True Crime Reporter

Imagine getting a video text message from your bank’s manager asking for your password.

You recognize her face. You hear her voice. She’s looking right at you.

But there’s one problem.

It’s not really your bank manager. 

It’s a criminal using artificial intelligence to look like her and steal your money.

AI has given criminals the power to impersonate almost anyone. 

They can clone voices, produce convincing videos, and create elaborate scams that are nearly impossible to distinguish from reality.

And now, aut...

After a nine-hour conversation, an AI Chatbot convinced a 17-year-old girl that she was living in a simulated world. 

A world like the one depicted in the 1999 Sci-fi film The Matrix, where a computer programmer discovers that everyday reality is actually a machine-made creation designed to enslave humanity.

She questioned whether life was worth living.

Dallas therapist Alexandra Tracy counseled the young woman.

It is a case of what is unofficially called AI psychosis, and it is not uncommon.

This is another edition of True Crime Reporter®. I’m Robe...

A predator succeeds by convincing a child that secrecy is the only safe choice.

The child may fear losing a phone, a game, a group of friends, or a parent’s trust.

That fear is not a side effect of exploitation. It is part of the strategy.

I have been digging into FBI reports.

In this episode, I examine how sextortion can begin inside an online game, why gifts and private chats matter in context, and how artificial intelligence has made false images another weapon.

Most importantly, I explain ho...

An online terror group called 764 seeks a badge of honor by getting teenage girls to live-stream mutilation of their bodies and, worse, killing themselves as its members watched with glee. 

FBI investigations report cases in which vulnerable preteen and teenage girls were blackmailed into carving the initials of 764 members into their skin.

It is a status symbol called “Blood Content” inside what the FBI calls online domestic terror networks. 

The blood trail of suffering starts in Texas.

Content note: This episode discusses child exploitation, self-harm, animal cruelty, and suicide. It avoids unnece...

Real human connection is becoming harder to recognize in a world increasingly shaped by AI-generated content.

Former FBI counterintelligence agent Robin Dreeke returns to the podcast to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: who or what should we trust?

From the rise of AI personalities and artificial empathy to the subtle ways criminals manipulate human behavior, Dreeke explains how the principles he used in the world of spies apply to everyday life.

We also discuss the updated edition of his bestselling book, It’s Not All About Me: The To...

This episode is about the standoff with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and the threat of its drone attack to the global economy.

And I know what some of you may be wondering.

What does Iran have to do with the True Crime Reporter® podcast?

My answer is simple.

For more than forty years, the Iranian regime has been linked to the killing of Americans, sometimes directly, sometimes through proxies, and often with little lasting consequence.

This is not an abstract foreign policy debate for me.

D...

As I watched the daring rescue of the two airmen shot down over Iran in early April of 2026, I found myself thinking of John Bagwell.

John’s story is not a true-crime saga you’d expect to hear on this podcast, but it is gripping, timely, and no less dramatic.

I learned about his military service when he wore a Purple Heart ribbon to a search engine marketing group meeting here in Dallas many years ago.

John had never talked about his time in the Vietnam War, and we were surprised.

We l...

Burned with lit cigarettes. Impaled with a fishhook. Staples fired into his hip. Deadly drugs forced up his nose. 

It sounds like a brutal regime’s methods from a torture chamber.

But these are the homegrown means of hazing that the Alpha Nu Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity allegedly used on pledges at the University of Texas at Austin.

The sadistic practices detailed in a wrongful death lawsuit raise questions about whether fraternity members derive pleasure from inflicting pain.

It allegedly caused 18-year-old Sawyer Updike to end his life under the...

Legendary LAPD Homicide Detective John St. John walked among the dead for nearly a half-century.

Known as “JigSaw John,” he pursued monsters that had an insatiable appetite for blood and suffering.

Jane Howatt, a suburban housewife and aspiring writer, wanted to trade her tennis racket for something more meaningful.

