True Crime Reporter

By Robert RiggsTrue Crime Government History

Favorites
249
Followers
Typical duration
27 min
per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

True Crime Reporter episodes

June 06, 2023 Unveiling Manipulation: Lies Used to Take Advantage of the Innocent
Do you know someone who speaks with a forked tongue?
Do text messages warn you that your streaming account has a billing issue or an unpaid customs charge on a package?

Those are just some of the latest scams criminals use to fleece you.

Hello, I’m Robert Riggs with a story from inside the crime scene tape where people bleed money.

Lies designed to cheat you or break your heart thrive on the Internet.

The truth is in short supply.

In this episode of True Crime Reporter®, I want to arm you with some tools to protect yourself from the flood of falsehoods.
Fellow reporter Dr. Seema Yasmin is here to help you find the truth in all the noise.

Dr. Yasmin, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, is the author of “What The Fact.”
In closing, here’s my reporter’s recap and reflections.

Finding the truth can be challenging in a society where trust is eroding. However, there are several strategies that individuals can employ to navigate the sea of misinformation and regain a sense of trust in their interpersonal relationships.

Verify information from multiple reliable sources.

Develop critical thinking skills.

Check for supporting evidence.

And when trying to get to the bottom of the truth in relationships…start with respectful dialogue.

You’ve been listening to the True Crime Reporter Podcast®: Stay True. Stay Safe. And Stay Tuned for more stories from inside the crime scene tape.
We want to become your favorite true crime podcast. Please leave a review wherever you listen.
Join our true crime community and follow us here.
The True Crime Reporter® podcast features stories about serial killers, mass murderers, murder mysteries, homicides, cold cases, prisons, violent criminals, serial rapists, child abductors, child molesters, kidnappers, bank robbers, cyber criminals, and assorted violent criminals.
True Crime Reporter® is a @2023 copyrighted and trade-marked production by True Crime Reporter®, LLC, in Dallas, Texas.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
32 min
May 30, 2023 Texas Justice Prevails: Texas Deputy Steve January Arrested Killers For 34 Years
Steve January, the Chief Deputy of the McLennan County Sheriff in Waco, Texas, was a lawman cut from denim of the old west.
Hundreds of officers recently paid their last respects to January, whose life was not cut short by a bullet from his many face-offs with killers but by cancer.
I’m Robert Riggs with a story about an officer who fought many a round seeking justice inside the crime scene tape.
Steve and I were last pictured together holding up a barrel racing jacket given to the Sheriff’s office by Nicole Sheridan, the wife of Taylor Sheridan.
Yes. Taylor Sheridan, The creator of Yellowstone, a true-life Texas cowboy, and cousin of January’s boss Sheriff Parnell McNamara.
I met McNamara and January in May 2022 to discuss their cold case unit.
In honor of Steve’s memory, I am rebroadcasting the episode.
After hearing the original, many of you commented that you wished you had a pair of straight-talking, no-nonsense Texas lawmen like January and McNamara watching over your community.
Their motto is “Riding Herd On The Lawless.”
And they are about as Texas as you can get.
In closing, here’s my reporter’s recap and reflections.
Steve January was a lawman who would not quit when trying to find justice for the victims of crime.
He stood up the cold case unit to solve cases once considered unsolvable.
That was Steve, and the law-abiding citizens of Central Texas will miss him.
You’ve been listening to the True Crime Reporter Podcast: Stay True. Stay Safe. And Stay Tuned for more stories from inside the crime scene tape.
This is Robert Riggs Reporting.
We want to become your favorite true crime podcast. Please leave a review wherever you listen.
Join our true crime community and follow us here.
The True Crime Reporter® podcast features stories about serial killers, mass murderers, murder mysteries, homicides, cold cases, prisons, violent criminals, serial rapists, child abductors, child molesters, kidnappers, bank robbers, cyber criminals, and assorted violent criminals.
True Crime Reporter® is a @2023 copyrighted and trade-marked production by True Crime Reporter®, LLC, in Dallas, Texas.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
32 min
