Outrageous acts of villainy have slowly drifted out of the national limelight and into the dustbin of Texas history. Consider the uproar over the 1879 shooting of actor Maurice Barrymore in Marshall and the 1949 murder of oil field legend Tex Thornton in Amarillo. The 1909 Coryell County Courthouse massacre committed by a sixteen-year-old girl remains just as shocking today. For the long-suffering associates of repeat offenders like Fort Worth's Flapper Bandit or Temple's International Man of Mystery, notoriety couldn't fade quickly enough. From the lawless days of the frontier to the rise of organized crime, Clay Coppedge sifts through eighteen obscure case files to chart the evolution of crime and punishment in the state.

The finest in true-crime writing from the Lone Star State, from marital murder in the Houston suburbs to bloody battles under the streetlights of Amarillo. For a half century, one magazine has covered crime in Texas like no one else, delving deep into stories that may turn your stomach—but won’t let you turn away. This collection from the archives of Texas Monthly is a high-speed read around Texas, chasing criminals from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, through gated mansions and trailer parks, from 1938 to the twenty-first century. The stories come from some of its most notable writers: · Cecilia Ballí investigates the drug-fueled violence of the border · Pamela Colloff reports on Amarillo’s lethal feud between jocks and punks · Michael Hall revisits the legend of Joe Ball, a saloon owner who allegedly fed his waitresses to pet alligators · Skip Hollandsworth uncovers the computer nerd who became Dallas’s most notorious jewel thief Katy Vine tracks a pair of teenage lesbians inspired by Thelma and Louise, and more

True crime stories from THE DALLAS OBSERVER.

A collection of Texas true crime tales proves that the "Lone Star State" does murder bigger than anyone else, focusing on snipers, malevolent cheerleader moms, and satan worshippers, among other Texas nasties. Original.

Was he his brother's keeper? Robert and Doris Angleton seemed to have the perfect life. Until she was coldly murdered in her own home, shot thirteen times in the head, chest, and abdomen... Suddenly the ideal husband seemed anything but perfect: he was jailed, accused of hiring his older brother, Roger, to kill his wife for money-- possibly as much as $2 million. However, without the crucial eyewitness testimony of Roger-- who soon committed suicide in a Houston jail cell-- the case against Robert rested entirely on circumstantial evidence. But the facts raise more questions than answers... * Doris Angleton-- deeply involved in a secret love affair-- had asked her husband for a divorce, which might have exposed him as a tax-skipping millionaire bookie and favored police informant... * Extensive handwritten and typewritten notes, coupled with a secretly taped conversation between Roger and another man outlining the murder, were found in a briefcase Roger Angleton was carrying when he was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, it was later concluded that the second voice on the tape was not Robert's... * Also in Roger's briefcase: $64,000 in cash, along with a money wrapper with Robert's fingerprint on it... * Ultimately Roger confessed to the murder in his suicide note, exonerating his brother of any guilt... A Texas jury came to one conclusion. Read this fascinating true-crime account of greed, deception, and cold-blooded murder-- and decide for yourself. With eight pages of shocking photos!

This is arresting miscellany is jam-packed with intriguing and enlightening stories, facts, and trivia about all manner of murderers, miscreants, and malcontents. The book reveals incredible tales about criminal gangs around the world, such as the Japanese Yakuza, the L.A. Crips and Bloods, and the Italian Camorra. Plus, there are extensive lists of criminal slang throughout the centuries; an exploration of Russian prison tattoos; a confidence trickster?s lexicon; insights into the world?s most audacious crimes?like the the ft of the Mona Lisa?and quotes from the criminals themselves, and the cops who chased them. Inside are gritty black-and-white illustrations and revealing portraits of some of society?s scariest criminals.

A chronicle of sixteen ruthless killings from Lone Star history and the dirty details that have shocked and bewildered Texans for decades. Texas has long boasted of its iron fist and strict treatment of criminals. Nevertheless, a number of homicidal scoundrels and fiends have slipped through the state’s justice system despite even the best efforts of the legendary Texas Rangers. In 1877, Texas saw its first high-profile murder case with the slaying of a woman in Jefferson and the subsequent “Diamond Bessie” trial. More than a century later, state legislator Price Daniel Jr., was shot in cold blood by his wife at their home in Liberty, TX. True crime writer and historian Bartee Haile unburies these and other stories from Texas’s murderous past. With these stories and more—from senseless roadside murders to political assassinations—discover the seedy underbelly of the Lone Star State’s murderous past.