No Justice for A Texas Cowboy: A $750 Million Elder Abuse Tragedy

No Justice for A Texas Cowboy: A $750 Million Elder Abuse Tragedy

Author: Robert Riggs September 12, 2023 Duration: 38:06

Investigative Reporter Stephen Michaud, among the nation’s best, spent six years unraveling how an iconic ranch was taken from a dying Texas Cowboy.

It’s a sprawling Texas ranch near the border with Mexico where the biggest producing gas well in the United States was struck in 2004.

The ranch and its mineral assets have amassed a 750 Million dollar fortune.  

But, the cowboy who once owned it and his relatives never saw a penny. According to my guest, it’s a case of elder abuse like none other.

Hello. I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs with a longtime friend and fellow investigative journalist Stephen Michaud.

You may recognize his name in the world of true crime. Michaud, in collaboration with Hugh Aynesworth, another giant of investigative journalism, wrote the definitive book about serial killer Ted Bundy in 1983 titled The Only Living Witness.

In 2019, Netflix premiered a four-part documentary, Conversations With A Killer, based on 150 hours of audio recordings of their interviews with Bundy in prison. 

Now Michaud is back with a fascinating look inside South Texas ranching royal families titled Robert’s Story, A Texas Cowboy’s Troubled Life And Horrifying Death

It likely came from these ranches if you ate steak in the 1960s. If you cooked with natural gas in the 2000s, some of it likely came from there. 

Sadly, people close to Texas cowboy Robert East, the sole heir to all of this, allegedly took advantage of his simplicity. He died a lonely death on the iconic ranch.

Here’s our interview.


FOLLOW the True Crime Reporter® Podcast 

SIGN UP FOR my True Crime Newsletter

THANK YOU FOR THE FIVE-STAR REVIEWS ON APPLE Please leave one – it really helps.

TELL ME about a STORY OR SUBJECT  that you want to hear more about


Robert Riggs has spent decades as an investigative reporter, and in True Crime Reporter, he applies that relentless, document-driven approach to the stories that haunt us. This isn't just a retelling of grim headlines; it's a meticulous walk through active case files, historical injustices, and the societal undercurrents that allow crime to flourish. Each episode feels like you're sitting across from Riggs as he lays out his notes, connecting dots between evidence, witness accounts, and the often-overlooked details that change a narrative. You'll hear the tension in the pursuit of truth, the weight of unresolved questions, and the quiet impact on communities and families left in the wake of violence. The podcast moves beyond the sensational to examine the cultural and systemic factors at play, offering a sober, deeply researched perspective. Listen for long-form narratives that build like a detective's board, where every piece of audio, every interview, and every document serves a purpose. It’s for those who want to understand the 'why' and the 'how' as much as the 'who,' presented with the clarity and authority of a seasoned journalist who knows the terrain. This is a journey into real stories, handled with the care they demand, and it naturally becomes an essential listen for anyone fascinated by the intersection of human behavior, justice, and the news.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

True Crime Reporter
Podcast Episodes
This Is Not The Godfather – It’s the Brutal Truth About the Mob [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:10
By Robert Riggs The Godfather. Goodfellas. The Sopranos. Hollywood entertained us with polished fiction—honor among thieves, loyalty bound by blood, men of principle wrapped in tailored suits. But the real mob? It was da…
CIA Mafia Spies Plot To Kill Castro Hidden From JFK Probe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:19
Mobsters Hit Tony Soprano Style Before They Can Testify By Robert Riggs The JFK assassination files recently released by President Trump shed more light on the secret plot by the CIA to use Mafia gangsters to kill Cuban…
How To Read People To Protect Yourself From Crime Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:24
In this episode, we continue our deep dive with retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke—a man whose job wasn’t just catching spies but recruiting them. Dreeke led the FBI’s elite Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Pr…
How To Size People Up Like An FBI Behavioral Analyst [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:40
Whether walking through a dimly lit parking lot, meeting someone new, or even evaluating the behavior of people close to you, the ability to read people and size them up could mean the difference between safety and dange…
A Terrifying New Scam Bringing Fraudsters to Your Home [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:30
Beware of the Fraudster Knocking At Your Door Scammers don’t just lurk online—they may be coming straight to your front door. For centuries, con artists have refined their craft, using deception and misdirection to separ…
The Devil In My Friend. The Family Man. The Stone Cold Killer. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:24
How well do we truly know our friends? Can we discern when they are lying, or even worse, when they might be hiding a deadly secret? In this episode, I delve into the unsettling story of Fred Roehler, who seemed to embod…
The $30 Billion Secret The Government Doesn’t Want You To Know [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:55
This true crime story is not about a heist pulled off by a notorious bank robber or a cunning scam artist—but an audacious act of bureaucratic theft that spans generations. It’s an audacious act of bureaucratic theft tha…
Baby Face Nelson: The Boy Who Became America’s Most Ruthless Killer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:43
In the blood-soaked pantheon of Depression-era gangsters, one killer stood apart – not for his height, but for his face. Witnesses consistently described him as looking like “an angel,” with bright blue eyes and features…
Sextortion Is Why Social Media Scares Me For The Safety Of Our Children [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:21
We used to fear sexual predators stalking our neighborhoods, ready to snatch our children off the streets. We called it “Stranger Danger”. But “Stranger Danger” has moved online with Sextortion schemes on the social medi…