The Trinity River Massacre: A Factual Account

The story of the 1971 kidnapping of five sheriff’s deputies and the murder of three of them in Dallas, Texas. The book covers the events leading up to the crime, the week-long manhunt, the mistaken shooting of an unrelated family by law enforcement, and the arrests of the killers. It also tells how police accidentally discovered an informant who helped lead officers to the suspects’ hideout, and how that informant was likely murdered for cooperating with authorities. The book explores the killers’ trials, appeals, and the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the death penalty the following year. It also follows the later lives and deaths of those involved, while reflecting on how one of the most gruesome crimes in Texas history has largely been forgotten. After fifty years of research, the author finally tells the story once known in the press as The Trinity River Massacre.