St. John didn’t need company, and he sure didn’t want a young unpublished author in his way. 

But something about Howatt’s curiosity—earnest, unspoiled, insistent—broke down his guard.

St. John worked the evidence; Howatt worked the story. 

This isn’t the kind of story I usually tell.

The police didn’t converge on the scene with sirens blaring and guns drawn.

But what happened inside a Dallas apartment complex was just as devastating and just as unforgivable as a cold-blooded murder.

In 2015, a silent killer slipped into the home of two young children. Not through malice, but through neglect, greed, and a rusted furnace exhaust pipe no one wanted to fix. 

The carbon monoxide gas that leaked out of it took their minds, leaving them permanently brain-damaged, trapp...

Most predators don’t pounce—they pick. They observe. They wait. And they choose the person who looks the easiest to catch. In this episode, you’ll learn how to make sure you’re not the one they choose. From FBI profilers to a former producer for CBS 48 Hours, I’ll walk you through the red flags predators look for and how to shut them down before they ever get a chance.  This isn't about paranoia. It's about awareness. And once you know what to look for, you’ll make it very difficult to be chosen. Because survival starts before the crime eve...

The Story of 200 Forgotten Murder Victims They were daughters. Mothers. Sisters. Strangers. Their lives ended violently—and their names were lost to time. For more than half a century, Detroit’s forgotten dead lay buried beneath weeds and silence—unidentified murder victims dumped into paupers' graves, sometimes stacked in vaults three-deep, known only by numbers in crumbling cemetery logs. No names. No justice. No answers. This is the remarkable five-year journey of a team of relentless female investigators who pledged to identify more than 200 victims of Detroit’s outstanding murder cases. Led by Detroit Police Detective Shannon Jones and FBI Special...

Unsolved Murder of Jim Grimes Haunts Quiet Tennessee Town A bold reward offers ONE MILLION DOLLARS to solve a cold case murder mystery. Since the $25 million bounty on Osama bin Laden, few rewards have reached this level—yet a grieving widow in rural Tennessee is offering $1 million of her own money to find her husband’s killer. A single shotgun blast shattered the life of a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. Sixty-three-year-old Jim Grimes was ambushed while tending animals on his peaceful property on April 19, 2021. No witnesses. No forensic evidence. Just shadows and silence. Who knew Jim's routine? Who knew thei...

Alcatraz shut its cell doors more than 60 years ago, but its grip on the American imagination hasn’t loosened. Each year, nearly a million and a half tourists ride the ferry across San Francisco Bay, through cold, choppy waters, to walk the crumbling corridors of the most infamous prison in U.S. history.  Visitors today frequently cite the desire to see the cellblocks that once confined legendary outlaws, Notorious gangsters such as Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert “Birdman” Stroud were inmates here, cementing Alcatraz’s image as the end of the line for incorrigible criminal offenders. I’ve included a l...

You Just Thought Your Home Was Safe You lock your doors at night. You check on your kids.  But what if the real threat is already inside—hiding in your phone, your smart TV, or your child's video game chat?  In this episode of True Crime Reporter®, former federal probation officer Art Bowker takes us into the digital battlefield unfolding inside your home. Bowker’s book Surviving a Cyberattack: Securing Social Media and Protecting Your Home warns how predators groom teenagers with flattery, how romance scammers bleed retirees dry, and how artificial intelligence is being weaponized to impersonate loved ones. Bowker...

A Former 48 Hours Producer Reveals the Psychology and Power Behind the Genre When the curtain drops on everyday life, true crime shows like this podcast and especially those on television expose the darkest side of humanity. Television relentlessly chases the latest trending crimes on police blotters and court dockets. Claire St. Amant pursued those stories in the cutthroat world of prime-time television as a producer for CBS 48 Hours. She also produced segments for 60 Minutes. She’s written a memoir about her experiences, Killer Story: The Truth Behind True Crime Televison. Television executives have known for decades that the audience is ov...

