True Crime Reporter

True Crime Reporter® presents a story that straddles the line between horror and history. Mike Cox, a veteran police beat reporter and former chief of media relations for the Texas Department of Public Safety, spent his life documenting murder cases and bringing clarity to chaos. 

From unraveling the disturbing confessions of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas to sorting out the facts for the press at the Luby’s Cafeteria massacre, Cox’s career has been one immersed in blood and ink. 

In this episode, we examine one of Cox’s most sensational stories: serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. 

Lucas, a drifter with an off-kilter gaze and a chilling demeanor, shocked the world by confessing to over 600 murders. His admissions sent law enforcement agencies scrambling, but as Mike Cox discovered, the truth was far more elusive.

Join us as we revisit the courtroom where Lucas dropped his bombshell confession, follow Cox’s journey from crime scenes to interviews with Lucas inside prison, and explore the fine line between fact and fiction in one of the most bizarre cases in true crime history.

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Juan David Ortiz, a U.S. Border Patrol supervisor, wore the uniform of a trusted protector. 

But he lived a double life — husband, father, war veteran, and respected agent.

Yet beneath this facade of normalcy lay a monster.

Over the course of twelve days in 2018, Ortiz unleashed his dark urges on the streets of Laredo, Texas, brutally ending the lives of four vulnerable women.

What drove a man like Ortiz to commit such heinous acts?

I explore that question through the eyes of Lyzza Janette, an unlikely observer who dared to confront the killer face-to-face. 

As she unraveled the duality of a man who could be both charming and monstrous, she was left both horrified and fascinated.

This is a story not just about the crimes committed by a trusted Border Patrol Agent but about the thin line between good and evil.

Link To BORDER PATROL SERIAL KILLER: Conversations with JUAN DAVID ORTIZ

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Joe Pulizzi, the Godfather of Content Marketing, takes an audacious leap into crime fiction, delivering a story that is as mesmerizing as it is chilling. 

Set within the haunting confines of a funeral home, “The Will To Die” unravels a dark and twisted narrative brimming with suspense, secrets, and a touch of macabre.

Pulizzi’s protagonist, a marketing professional, finds himself entangled in a web of deceit and danger. He is compelled to uncover the mysteries buried deep within the family-run funeral home he unexpectedly inherits.

Since I grew up in East Texas, I was drawn to Pulizzi’s crime novel because of the real-life case of Bernie Tiede.

The chubby-cheeked mortician befriended the widow of a wealthy oilman at his funeral. 

Bernie became her personal assistant and sole heir to her multi-million dollar estate.

And in 1996, he carried out one of the most bizarre murders in Texas history. 

Pulizzi is on to something by incorporating the morticians and embalmers into his story.

They are typically seen as caretakers of the dead, but their presence confronts the unnerving possibility that death has taken on a new, more sinister dimension within their midst.

JOE PULIZZI – LINKS

“The Will To Die”

“The Content Entrepreneur”

The Orange Effect Foundation – Help children with speech disorders receive the speech therapy and technology they need.

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Read The Story

Chaos erupted inside the impenetrable Walls Unit prison in Huntsville during the scorching Texas summer of July 1974. 

Frederico “Fred” Gomez Carrasco, a notorious drug lord often compared to Pablo Escobar of today, orchestrated a takeover that would become the longest prison siege in U.S. history.

Carrasco, known as “The Mexican Connection,” smuggled guns into the prison and, along with two accomplices, took teachers and librarians hostage. 

For eleven harrowing days, they threatened a massacre if their demands were not met, keeping the nation on edge.

Join me as I explore this gripping saga of desperation, manipulation, and deadly confrontation. 

This is the story of the deadly Huntsville siege, a tale that continues to resonate nearly fifty years later.

READ 50th Anniversary of “11 Days in Hell” – The Deadly Hostage Siege at the Huntsville Prison

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How well do we truly know our friends? Can we discern when they are lying, or even worse, when they might be hiding a deadly secret?

In this episode, I delve into the unsettling story of Fred Roehler, who seemed to embody the perfect father and husband in the idyllic setting of Malibu, California.

However, beneath this facade of a picture-perfect family lies a chilling tale of deception, tragedy, and murder.

Join me as I unravel the mystery that Ivor Davis and his wife Sally, both seasoned journalists, uncovered about their close friend in their book The Devil In My Friend: The Inside Story Of A Malibu Murder.

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John Dillinger was the most famous outlaw of the 1930s—a charming yet elusive bank robber who captured the public’s imagination and fueled an entire genre of crime melodramas during the darkest days of the Great Depression.

His daring escapades, including multiple jailbreaks and bank heists, captivated the nation and earned him the moniker of “Public Enemy Number One” from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Join me as I delve into the life and legacy of John Dillinger, the man behind the myth.

Listen to my earlier episode The John Dillinger Enigma: Did The FBI Really Kill Public Enemy #1?

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The arrival of a mysterious box at a government office in a small Texas town shattered its quiet morning routine. 

Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere turned to chaos as panicked men and women ran screaming from the building into the street. 

They were the targets of a sinister plot designed to kill them all with a powerful pipe bomb in a case of domestic violence.

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In the shadow of Texas’ heartland, a clandestine cult flourished under the guise of dark rituals and methamphetamine production.

Known as the Devil Lovers, this group of middle-aged men and women from prominent Waco families engaged in sinister ceremonies, pledging allegiance to their enigmatic leader, David Russell Zell.

Their twisted journey from occult gatherings to running the state’s largest illicit meth lab in the late 1980s unfolded a tale stranger than fiction.

Join investigative reporter Robert Riggs and former federal prosecutor Bill Johnston as they delve into the spine-chilling case of meth, murder, and malevolence that shocked a community and exposed the terrifying underbelly of human nature.

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Investigative Reporter Robert Riggs dives into the mind of a serial killer with author John David Bethel as we explore his latest novel “Mapping The Night.”

Bethel’s books stand out for their profound basis in real-life cases. 

His fiction and nonfiction offer a unique lens through which to explore the darkest corners of the human mind.

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Genaro “Geno” Ruiz Camacho’s drug empire thrived on violence. 

In the late 1980s in Dallas, he ruled with an iron fist and displayed an almost unimaginable cruelty towards those who crossed his path.

This story is about violence, revenge, and an unrelenting pursuit of justice led by FBI Special Agent Tase Bailey. 

I uncover how Camacho’s brutality shaped one of the most notorious federal investigations in Texas history and how it haunted the investigators for years to come.

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