May 23, 2023 Fearless In The Face Of Murder: Unstoppable Detective Johnny Bonds
God forbid if I ever was murdered, I would want Johnny Bonds on the case.
His name sounds like a film noir detective. Johnny Bonds is the stuff true crime legends are made of.
In 1972, he became the youngest officer ever assigned to the elite homicide division in Houston, Texas.
He had a sixth sense of how to approach people or investigations.
He relentlessly hunted down killers and challenged powerful politicians who got in the way of justice.
Bonds became known as “The Cop Who Wouldn’t Quit” for relentlessly pursuing the contract killers who murdered a Houston couple and their baby for life insurance benefits.
The brutality of the case and the cold-blooded nature of their killers shocked Houston residents in 1979.
If Bonds had not bucked politics and fearlessly challenged a faulty murder-suicide ruling by the powerful medical examiner at the time, the killers would have gotten away with murder.
Former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes said of Bonds. "He kept looking for the truth when others gave up."
In this episode of the True Crime Reporter® podcast, I sat down with Holmes to discuss the highlights of his 40-year career in law enforcement.
We go inside the crime scene tape to discuss the motives of murder.
~ 476 text Fearless In The Face Of Murder: The Unstoppable Johnny Bonds
~ 479 text May 23, 2023 － In this episode, Riggs sat down with Holmes to discuss the highlights of the legendary homicide detective's 40-year career.
~ 483 text entry area (settable) SEO title, Value: Fearless In The Face Of Murder: The Unstoppable Johnny Bonds
~ 484 text Fearless In The Face Of Murder: The Unstoppable Johnny Bonds
~ 486 text field (settable) Slug, Value: fearless-in-the-face-of-murder-unstoppable-detective-johnny-bonds
~ 489 text entry area (settable) Meta description, Value: In this episode, Riggs sat down with Holmes to discuss the highlights of the legendary homicide detective's 40-year career.
~ 490 text In this episode, Riggs sat down with Holmes to discuss the highlights of the legendary homicide detective's 40-year career.
+ 516 text https://media.blubrry.com/truecrimereporter/ins.blubrry.com/truecrimereporter/068_TCR.mp3
+ 517 image Checking Media
~ 573 pop up button (disabled) Open save panel
+ 574 text Fearless In The Face Of Murder: The Unstoppable Johnny Bonds
~ 314 tab (selected, settable, boolean) Value: on, Edit Show “Fearless In The Face Of Murder: Unstoppable Detective Johnny Bonds” ‹ True Crime Reporter® — WordPress
The focused UI element is 333 HTML content URL: truecrimereporter.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2259&action=edit, Edit Show “Fearless In The Face Of Murder: Unstoppable Detective Johnny Bonds” ‹ True Crime Reporter® — WordPres
33 min
May 23, 2023 Fearless In The Face Of Murder Unstoppable Detective Johnny Bonds
God forbid if I ever was murdered, I would want Johnny Bonds on the case.
His name sounds like a film noir detective. Johnny Bonds is the stuff true crime legends are made of.
In 1972, he became the youngest officer ever assigned to the elite homicide division in Houston, Texas.
He had a sixth sense of how to approach people or investigations.
He relentlessly hunted down killers and challenged powerful politicians who got in the way of justice.
Bonds became known as “The Cop Who Wouldn’t Quit” for relentlessly pursuing the contract killers who murdered a Houston couple and their baby for life insurance benefits.
The brutality of the case and the cold-blooded nature of their killers shocked Houston residents in 1979.
If Bonds had not bucked politics and fearlessly challenged a faulty murder-suicide ruling by the powerful medical examiner at the time, the killers would have gotten away with murder.
Former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes said of Bonds. "He kept looking for the truth when others gave up."
In this episode of the True Crime Reporter® podcast, I sat down with Holmes to discuss the highlights of his 40-year career in law enforcement.
We go inside the crime scene tape to discuss the motives of murder.
We want to become your favorite true crime podcast. Please leave a review wherever you listen.
Join our true crime community and follow us here.
The True Crime Reporter® podcast features stories about serial killers, mass murderers, murder mysteries, homicides, cold cases, prisons, violent criminals, serial rapists, child abductors, child molesters, kidnappers, bank robbers, cyber criminals, and assorted violent criminals.