The Godfather. Goodfellas. The Sopranos. Hollywood entertained us with polished fiction—honor among thieves, loyalty bound by blood, men of principle wrapped in tailored suits. But the real mob? It was darker. Colder. Predatory. The smile came first. The knife came after. This is the true story of how FBI Special Agent Mike Campi helped dismantle the Genovese crime family—the oldest, largest, and most insidious of New York’s five Mafia Families. Founded by Charles “Lucky” Luciano in 1931. Consolidated under Vito Genovese in the late 1950s. The family once ruled Manhattan’s west side piers and the Fulton Fish Market on th...

Mobsters Hit Tony Soprano Style Before They Can Testify The JFK assassination files recently released by President Trump shed more light on the secret plot by the CIA to use Mafia gangsters to kill Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Investigative reporter Thomas Maier, the author of Mafia Spies, his book about the unlikely alliance between the CIA and mobsters, is back to discuss the latest revelations. This is the second part of my True Crime Reporter® series about the Mafia Spies. Two Chicago gangsters, Sam Giancana and Johnny Roselli, were central to a Congressional investigation by Senator Frank Church in the m...

The story sounds like something straight out of a spy thriller.  A plot by America’s most feared criminal syndicate and its most secretive intelligence agency to assassinate a foreign leader using poison cigars and other James Bond-inspired schemes.  But this isn’t fiction. This is the true story of how the CIA joined forces with Mafia hitmen to assassinate Fidel Castro. The revelations with ties to the Watergate scandal in the 1970s have fueled conspiracy theories about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  In this episode of True Crime Reporter®, I sit down with fellow investigative reporter Thomas Maier, w...

In this episode, we continue our deep dive with retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke—a man whose job wasn’t just catching spies but recruiting them. Dreeke led the FBI’s elite Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, where he mastered the art of predicting human behavior. He turned foreign operatives into informants—not with force, but with trust.  Now, he’s sharing the same tools that can help you avoid fraud, betrayal, and toxic relationships in everyday life. In part one, we peeled back the curtain on his high-stakes career in counter espionage against Russian operatives in the United States.  Now, in part...

Whether walking through a dimly lit parking lot, meeting someone new, or even evaluating the behavior of people close to you, the ability to read people and size them up could mean the difference between safety and danger. This episode teaches you how to think like an FBI Behavioral Analyst. Robin Dreeke, who headed the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Program, joins me to discuss his framework for predicting human behavior. Dreeke wrote the book, “Sizzling People Up”, based on his years in counterespionage.  His unit was part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit that focuses on violent crime—popularly known as the seria...

Scammers don’t just lurk online—they may be coming straight to your front door. For centuries, con artists have refined their craft, using deception and misdirection to separate victims from their money. But today’s fraudsters have more sophisticated tools than ever before. The worst part? You won’t even realize you’ve been conned until it’s too late. In this episode, I break down the playbook of modern swindlers with Jim Grinstead, veteran newspaperman and host of the Scams and Cons podcast.  Grinstead studies the psychology of deception—and what he’s uncovered should concern us all.

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...

How long would you tolerate thieves breaking into your home to steal your precious jewels? For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been getting away with doing just that by orchestrating the theft of cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property– the crown jewels of the United States economy and its national security. Chinese companies controlled by the CCP have been embedding themselves into the heartland of American business by systematically investing in and buying U.S. companies. It’s not like a bank robbery with alarms going off. It’s a silent crime spree that costs Americans 600 billion dollars a year...

This true crime story is not about a heist pulled off by a notorious bank robber or a cunning scam artist—but an audacious act of bureaucratic theft that spans generations.  It’s an audacious act of bureaucratic theft that spans generations.  Picture this: over $30 billion in matured U.S. savings bonds, investments made with trust and patriotism, are sitting unclaimed.  The rightful heirs, families like mine and maybe even yours, are stonewalled by the very institution that promised to safeguard these assets.  The U.S. Treasury, armed with meticulous records of bondholders, holds fast to those names while demanding impossib...

