crime on tv
Chilling tales of true crime around Texas debut on streaming services
Americans love streaming their true crime stories. Consider that the Crime Junkie podcast is No. 3 overall on Spotify and true crime is one of most popular genres on the streaming juggernaut Netflix.
A new crime TV show on Investigation Discovery TV called Murder Under the Friday Night Lights covers the murder and rapes of cheerleaders in the small Dallas-Fort Worth town of River Oaks, along with other high school football-related crimes.
Now, CultureMap news partner, Houston-based ABC13, has released the new Texas True Crime series on Hulu and Season 2 of its successful and highly streamed Unsolved series — just in time to chill on the sofa.
All documentaries are available to stream at abc13.com and across ABC13’s connected TV apps on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, and Hulu.
The creepy stuff kicks off with Texas True Crime: The Candyman Murders on Hulu about a case that haunted a Texas community nearly 50 years ago. ABC13 reporter Jessica Willey revisits killer Dean Corll’s horrific mass murders that labeled him a serial killer — before the term was widely used.
For the uninitiated, the new Texas True Crime library features documentaries about slain Ft. Hood soldier in Vanessa Guillen: Remember Her Name; serial killer William Reece, Tracking the Devil: The William Reece Confessions; and Andrea Yates: 20 Years Since the Tragedy That Shocked the Nation, which centers on the now-infamous story of the Houston mother who drowned her children in the family’s bathtub.
Meanwhile, the Unsolved series follows with ABC13 reporter Courtney Fischer sharing stories of Texas families who are still searching for answers in their loved ones’ murder or disappearance.
Unsolved episodes available to stream include:
- Princess Blue
In a follow-up to Unsolved Season 1, the mystery woman known as “Princess Blue” has finally been identified as Julie Gwenn Davis, a teen last seen in southeast Texas in the mid-’80s. Now that investigators have a name, the hunt for her killer is on. - A Life Never Lived
On Thanksgiving Day, Kristen Wilson was found murdered, naked, and possibly raped in her Houston apartment with no sign of the killer. Now, 25 years later, old evidence is getting tested for the killer’s DNA — likely the key to solving Kristen's case. - Disappearance at the Drive-in
This is one of the oldest cold cases in Houston: In 1975, 15-year-old Patricia Kaye Humphreys went to the drive-in movies with her sister and vanished. Her body was found five months later; she had been raped and strangled. Now, police are searching for new leads to solve the case before key witnesses die.
Fischer has worked with more than a dozen law enforcement agencies and dozens of investigators since 2018 to shed light on these cold cases, per a release. Within that time, Unsolved has profiled close to 20 cold cases, several of which have been solved thanks to Fischer’s reporting, authorities note.
ABC 13 adds that investigators now reach out to Fischer in hopes to feature their cold cases on Unsolved.
