Before cartel violence dominated headlines, a powerful criminal empire was operating in plain sight along the Texas-Mexico border.

In this episode of Crude Acts, we examine the rise of the Chagra brothers—Jimmy, Joe, and Lee Chagra—whose world of drug trafficking, gambling, wealth, and influence made them some of the most notorious figures in Texas crime history.

Their empire collided with the federal government when U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr., known for handing down harsh sentences in narcotics cases, became a target. On May 29, 1979, Judge Wood was ambushed and murdered outside his San Antonio home in what would become the first assassination of a federal judge in the United States during the twentieth century.

The investigation uncovered a web of organized crime stretching from Texas to Las Vegas and ultimately led to one of the most infamous names connected to the case: Charles Harrelson—the convicted hitman and father of actor Woody Harrelson.

Drawing from Gary Cartwright’s landmark book Dirty Dealing, this episode explores a story of power, greed, corruption, and murder that reads more like a Hollywood screenplay than real life. Yet every part of it happened in Texas.

If you’ve never heard of the Chagras, you’re not alone. But their story helped shape modern federal law enforcement and remains one of the most extraordinary true crime cases in American history.

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In This Episode

* The rise of the Chagra brothers

* Drug trafficking on the Texas-Mexico border

* The murder of Judge John H. Wood Jr.

* The first assassination of a federal judge in the twentieth century

* Charles Harrelson and his connection to the case

* Woody Harrelson’s father’s criminal past

* Organized crime, gambling, and political influence

* The federal investigation that exposed a criminal empire

* The legacy of Dirty Dealing

In 1976, a gunman walked through the largest privately-owned home in the United States and shot four people. Two of them died. The man charged was T. Cullen Davis — heir to a Texas oil fortune, one of the wealthiest men in America, and by every account, a man who believed the rules did not apply to him.

What followed were two of the most expensive, most watched, and most controversial murder trials in Texas history. He was acquitted both times.

Gary Cartwright’s Blood Will Tell is the book. This episode is the reckoning.

Crude Acts is a Texas true crime podcast covering cases drawn from nonfiction books. Season 4: Murder in Print.

Houston true crime. A contract killing. A rigged trial. And the most dangerous defense attorney in Texas.

In 1968, Alan Berg — a Houston carpet salesman — was lured to the parking lot of the Brass Jug on Sin Alley, forced into a car, and murdered for hire. His body was found six months later in a cedar grove off County Road 257 between Surfside and Galveston, clad in one shoe, a coat, trousers and a belt. He was 31 years old.

Charles Harrelson — the contract killer who would later assassinate a federal judge — pulled the trigger for $1,500. Percy Foreman, the most feared criminal defense attorney in America, represented both Harrelson and the man who allegedly ordered the hit. The eyewitness was Sandra Sue Attaway, who had worked at Houston's Cork Club — the same private club where Ash Robinson drank and Joan Robinson Hill was a regular. Foreman destroyed her testimony with a single legal argument. Both men walked free.

This week on Crude Acts, we're covering David Berg's memoir Run Brother Run — the book Berg spent forty years waiting to write about his brother Alan's murder, the 1970 Angleton trial, DA Ogden Bass, and the Houston organized crime infrastructure that made all of it possible.

If you've been following our Blood and Money deep dive this season, this episode is the connective tissue. Same lawyers. Same city. One year apart.

Key names: Alan Berg, Charles Harrelson, Percy Foreman, Racehorse Haynes, Sandra Sue Attaway, Frank DiMaria, Nathan Berg, Robert Leonard, Dennis Weadock, Crawford Booth, Ogden Bass

Key locations: Brass Jug Club Houston, Sin Alley Houston, Cork Club Shamrock Hotel, Imperial Carpets Montrose, Surfside Island, Brazoria County, Angleton Texas

Crude Acts is a Texas true crime podcast covering organized crime, corruption, and the cases that shaped the Gulf Coast. New episodes every week.

Crude Acts digs into Thomas Thompson’s landmark true crime book Blood and Money, the 1976 bestseller that shocked Texas. Host Jen Schaffer investigates the Joan Robinson Hill case: a suspicious death, a grieving father with dangerous connections, and a story Houston’s elite tried to bury. New episodes every [day].

Houston true crime | Texas cold case | true crime podcast | Blood and Money | Joan Robinson Hill | Ash Robinson | Thomas Thompson | true crime history

True Crime deep dive into Dean Corll and his connections to a wider crime Syndicate is wrapped up in this episode.

Next season will be out soon!!

Epstein files illegal activity is nothing new. Our examination of the Syndicate proves it. In this episode we talk about Serial Killer Dean Corll's victim Jeff Konen on our search to find proof of whether or not the Candyman was apart of something bigger.

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Epstein files illegal activity is nothing new. Our examination of the Syndicate proves it. In this episode we talk about Serial Killer Dean Corll's victim Jeff Konen on our search to find proof of whether or not the Candyman was apart of something bigger. 

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The true crime genre has been diving deep into the world of sex trafficking and discovering it has lineages, that it existed well before Epstein and his associates. Serial Killer Dean Corll's victims in relation to the discussion of The Syndicate and sex trafficking and adjacent industries are talked about in this episode. 

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In this episode of Crude Acts, host Jen Schaffer uncovers the disturbing story of Houston music producer Roy C. Ames—a man whose career in Texas blues and R&B masked a massive child-exploitation network operating in the shadows of the 1960s and 1970s. Jen follows Ames’ early ties to Dean Corll, the FBI investigations he escaped, and the shocking warehouses filled with tons of illegal material that revealed the scale of his trafficking enterprise.

Jen also exposes the darker side of Houston’s music scene through figures connected to Ames, including producer Huey P. Meaux, repeatedly tied to the abuse of minors, and Charlie Booth, who used industry access to transport vulnerable teens. Their stories reveal how the music business, organized crime, and institutional neglect enabled predators to operate for decades.

Part 4 of The Syndicate highlights the hidden networks behind the Houston Mass Murders and shows how power, money, and influence shielded dangerous men from accountability. As Jen unravels these connections, she sets the stage for Part 5, where she will examine the victims of Dean Corll and the theories linking him to the broader trafficking operation.

A must-listen for fans of true crime, Texas history, and investigations into systemic abuse and cover-ups.

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Check out our website
www.crudeacts.com

See videos of the content on our YouTube channel
@CrudeActs

Support the show by clicking
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1935432/support

Send us a text

This is a Texas True Crime case that goes beyond time and place. Before Epstein there were men sex trafficking throughout the US and some believe serial Killer Dean Corll was apart of it. 

This is the syndicate part 3 of our deep dive into the seedy underworld. 

Support the show

Check out our website
www.crudeacts.com

See videos of the content on our YouTube channel
@CrudeActs

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