True Crime Reporter® is a @2023 copyrighted and trade-marked production by True Crime Reporter®, LLC, in Dallas, Texas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
28 min
May 16, 2023 She Lived Next Door To America's Most Infamous Killer: The UNABOMBER
Before, there was Osama bin Laden. Before, there was Timothy McVeigh. There was Ted Kaczynski. The UNABOMBER. FBI codename for “UNiversity and Airline BOMBER.”
For sixteen years, Jamie Gehring grew up next door to Ted Kaczynski. She never had a clue that the man who appeared to be a harmless hermit was one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th Century.
Hello. I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs here to ask you a chilling question from inside the crime scene tape. Do any of us really know our neighbor?
Ted Kaczynski mailed and hand-delivered homemade bombs to people at scientific universities, airlines, and businesses for what he believed was their role in the over-industrialization of society and the destruction of nature.
The former Berkley math professor, a certified genius who entered Harvard at age 15, terrorized America for seventeen years between 1978 and 1995.
The FBI called Kaczynski a twisted genius.
He killed three people and injured 23, claiming limbs and eyesight, leaving many with permanent emotional and physical scars.
Residents of tiny remote Lincoln, Montana, thought Kaczynski was an oddball, cranky loner. He lived off the grid in a remote mountain cabin 10 feet by 12 feet. No running water. No electricity.
It was a primitive bomb-making factory. Kaczynski handcrafted bombs from scrap materials that were impossible to trace. He called the bombings experiments.
He smelled foul. His hair was unruly, uncombed, and dirty. No one could imagine that he was the anonymous author of a 35-thousand word manifesto sent to the New York Times and Washington Post in1995 threatening more bombings if it was not published.
Until then, it was the cold case of all cold cases. It gave the FBI a big break. When it hit the press, Kaczynski’s brother and sister-in-law spotted similar semantic railings in letters written to them by their estranged relative, and they contacted the FBI.
For 16 years, Jamie Gehring lived next door to this serial killer and wanted domestic terrorists. Her late father, “Butch,” helped the FBI to find his cabin and to lure him outside.
She has written a deeply researched book, Madman in the Woods: Life Next Door to the UNABOMBER. Here’s our interview.
True Crime Reporter® Website With UNABOMBER PHOTOS
We want to become your favorite true crime podcast. Please leave a review wherever you listen.
Join our true crime community and follow us here.
The True Crime Reporter® podcast features stories about serial killers, mass murderers, murder mysteries, homicides, cold cases, prisons, violent criminals, serial rapists, child abductors, child molesters, kidnappers, bank robbers, cyber criminals, and assorted violent criminals.
True Crime Reporter® is a @2023 copyrighted and trade-marked production by True Crime Reporter®, LLC, in Dallas, Texas.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
42 min
May 15, 2023 She Lived Next Door To America’s Most Infamous Killer: The UNABOMBER
Before, there was Osama bin Laden. Before, there was Timothy McVeigh. There was Ted Kaczynski. The UNABOMBER. FBI codename for “UNiversity and Airline BOMBER.”
For sixteen years, Jamie Gehring grew up next door to Ted Kaczynski. She never had a clue that the man who appeared to be a harmless hermit was one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th Century.
Hello. I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs here to ask you a chilling question from inside the crime scene tape. Do any of us really know our neighbor?
Homemade Metal Shrapnel
Ted Kaczynski mailed and hand-delivered homemade bombs to people at scientific universities, airlines, and businesses for what he believed was their role in the over-industrialization of society and the destruction of nature.
The former Berkley math professor, a certified genius who entered Harvard at age 15, terrorized America for seventeen years between 1978 and 1995.
The FBI called Kaczynski a twisted genius.
He killed three people and injured 23, claiming limbs and eyesight, leaving many with permanent emotional and physical scars.
Residents of tiny remote Lincoln, Montana, thought Kaczynski was an oddball, cranky loner. He lived off the grid in a remote mountain cabin 10 feet by 12 feet. No running water. No electricity.
