On June 13, 1983, the bodies of Jerry Dean and Deborah Thornton were found horrifically beaten to death with a pickaxe. Seventeen days later, Danny Garret and Karla Faye Tucker were arrested for the double homicide. After Tucker becomes a born-again Christian in prison, she launches a campaign for clemency that sets off an international debate about redemption and the death penalty. 

This week we delve into a turf war between jocks and punk teens in Amarillo that ultimately resulted in the death of 19-year-old Brian Deneke. We discuss whether the punishment fit the crime as wells as how important image can be during a murder trial. 

In May of 2013 three letters contaminated with ricin were mailed to President Barack Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Michael Glaze, the director of the nonprofit organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns. An actress named Shannon Guess Richardson stepped forward to accuse her husband of being involved, but the true story may not be so simple. 

On September 15, 1999 the Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth was celebrating its Wednesday night youth service after a nationwide See You at the Pole Rally in remembrance of the Columbine shooting. A man entered the church and opened fire, killing seven people, mostly children. The shooting would have a lasting effect on political discourse about gun violence and on Texas legislation. 

On January 1, 2008, Amina and Sarah Said were murdered by the one man supposed to protect them- their own father. Yaser Abdel Said is still at large. Listen as Erin describes this heartbreaking case from Irving, Texas and the current efforts to bring Said to justice. 

On Friday, February 4, 1983, 24-year-old Wanda Jean Lopez was fatally stabbed during her night shift at the Sigmor Shamrock gas station in south Corpus Christi. Witnesses postively identified a man, Carlos DeLuna, who was found hiding in the area, as Wanda's killer. He was ultimately arrested, convicted, and executed for murder. But DeLuna always claimed innocence, pointing to another mysterious man as the killer. Was DeLuna fabricating his story or had he been telling the truth the entire time?

In this special episode, Shea takes us through the history of the Texas Rangers, the most specialized and unique statewide law enforcement agency in the country. We'll learn how Rangers' roles have evolved from their dark inception in the early 1800s to their place today as an elite police force. The episode ends with two stories where Texas Rangers saved the day. 

On December 27, 1993, Latricia White was found murdered in her home. The main suspect, her boyfriend Lee "Dub" Wackerhagen, and his son Chance have not been seen since. Did Lee commit murder, kidnap his son, and go into hiding? Or is it possible that Lee and Chance were also victims of foul play?

On February 20, 2015, Jose Mendoza was shot and killed at his favorite fishing spot. Mendoza was a husband, father, and popular hip-hop artist from Corpus Christi who went by the name Flatline. The killer admitted to shooting Flatline but claimed the act was in self-defense. It has been 4 years since Flatline's death and his friends and family are still wondering what actually happened that fateful night. 

Thinking he was about to land his dream job, Gary Patterson traveled from his hometown of Waco to El Paso for a job interview...and then disappeared. Shea takes us from the west Texas desert to the coast of Honduras on this wild ride to find out what happened to Gary.