Crime
333 stories
Trials and Errors »
Over the past two decades Texas has exonerated more than eighty wrongfully convicted prisoners. How does this happen? Can anything be done to stop it? We assembled a group of experts (a police chief, a state senator, a judge, a prosecutor, a district attorney, and an exoneree) to find out.
June 2012 Moderated by Michael Hall and Jake Silverstein
Hannah’s Prayer »
Five years ago, Hannah Overton, a church-going Corpus Christi mother of five, was convicted of murdering her soon-to-be adoptive child and sentenced to life in prison. In April, she returned to court—and watched her lawyers put the prosecution on defense.
June 2012 by Pamela Colloff
Lights, Camera, Carthage! »
Nearly fifteen years after Richard Linklater and I started talking about turning a TEXAS MONTHLY story into a major motion picture, it’s finally hitting the big screen, with a little help from Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine—and a seventy-year-old retired hairdresser from Rusk named Kay Baby Epperson.
May 2012 by Skip Hollandsworth
Justice in Time »
Fifteen years after being released from death row, Kerry Max Cook is still looking for freedom.
April 2012 by Michael Hall
A Q&A With Skip Hollandsworth »
The executive editor on Jeffrey and Yvonne Stern and their murder-for-hire story, hit men, and the standard male midlife crisis.
February 2012 by Ariel Min
Sex, Lies, and Hit Men! »
Yvonne Stern knows that her husband, the wealthy Houston attorney Jeffrey Stern, had a steamy affair with a woman named Michelle Gaiser. And she knows full well that two years ago Gaiser hired a series of men to kill her. But she refuses to believe that Jeffrey was in on the plan.
February 2012 by Skip Hollandsworth
About a Boy
Larry and Hannah Overton had a family of their own when they decided to adopt a little boy named Andrew Burd who had been attending their church. He quickly became an integral part of their lives, bonding with his new foster parents and siblings. Then one day in 2006 he mysteriously died of salt poisoning. Hannah was found guilty of killing him and sent to prison for life. She steadfastly proclaims her innocence, and Larry and the kids pray for the day when their mom will be able to come home.
January 2012
A Q&A With Pamela Colloff »
The executive editor on writing about wrongful conviction cases, interviewing Hannah Overton in prison, and recognizing that things may not be as they seem.
January 2012 Interview by Stephanie Kuo
Hannah and Andrew »
On October 3, 2006, a four-year-old boy named Andrew Burd died in a Corpus Christi hospital. The cause of death was determined to be salt poisoning, an extremely unusual occurrence. Even more shocking was what happened next: his foster mother was found guilty of killing him. But could she really have done what the prosecutors say?
January 2012 by Pamela Colloff
Courtroom Drama »
Some of the biggest murder trials have happened in Texas, from proceedings against serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Charles Harrelson to housewives Darlie Routier and Candy Montgomery. Find out what TEXAS MONTHLY had to say about some of the most infamous Texans who were tried for murder.
January 2012
Peggy Railey »
The wife of a prominent Dallas minister, who was left for dead some 24 years ago in her garage, finally dies after spending years in a nursing home in Tyler.
January 2012
A Q&A With Skip Hollandsworth »
The executive editor on writing about prostitutes, working with detectives, and recreating scenes.
December 2011 Interview by Stephanie Kuo
“If the Serial Killer Gets Us, He Gets Us” »
Houston police had all but given up looking into a pair of assaults against two prostitutes. But when a third turned up dead, a young investigator embarked on a search that revealed a brutal reality.
December 2011 by Skip Hollandsworth
The Sex Files
Images and newspaper clippings from a case involving a series of brutal assaults on prostitutes in a decaying Houston neighborhood. No one knew just how difficult the case would be to solve.
December 2011
Unsolved Mystery »
It has been twenty years since four teenage girls were murdered in a north Austin yogurt shop—and still no answers.
December 2011 by Michael Hall
An Update to the Mary Eula Sears Case »
The convicted killer of a prominent Abilene resident is set to be released.
November 2011 by Michael Hall
Special Condition Z Blocks Wayne East’s Release »
Abilene law enforcement officials don’t want the convicted murderer back in their part of the state.
November 2011 by Michael Hall
Who Killed Mary Eula Sears? »
In 1982 a man named Wayne East was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of one of Abilene’s most prominent citizens. To this day, he maintains his innocence. And one member of the victim’s family believes him.
November 2011 by Michael Hall
A Q&A With Michael Hall »
The senior editor on writing about Mary Eula Sears, talking to relatives of the deceased, and dealing with sensitive issues.
November 2011 Interview by Stephanie Kuo
Non-Prophet »
When Warren Jeffs fired his attorneys and decided to represent himself in his sexual assault trial, many predicted, accurately, that he would fail miserably. Few realized just what a wild show he would put on.
October 2011 by Katy Vine
Incriminating Documents »
A peek at the internal FLDS documents that the state used to convict Warren Jeffs.
October 2011 by Katy Vine
The Missing »
For the women of Juárez, the terror of kidnapping—and worse—has never ended. Will it ever?
September 2011 by Cecilia Ballí
Big D-Vide »
Another South Dallas politician is under investigation for corruption. Why can’t the city seem to change its script?
September 2011 by Brian D. Sweany
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