It was a primitive bomb-making factory. Kaczynski handcrafted bombs from scrap materials that were impossible to trace. He called the bombings experiments.
He smelled foul. His hair was unruly, uncombed, and dirty. No one could imagine that he was the anonymous author of a 35-thousand word manifesto sent to the New York Times and Washington Post in1995 threatening more bombings if it was not published.
Until then, it was the cold case of all cold cases. It gave the FBI a big break. When it hit the press, Kaczynski’s brother and sister-in-law spotted similar semantic railings in letters written to them by their estranged relative, and they contacted the FBI.
FBI agents Tom McDaniel and Max Noel arrest Ted Kaczynski aka The UNABOMBER
For 16 years, Jamie Gehring lived next door to this serial killer and wanted domestic terrorists. Her late father, “Butch,” helped the FBI to find his cabin and to lure him outside.
Baby Jamie Gehring with her parents Tammie and Butch
She has written a deeply researched book entitled, Madman in the Woods: Life Next Door to the UNABOMBER. Here’s our interview.
Photos: A look back at The UNABOMBER'S Arrest in Montana
Photos: A look inside The UNABOMBER'S Montana Cabin
47 min
May 09, 2023 How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice
This is the third episode in my series about how new DNA technology solves previously unsolvable cold cases. It’s called FGG -- Forensic Genetic Genealogy.
I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs taking you inside the crime scene case into how the first use of forensic genetic genealogy in Dallas County, Texas, caught a serial rapist responsible for over 50 victims.
76-year-old David Thomas Hawkins - Serial Rapist - Serving Life Sentence - Michael Maximum Security Prison - Texas
75-year-old David Thomas Hawkins of Fort Worth, Texas, left a trail of victims along his truck route for at least ten years.
The investigation by the office of District Attorney John Creuzot was made possible by a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative federal grant known as SAKI.
Leighton D'Antoni -- Cold Case Prosecutor Dallas County
You will learn more about SAKI in this episode from cold case prosecutor Leighton D'Antoni who is solving cases once thought to be unsolvable.
D'Antoni is on the cutting edge of using sophisticated DNA technology that stems from research on the human genome project to solve murders and sexual assault cases.
You Can Reach D'Antoni at: [email protected]
~ 476 text How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice
~ 479 text May 9, 2023 － Serial Rapist David Hawkins of Fort Worth Confessed to Upwards of 50 Sexual Assaults across three states. Tech used to catch the Golden State Killer ...
~ 483 text entry area (settable) SEO title, Value: How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice
~ 484 text How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice
~ 486 text field (settable) Slug
~ 489 text entry area (settable) Meta description, Value: Serial Rapist David Hawkins of Fort Worth Confessed to Upwards of 50 Sexual Assaults across three states. Tech used to catch the Golden State Killer caught him.
~ 490 text Serial Rapist David Hawkins of Fort Worth Confessed to Upwards of 50 Sexual Assaults across three states. Tech used to catch the Golden State Killer caught him.
~ 516 text https://media.blubrry.com/truecrimereporter/ins.blubrry.com/truecrimereporter/066_TCR.mp3
~ 573 pop up button (disabled) Open save panel
+ 574 text How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice
~ 314 tab (selected, settable, boolean) Value: on, Edit Show “How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice” ‹ True Crime Reporter® — WordPress
The focused UI element is 333 HTML content URL: truecrimereporter.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2235&action=edit, Edit Show “How DNA Forensic Genetic Genealogy Brought A Monster To Justice” ‹ True Crime Reporter® — WordPres
45 min
May 08, 2023 Solving The Toughest Cold Case Murders With Forensic Genetic Genealogy
The Golden State Killer got away with 12 murders, 50 rapes, and more than 100 burglaries for over forty years before being caught.
DNA evidence from his crime scenes never matched DNA samples in the FBI’s CODIS databases because he had never been arrested for murder or rape.
Eventually, investigators uploaded the profile to genealogy sites and identified a relative on the killer’s family tree.
It led to the conviction of James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer.
