True Crime Reporter

Follow Investigative Reporter Robert Riggs into the darkest corners of the criminal mind.

True Crime Reporter is a news podcast hosted by Robert Riggs, with 130 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Robert Riggs hosts True Crime Reporter, a news show with 130 episodes published.

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  True Crime Reporter

  The Sadistic 764 Online Blood Cult Blackmails Girls Into Self-Mutilation

  Sep 1, 202614 min

  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 unnecessary graphic detail while explaining the danger and how families can respond. Subscribe to my “Stories To Keep You Safe” Newsletter In a world where evil often walks among us, disguised by the ordinary, vigilance is critical. As someone who has seen what happens when people are caught off guard, I am on a mission to provide you with the knowledge that could one day save your life. Stories to Keep You Safe arms you with the insights you won’t find in the daily news—because I know that criminals don’t always look dangerous, and every step you take could make the difference between being a target and staying safe. I also warn you about the latest threats from Artificial Intelligence and dangerous products. Purchase my Books “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook . It downloads into your podcast app. Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon. This blood-chilling true-crime anthology peels back the curtain on some of Texas’s most disturbing and unforgettable criminal cases. From cold-blooded murder to unspeakable betrayal, each story dives deep into the hearts of both victims and perpetrators, unearthing the truths buried beneath public headlines and official accounts. Schedule Me To Speak at your social meeting or corporate event. My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers, infamous criminals, cold cases, and personal safety tips.

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  True Crime Reporter

  Game of Drones – Iran’s Threat Choking The World’s Oil Lifeline

  Apr 28, 202635 min

  by Robert Riggs 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. During my thirty years in television news, I saw the human cost of that shadow war up close.  I covered the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, where 241 American service members were killed in 1983.  Federal court records have described Hezbollah as the perpetrator and Iran as a source of political, financial, and operational support tied to the attack. I was an embedded reporter during the invasion of Iraq, where American troops faced roadside bombs and armor-piercing explosives supplied or supported by Iranian networks. In more than a dozen attacks, Iran has killed Americans without putting Iranian soldiers in the fight.  It used terror groups, militias, mines, missiles, and now drones.  When a regime uses proxies to kill Americans and destabilize the world, that is not merely geopolitics. It is state-sponsored crime. The world is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water off Iran’s coast where the global oil supply and American military power now face one of the most dangerous choke points on earth. To help understand what this conflict means now, I turned to retired Army Colonel John Antal , a 30-year veteran soldier, historian, leadership expert, and best-selling author.  Antal is here to help us see the battlefield clearly. Timeline of Iranian or Iranian-backed Attacks on U.S. Military Personnel PLEASE SUPPORT MY WORK Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook . It downloads into your podcast app. Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon. Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event. My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips. Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State. GET YOUR EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT PROMO CODES 41% Off Cozy Earth Sheets, Pajamas and More 20% Off Eric Javits Designer Hats Worn by True Crime TV Detectives 20% Off HyperNatural Men’s Polo Shirts 15% Off TONA Activewear Designer Gym Leggings 15% Off STAND+ Comfort Shoes For Extended Standing 10% Off AKILA Sunglasses and Eyewear

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  True Crime Reporter

  Armed Forces Radio DJ Wounded And Hunted Behind Enemy Lines In Vietnam

  Apr 21, 202647 min

  By Robert Riggs Armed Forces Radio Spc John Bagwell Evades Capture During The 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam – Recreation 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 learned that in 1968, Bagwell escaped from behind enemy lines during a surprise attack dubbed the Tet Offensive.  He was wounded and alone, moving through deadly, unfamiliar territory while trying to avoid enemy fire and, at times, bullets from his own side. His harrowing fight for survival began at a radio station in Vietnam with a scene that could have been lifted straight from a Hollywood movie. See Vietnam Era Photos of Army Disc Jockey John Bagwell Blasting Out Popular Sixties Rock Music To Troops Popular Songs Among Bagwell’s Listeners In Vietnam We Gotta Get Out Of This Place by The Animals Something’s Happening Here by Buffalo Springfield Hue 1968- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam is my favorite book about the Tet Offensive by Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down GET YOUR EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT PROMO CODES 41% Off Cozy Earth Sheets, Pajamas and More 20% Off Eric Javits Designer Hats Worn by True Crime TV Detectives 20% Off HyperNatural Men’s Polo Shirts 15% Off TONA Activewear Designer Gym Leggings 15% Off STAND+ Comfort Shoes For Extended Standing 10% Off AKILA Sunglasses and Eyewear PLEASE SUPPORT MY WORK Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook . It downloads into your podcast app. Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon. Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event. My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips. Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State.

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  True Crime Reporter

  Brotherhood of Brutality Unchecked Fraternity Hazing

  Mar 31, 202628 min

  By Robert Riggs 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 influence of mind-bending drugs he was forced to take.  If you are sending a son or daughter off to college, you want to hear this story about Brothers of Brutality.  Get The Facts About Hazing On Your College Campus at HazingInfo.org University of Texas at Austin Hazing Report Required by the Federal Stop Campus Hazing Act Sawyer Updike Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Sigma Chi Fraternity GET YOUR EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT PROMO CODES 41% Off Cozy Earth Sheets, Pajamas and More 20% Off Eric Javits Designer Hats Worn by True Crime TV Detectives 20% Off HyperNatural Men’s Polo Shirts 15% Off TONA Activewear Designer Gym Leggings 15% Off STAND+ Comfort Shoes For Extended Standing 10% Off AKILA Sunglasses and Eyewear PLEASE SUPPORT MY WORK Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook . It downloads into your podcast app. Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon. Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event. My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips. Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State.

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  True Crime Reporter

  JigSaw & Jane 13 Years of Murder & Mayhem with Badge Number One

  Nov 11, 202519 min

  By Robert Riggs LAPD Homicide Detective John St. John aka “JigSaw John” Badge #1 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.  The result is “ JigSaw and Jane: Thirteen Years of Murder & Mayhem with Badge Number One .”  St.John empathized with crime victims because he was one of them. As a young jailer, a prisoner ambushed him with an iron bar ripped from a bunk. The prisoner savagely beat St. John to the brink of death, leaving him blind in one eye. In another life, JigSaw and Jane would have barely noticed each other in a supermarket aisle.  Instead, they found themselves peering into crime scenes of LA’s most brutal and sensational crimes together. This is their story . PLEASE SUPPORT MY WORK Click here to purchase my “Texas Crime Stories” audiobook . It downloads into your podcast app. Click here to purchase the Paperback & Kindle editions on Amazon. Schedule me to speak at your social meeting or corporate event. My presentation, “Evil Walks Among Us,” features stories about serial killers and notorious criminals and personal safety tips. Step into the storied halls of the Texas Prison Museum and uncover the gripping tales of infamous inmates, daring escapes, and the history of justice in the Lone Star State. GET YOUR EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT PROMO CODES 41% Off Cozy Earth Sheets, Pajamas and More 20% Off Eric Javits Designer Hats Worn by True Crime TV Detectives 20% Off HyperNatural Men’s Polo Shirts 15% Off TONA Activewear Designer Gym Leggings 15% Off STAND+ Comfort Shoes For Extended Standing 10% Off AKILA Sunglasses and Eyewear

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