Texas Monthly True Crime: Stephenville

By Texas Monthly

What's Texas Monthly True Crime: Stephenville about?

From the moment Susan Woods was found dead at home in the summer of 1987, everyone in Stephenville, Texas—including the police—was certain she’d been killed by her estranged husband. That left the real culprit free to prey on others.Best-selling author Bryan Burrough returns to his small-town Texas roots to explore a murder case that went cold for nearly two decades. Only now, after discovering a voice from beyond the grave, can the whole story finally be told—a story about the secrets that got buried, and how some folks in this town helped keep them that way.From the Texas Monthly team behind “Tom Brown’s Body” comes another true story of crime, suspicion, and life in small-town Texas.For more Texas Monthly productions, visit texasmonthly.com/podcasts

4.7

3,494 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

Stephenville | 6. Hatley

07.18.2023

In the series finale, Scott Hatley’s journal tells the story of how he built a new life on the run from police. And when the truth comes out, people in Stephenville must confront how little they knew about the man ...

Texas Monthly True Crime: Stephenville episodes:

07.18.2023 Stephenville \| 6. Hatley In the series finale, Scott Hatley’s journal tells the story of how he built a new life on the run from police. And when the truth comes out, people in Stephenville must confront how little they knew about the man ...
07.11.2023 Stephenville \| 5. Scott Lt. Don Miller discovers the hand-written life story of the man who killed Susan Woods. The murderer, it turns out, wasn't a stranger or an outsider to Stephenville, but a local boy nobody suspected.For more on this and every episode, ...
07.04.2023 Stephenville \| 4. Shannon In 1988, Shannon Myers survived a brutal attack by Joseph Scott Hatley, the man whose fingerprints were also present at the scene of Susan Woods’s murder. Her statement to police—which included his chilling confession—created an opportunity to put Hatley behind ...
06.27.2023 Stephenville \| 3. Don Nearly twenty years after Susan Woods's murder, Stephenville Police Lieutenant Don Miller takes up the case. And with Michael Woods's cooperation, and help from new technology, Don finally makes a break in the case. But what he uncovers raises even ...
06.20.2023 Stephenville \| 2. Michael After Susan Woods was killed, just about everyone in Stephenville—including the police—figured they knew who’d done it. Her estranged husband, Michael Woods, was a long-haired biker who smoked pot and played rock music—a complete misfit in the “Cowboy Capital of ...
06.20.2023 Stephenville \| 1. Susan In the summer of 1987, 30-year-old Susan Woods was living alone in her hometown of Stephenville, Texas, piecing her life back together after being abandoned by her husband. Then, one sweltering July evening, Susan’s father came to check on her. ...
06.13.2023 Stephenville \| Trailer From the moment Susan Woods was found dead at home in the summer of 1987, everyone in Stephenville, Texas—including the police—was certain she’d been killed by her estranged husband.That left the real culprit free to prey on others. In "Stephenville," ...
01.07.2022 Tom Brown's Body \| 9. Another Day in Canadian "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."
10.07.2021 Tom Brown's Body \| An Update from Skip There have finally been a couple of developments in the case. But will they lead to the truth about what happened to Tom?
11.17.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 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."
11.10.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 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."
11.03.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 6. The Thicket "I'm like, 'What 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."
10.27.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 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 cell phone is found.”
10.20.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 4. Lake Marvin Road "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."
10.13.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 3. Evil Has Come to Canadian "Makes you want to go to the church, get on your knees and say a few words, right?
10.06.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 2. Tom's Loop "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."
09.29.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| 1. A Pretty Little Place “Someone is lying. And it’s hard to know who’s lying and who’s not.”
09.14.2020 Tom Brown's Body \| Trailer