Borderland Crimes

Deaths in the Desert: A Serial Killer's Personal Graveyard

In the summer of 1987, a serial killer stalked the streets of El Paso, Texas. The bodies of six teenage girls and young women were found buried in the desert in the northeast outskirts of town.
All had been reported missing earlier that year.

An extensive investigation led police to David Leonard Wood, a former convict recently behind bars for rape. Wood was sentenced to death. But 33 years have passed and he remains on death row, proclaiming his innocence as his attorneys - and families of the victims - fight for their versions of justice.

Borderland Crimes is sponsored by University Medical Center of El Paso.

”It was a set-up for my son to die:” The unsolved murder of Terrance Kinard, Jr.

On Jan. 26, 2019, Terrance Kinard Jr. was shot outside a house party in Northeast El Paso.
The case has gone unsolved despite there likely being many witnesses to the murder of the 20-year-old father and aspiring rapper.
His parents are opening up about their pain, their plea for justice and the troubling conflicts their son was experiencing in the months before his death.

If you have information about this case, call El Paso Crime Stoppers at (915) 566-8477.

"We Feel Like We're Being Hunted:" 23 Killed at El Paso Walmart in Suspected Hate Crime

Michelle Grady is one of the dozens of people who was shot on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, at a Walmart superstore in El Paso, Texas. She survived, but 23 people were killed. The shooter is facing nearly 100 charges, including federal hate crime charges, accused of targeting Hispanics. This is a story of survival and recovery in the year since the Cielo Vista Walmart massacre.

“This is Bizarre:” Police Ask Local TV News Outlets to Broadcast a Decapitated Head

In 1995, a woman’s spray-painted body parts, including her severed head, were found across town.

Police in El Paso, Texas, didn't know who she was.

Investigators made an unprecedented request of local newsrooms in the hopes of identifying her, and finding who killed and dismembered her.

National Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 799-7233

El Paso Center Against Sexual & Family Violence Crisis Line: (915) 593-7300

Love Is Respect: text LOVEIS to 22522

Massacre at Las Cruces Bowl: America’s Largest Unsolved Mass Shooting

On Feb. 10, 1990, two men shot seven people while robbing a bowling alley in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Four of the victims died. Three of the dead were children, ages 13, 6 and 2. All of the victims were shot at point-blank range. Thirty years have passed and the killers have yet to be brought to justice in what is now one of the bloodiest mass shootings in the nation. If you have information in the case, you can call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.

Killing for Custody: The Life and Death of Bill Wolff

A college professor was found shot to death on a sidewalk. Detectives learn the victim and his ex-wife were in the midst of a custody battle so bitter, months before his murder she had secretly fled to Mexico with their daughter. Around that time, the professor's former father-in-law was looking for a 'sicario,' someone who would kill for money. The murder investigation expands into an international search for the victim's missing daughter.

Witness to a Murder: An update on the Life and Death of Rick Madrigal

Marinda Palacios saw her friend, Rick Madrigal, get shot to death by her boyfriend.
Leonel Hernandez was convicted of Rick's murder.
Months after podcast host Stephanie Valle reached out to Marinda, she talks about what happened that night, the hours she spent with the killer after the murder, and how she was accused of murder by Leonel's own defense team.

“Hey, are you alive?”: The life and death of Rick Madrigal

A former radio DJ lays dead inside his apartment. Detectives believe his death is connected to a tip about a case of a possible kidnapping and murder. The investigation uncovered a twisted relationship that may have entangled the victim and led to his death.

Borderland Crimes: An Introduction

Welcome to a podcast that’s made for the Borderland, a corner of the U.S. Southwest where Texas, New Mexico and old Mexico meet. This brief episode is a taste of what's to come: in-depth storytelling focusing on the some of the area's notorious crimes and those behind them. Listen and subscribe. Produced by KVIA-TV, ABC-7 and longtime journalist and former court reporter Stephanie Valle.