thousands of acres around the Ellis Prison Unit near Huntsville, Texas, looking for Martin Gurule. Robert Riggs was there until the very end. In this episode of the True Crime Reporter® Podcast, Riggs dusts off an old reporter’s notebook about this sensational escape from Texas Death Row. Click Here To See The List Of Crimes That Constitute Capital Murder in Texas

Prison Inmate Sued Because His Rice Krispies Did Not Snap, Crackle, Pop May 09, 2022

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Frivolous lawsuits filed by convicted criminals flooded the federal court system in Texas. A prison inmate who regarded himself as the "Perry Mason" of the Texas prison sued for millions of dollars because his Thanksgiving Turkey was served cold. Another sued because his Rice Krispies Cereal did not Snap, Crackle, or Pop as advertised.

Sheriff Parnell McNamara Rides Herd On The Lawless Solving Cold Cases May 03, 2022

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Sheriff Parnell McNamara promised his constituents in McLennan County, Texas around Waco that he would actively pursue cold cases. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara & Reporter Robert Riggs McNamara was elected for a third four-year term in January 2021. He has made good on his campaign pledge to open up long-forgotten homicide cases. Because as McNamara sees it, no one should get away with murder, and the victim’s family deserves to know what happened. U.S. Marshall Guy McNamara 1933 (on right) Guy McNamara Constable 1907 (seated) The McNamara clan started in law enforcement in 1902 with Guy McNamara, who President Franklin Roosevelt later appointed as a U.S. Marshal in 1933. Deputy U.S. Marshal Mike McNamara, Serial Killer Kenneth McDuff, Deputy U.S. Marshal Parnell McNamara You may recall from our earlier episodes about serial killer Kenneth McDuff that it was the brothers, Deputy U.S. Marshals Parnell and Mike McNamara, that launched the manhunt for McDuff with former U.S. prosecutor Bill Johnston. L-R Deputy U.S. Marshal Mike McNamara, Federal Prosecutor Bill Johnston, Deputy U.S. Marshal Parnell McNamara with Big Foot After 36 years with the U.S. Marshals Service, Parnell McNamara reached the mandatory retirement age. He retired for nine years but was unwilling to be put out to pasture, as they say here in Texas. Sheriff Parnell McNamara Holds 50 Calibre "Tommy Gun" He was elected Sheriff in 2011 on a campaign slogan of “Riding Herd on the Lawless.” McNamara, wearing his trademark Stetson cowboy hat, is a throwback to the old West. rThe western historical decor in his office looks like a modern-day Dodge City occupied by Wyatt Earp. L-R Capt Steve January, Robert Riggs & Seiler Burr of True Crime Reporter™, Sheriff Parnell McNamara I sat down to talk to Sheriff McNamara and the Captain of his cold case unit, Steve January. They started by giving me a challenge coin for the unit. It features the “Dead Man’s Hand In Poker”, the combination of cards that “Wild Bill” Hickok was holding when he was shot dead point-blank in the back of the head. Wild Bill Hickok Monument at Deadwood, South Dakota Like I said, this is the old west where McNamara still forms a posse to hunt down fugitives. And one more thing. McNamara inspired Jeff Bridge’s role in Come Hell or High Water, which was written by his cousin Taylor Sheridan, best known now for Yellowstone. Robert Riggs & Captain Steve January Display Nicole Sheridan's Yellowstone Hoodie She Wore When Presenting A Generous Donation to the McLennan County Sheriff's Cold Case Unit Saddle up your horse. Here’s my interview with Sheriff Parnell McNamara from inside the crime scene tape. If you wish to contribute to Sheriff McNamara's Cold Case Unit, send it to: McLennan County Sheriff's Office Attn: Cold Case Unit 901 Washington Ave, Waco, TX 76701

How Cold Case Investigator Paul Holes Unmasked The Golden State Killer Apr 25, 2022

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Cold case investigator Paul Holes played a major role in ending a decades-long reign of terror by The Golden State Killer. First known as The East Area Rapist, a masked psychological sadist assaulted 50 women in Northern California between 1976 and 1979. He progressed from burglaries to vicious sexual assaults in the middle of the night to bludgeoning his victims to death. Along the way, he called 911 to taunt the police. Suddenly it seemed he had disappeared. But he had moved to a new hunting ground in Southern California, where he murdered 13 people and became known as the Original Night Stalker. And then in 1986, it stopped. In 2011, DNA testing revealed that the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker were one in the same man. True crime writer Michelle McNamara gave the elusive criminal the “Golden State Killer.” McNamara, the wife of comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, became obsessed with the long-abandoned cold case for six years, focusing attention on it until her untimely death. Enter investigator Paul Holes. Holes talked with Robert about his newly released book, Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases. They discuss the “Golden State Killer”, notorious cases in Texas, and breakthroughs in forensic genealogy.

Death Row Interview With The Mass Killer Known As The “Terminator” Apr 18, 2022

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Doug Feldman’s resume gave no clue that a mass killer was lurking inside him. He graduated from a prestigious university, was a financial wizard, and was the funniest man in the room at social functions. Everything appeared to be going his way. But beneath Feldman's calm exterior, a volcano was swelling inside him. First, there were tremors. Then, a deadly eruption against random strangers. Security Camera Footage of Mass Killer Doug Feldman Riding A Harley As He Randomly Guns Down A Gasoline Tank Truck Driver Crime Scene Where A Tank Truck Driver Was Randomly Murdered by Mass Killer Doug Feldman Feldman cruised around Dallas on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, randomly shooting truck drivers to death. His reasons for the murders are beyond comprehension. A month after Feldman was sentenced to die in the Texas death chamber, he sat down to talk with investigative reporter Robert Riggs. It is a rare glimpse into the mind of a mass killer because they usually take their own lives at the end of their rampage. Mass Killer Doug Feldman Interviewed by Robert Riggs On Texas Death Row At the beginning of the interview, Feldman told Riggs that most of what he had to say would not make any sense. And he was right.

The High School Gang That Graduated To Cold-Blooded Murder Apr 15, 2022

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Gun-wielding gang members from Houston burst into a rural bank located a hundred miles north of Houston. The high school-age teenagers graduated from burglaries and drive-by shootings to cold-blooded murders that day. They left behind the bullet-riddled body of an 82-year-old woman who was tending her family’s graves. They robbed a bank and shot up the small town while making their getaway. They pistol-whipped a deputy sheriff and used his gun to shoot a Texas State Trooper. Investigative reporter Robert Riggs covered the murder, and former U.S. prosecutor Bill Johnston sent them to prison. They are back with another story inside the crime scene tape about the execution of the sweet elderly lady known as Miss Ruby.

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