The Torso Murders Part 1: El Paso County

The Torso Murders Part 1: El Paso County

Author: TTC Productions October 20, 2025 Duration: 33:53
In June of 1959, a fisherman on the Rio Grande west of El Paso pulled a black suitcase from the slow, muddy current near Montoya, Texas. Inside was a headless, handless torso — mutilated, skinned, and wrapped in the previous day’s newspaper. Within hours, El Paso County Sheriff Bob Bailey was standing over what he’d later call “the most brutal murder in El Paso history.” What followed was a multi-state investigation that spanned Texas, New Mexico, and beyond — an effort to name the victim and find the sadist who cut him apart.

Over the next weeks, more body parts surfaced downstream and across the desert near Tularosa. Each discovery added a new layer of horror — feet in a sandwich box, organs in a cereal carton, and hands packed in plastic and left in the sand. Every clue pointed to someone who knew anatomy and took their time.

Despite help from the FBI, countless missing-person matches, and even a copycat case a year later in New Mexico, the Rio Grande torso murder remained one of the Southwest’s most chilling mysteries. The body was never identified, the killer never found.

This is Part One of Three of The Torso Murders — a case that haunted El Paso lawmen for years and stretched from the cottonwoods of the Rio Grande to the deserts beneath the Sacramento Mountains.

If you have any information about the 1959 Torso Case, please contact the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at (915) 538-2292.

Sources: The El Paso Times, The El Paso Herald-Post, The Carlsbad Current-Argus, The Albuquerque Journal

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at https://www.gonecold.com

For Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.com

Follow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast 

#ElPaso #ElPasoTX #TX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #ColdCase #Unsolved #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #TrueCrimeObsessed #CrimeDocs #InvestigationDiscovery #PodcastAddict #TrueCrimeFan #CriminalJustice #ForensicFiles

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.

The stories that haunt a community often linger long after the headlines fade, waiting for someone to listen. Gone Cold-Texas True Crime is a podcast dedicated to those unresolved narratives, focusing specifically on the vast and complex landscape of Texas. Each episode delves into a different mystery, from long-unsolved homicides and disappearances that have left families searching for decades to other enigmatic cases that have stubbornly resisted explanation. The sheer size and diverse history of Texas provide a unique backdrop for these investigations, where details can be as sprawling as the state itself. Produced by TTC Productions, this series approaches each case with a focus on the facts and the human stories at their core, avoiding sensationalism in favor of thoughtful examination. When you listen, you’ll hear a detailed recounting of events, often including what is known about the individuals involved and the investigative paths that were followed, all while considering the questions that remain unanswered. This podcast serves as an audio record for cases that deserve renewed attention, exploring the lingering impact on communities and the hope that new information might still emerge. It’s for those drawn to the intricacies of real-life mysteries and the understanding that some of the most compelling stories are those without an ending.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Gone Cold - Texas True Crime
Podcast Episodes
The Disappearance of June Gilkerson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:44
In November 1986, 24-year-old June Carpenter Gilkerson left her Midland home to meet a probationer she supervised at the Midland County Restitution Center. She never returned.Her blue Honda Civic was found abandoned at a…
The Murder of Sonya Wallace [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:21
In February 1999, fifteen-year-old Sonya Christene Wallace left her mother’s home in Rockdale, Texas to walk four blocks to the post office. She left around 5:30 p.m.She never came back.Initially labeled a runaway by loc…
The Murder of Amber Lyn Smith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:08
On the night of January 28, 2006, 28-year-old Amber Lyn Smith was last seen at her home in the 1300 block of Aldama Street in Seguin, Texas. She was gone, but her purse, identification, and vehicle were still there. Her…
The Execution of Henry Gutierrez Jr [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:49
On Christmas Eve 2015, 71-year-old Schertz businessman Henry Manuel Gutierrez, Jr. was found shot multiple times inside his home along FM 3009, near the yard of his company, Bexar Waste. His son discovered him seated in…
The Raccoon Bend Massacre [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:19
On a narrow stretch of School Road in Austin County, Texas, a small turquoise-and-white trailer sat in the middle of the Raccoon Bend oil field, just miles from the Brazos River. It belonged to 86-year-old Will Stetenpoh…
The Killing of Katara Johnson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:35
In August 2004, 21-year-old Katara Deboise Johnson finished her shift as an assistant manager at Taco Bell in Taylor, Texas, and drove home to her mobile home on North Dolan Street. By the following evening, her grandmot…
Amber Hagerman: Epilogue [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:15
In the final installment of the Amber Hagerman series: the Amber Hagerman Taskforce disbands. Detective Jim Ford and Sgt. Mark Simpson follow leads out of state, one that has a connection to Berlin, Germany. Amber’s moth…
Amber Hagerman Part 6: More Bad Men [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:27
In 1999, another abduction rocked North Texas when 6-year-old Opal Jo Jennings was snatched in broad daylight as she played with other children in a field next to her house. The similarities were striking, and police in…
Amber Hagerman Part 5: Bad Men [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:51
The Amber Hagerman Taskforce searched far and wide for suspects. Whether a perpetrator was known, like a Fort Lauderdale, Florida child rapist and killer, or was yet to be apprehended, such as the monster responsible for…
Amber Hagerman Part 4: The Investigation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:07
As the Amber Hagerman Taskforce investigated, they were attempting to leave no stone unturned. Privy to resources not usually readily available to local police jurisdictions, Detectives were utilizing science, mathematic…