I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs from inside the crime scene tape reporting how DNA analysis, called Forensic Genetic Genealogy, also known as FGG, is solving cold cases once thought unsolvable.
You can learn more about the Golden State Killer case in my episode titled How Cold Case Investigator Paul Holes Unmasked The Golden State Killer, dated April 25th 2022.
In my second episode about Forensic DNA, Dr. Suzanne Bell, who served on the National Commission of Forensic Science (NCFS), returns with more insight on the subject.
She coauthored Understanding Forensic DNA and emphasizes that DNA does not solve cases by itself. DNA results are always part of an extensive investigation.
At the end of our interview, Dr. Bell also provides advice on how to get into forensic science. It’s attracting large numbers of women.
Here’s our discussion about forensic genetic genealogy.
27 min
May 02, 2023 Solving The Toughest Cold Case Murders With Forensic Genetic Genealogy
The Golden State Killer got away with 12 murders, 50 rapes, and more than 100 burglaries for over forty years before being caught.
DNA evidence from his crime scenes never matched DNA samples in the FBI’s CODIS databases because he had never been arrested for murder or rape.
Eventually, investigators uploaded the profile to genealogy sites and identified a relative on the killer’s family tree.
It led to the conviction of James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer.
I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs from inside the crime scene tape reporting how DNA analysis, called Forensic Genetic Genealogy, also known as FGG, is solving cold cases once thought unsolvable.
You can learn more about the Golden State Killer case in my episode titled How Cold Case Investigator Paul Holes Unmasked The Golden State Killer, dated April 25th of 2022.
In this my second episode about Forensic DNA, Dr. Suzanne Bell, who served on the National Commission of Forensic Science (NCFS), returns with more insight on the subject.
She coauthored Understanding Forensic DNA and emphasizes that DNA does not solve cases by itself. DNA results are always part of an extensive investigation.
At the end of our interview, Dr. Bell also provides advice on how to get into forensic science. It’s attracting large numbers of women.
Here’s our discussion about forensic genetic genealogy.
We want to become your favorite true crime podcast. Please leave a review wherever you listen.
Join our true crime community and follow us here.
The True Crime Reporter® podcast features stories about serial killers, mass murderers, murder mysteries, homicides, cold cases, prisons, violent criminals, serial rapists, child abductors, child molesters, kidnappers, bank robbers, cyber criminals, and assorted violent criminals.
True Crime Reporter® is a @2023 copyrighted and trade-marked production by True Crime Reporter®, LLC, in Dallas, Texas.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
22 min
April 25, 2023 The Power of Forensic DNA: Bringing Killers and Sexual Predators to Justice
Sitting across the desk from a DNA profiler, she told me that I was leaving a trail of cells in her office that would lead back to me, especially if I committed a crime there.
The rapid advancement of science and technology makes DNA evidence
a powerful investigative tool for catching killers and rapists, solving cold cases, identifying missing persons, and clearing the innocent.
I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs here to take you inside the crime scene tape to look at how DNA plays a central role in the judicial system.
The first use of DNA typing for a criminal investigation occurred in 1986 in England. DNA evidence identified the killer of two 15-year-old girls and cleared an innocent, mentally challenged suspect who had confessed to one of the murders.
Police conducted a DNA dragnet by collecting thousands of samples from men in the village around the crime scenes.
I recommend watching Code of a Killer to learn more. It’s a three-part British police drama television series that tells the true story of the case, and I have placed a link to a story in the Guardian about the case.
DNA analysis has come a long way since then.
To bring us up to date, I asked Dr. Suzanne Bell to take me back to biology and chemistry class to help me understand the advances in science and technology.
Dr. Bell is an Emeritus Professor and Chair of the Department of Forensic and Investigative Sciences at West Virginia University.
She coauthored Understanding Forensic DNA with John M. Butler.
This is the first of a two-part interview series with Dr. Bell.
25 min