In the blood-soaked pantheon of Depression-era gangsters, one killer stood apart - not for his height, but for his face.  Witnesses consistently described him as looking like "an angel," with bright blue eyes and features so youthful that bank tellers often mistook him for a teenage messenger boy.  That angelic countenance masked the soul of perhaps the most efficient killer in gangster history.  Baby Face Nelson didn't just rob banks - he hunted FBI agents for sport, kept a list of their license plates, and giggled like a schoolboy while gunning them down.  He was a member of John Dillinger’s gang...

We used to fear sexual predators stalking our neighborhoods, ready to snatch our children off the streets.  We called it “Stranger Danger”. But “Stranger Danger” has moved online with Sextortion schemes on the social media platforms and gaming apps our children use daily.  Organized crime rings now prowl the internet, tricking teenagers into sharing explicit images through these familiar channels.  Once they have those images, the nightmare begins. These criminals blackmail their victims, threatening to expose the photos and videos to friends, family, and the public unless they pay the extortion demand. Fear and shame overwhelm the teenage victims, driving some to sui...

Mike Cox’s name is synonymous with Texas crime reporting.  Cox spent decades covering grisly crimes, working as a police beat reporter and later as the Chief of Media Relations for the Texas Department of Public Safety and authoring books about the Texas Rangers.  His latest book, Getting Away with Murder: Learning from Dateline and Other True Crime Shows, blends his sharp wit with his vast experience in law enforcement, offering readers a tongue-in-cheek take on crime and the often bizarre ways criminals get caught.  As an enterprising police beat reporter for the Austin American Statesman, Mike broke the story about...

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...

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 bec...

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...

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?

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.

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...

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.

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.

If Minneapolis police officers had been wearing body cameras, would it have prevented the excessive force that led to the murder of 46-year-old George Floyd? Dr. Jennifer Matthews says Body-Worn Cameras are reshaping Police-Citizen Interactions, and she believes that it could have made a life-saving difference. Matthews has implemented, managed, and trained more than 3,000 Chicago area law enforcement officers in Body-Worn Camera programs. Matthews shares insights from her PhD dissertation for Walden University on Body-Worn Camera Use and Citizen Behavior During Police- Citizen Encounters.

Sandra Bridewell has fallen from grace in Dallas Society.  Shunned by neighbors and most friends in the posh Highland Park community that is home to oil and real estate barons. In Parts 1 & 2 Beneath the Charm: Unveiling The Black Widow we reveal Bridewell's connection to three mysterious shooting deaths and the stories about them label Sandra, The Black Widow. She flees to the West Coast to escape her scandalous reputation. True Crime author John Leake unveils in his book The Meaning of Malice: On The Trail Of The Black Widow of Highland Park how Sandra Bridewell tries to reinvent herself eventually a...

Dallas Socialite Sandra Bridewell cultivated an image of elegance and vulnerability. In part one of our series, Beneath the Charm: Unveiling The Black Widow, Sandra Bridewell’s first husband’s life tragically ends with his alleged suicide. Was the promising young dentist driven to shoot himself in a fit of depression over the crushing burden of mounting debt from Sandra’s lavish lifestyle? Or was there a sinister motive for murder? True crime author, John Leake continues the story from his book The Meaning Of Malice: On The Trail Of The Black Widow Of Highland Park. Within a year of her hus...

Amidst the sprawling cityscape of Dallas, where power and prosperity intersect with secrets and lies, Sandra Bridewell's story unravels. Bridewell was a beautiful, alluring socialite in the affluent enclave of Highland Park when Dallas was the world’s most popular TV show and the Dallas Cowboys were America’s team.  It is a tale woven with deception, sex, and the dark underbelly of high society in a close-knit community known as the Beverly Hills of the Southwest – Highland Park. Known infamously as "The Black Widow," Sandra's life story reads like a script from a classic thriller, her charm, and beauty masking...