As we have been predicting, the State of Texas has now criminally charged Warren Jeffs and five of his followers. A grand jury returned the indictments today.
Texas got embarrassed when it was ordered to return the FLDS children to their parents. It didn't need to happen.
It's time to start telling the truth on all sides of this story. Jurisdictional turf wars and law enforcement egos have screwed a l...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Texas strikes back

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I've had a lot of weird celebrity encounters during my life and career. Pierce Brosnon was a really cool guy. Elizabeth Taylor was a pain in the butt. Sylvester Stallone once tried to drag me in to a lawsuit.
Marlon Brando was surprisingly charming and witty as he escorted his son Christian out of an L.A. county jail early on morning. Jack Nicholson once ran over my foot with his car while I was camped out in front ...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--"....depends on if you're friend or foe"

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Senators Harry Reid and Sheldon Whitehouse want some answers. Aids to the two Democrats have been busy making phone calls around the country recently (several to yours truly) trying to round up people who know what the hell they are talking about and are willing to testify about the inner-workings of Warren Jeffs' FLDS church. (I politely declined--can't really cover an event and testify at it at the same time--doesn't look good.) >> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--what's next?

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

The Lone Star State got sucker punched by a hoaxster. The media got played by the polygamists. Texas judges clearly have no clue about the history of Warren Jeffs and his FLDS faithful. And the children went back to the ranch.
Forgive me if I don't join in the kumbaya chorus.
The truth is that if young girls weren't systematically being raped--if young boys weren't systematically being exploited and abandoned--and if ...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--liars, lawyers and media scum

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

One of Warren Jeffs' followers, a guy named Merrill Jessop, was recently quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune as saying that the actions of Texas law officers at the the YFZ Ranch during the last week are reminiscent of the kind of police activities one might expect in Stalinist Russia or Nazi German and in many ways I think that's a great analogue.
I would, however, make one distinction.
Instead of tagging the "Russian...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance--Russia, Germany and Uncle Warren's Gulog in West Texas

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

From an older brother's perspective, it is quite a humbling experience to see the true measure of a man in your little brother.

>> Continue reading: A Call of Duty

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I have been such a bad blogger. Basically I haven't blogged in months (don't tell my boss). My excuse is that time has gotten away from me. I got married on New Year's Eve and I feel like I am just now (three months later) finding some respite.

The thing is, today I am moved to take time to blog because I'm working on a story that blows my mind.

>> Continue reading: Silent Killer

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Categories: Carey Pena |

I've spent much of my adult life at crime scenes--belly-up to police tape in big cities and small towns--watching cops do their thing.
Over the last 30 years a lot of those crime scenes have sort of blurred together. A handful, however, stand out.
I'll never forget the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City after Timothy McVeigh parked his truck bomb out front--ripping the building apart and killing 168 men, wo...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Dear Mr. Fisher--help me understand

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

I've always been more comfortable at a crime scene than at a political rally.
As twisted as it may sound, stories about cops and robbers--death and destruction--murder and mayhem--have always made sense to me.
Politics--now that's scary and confusing.

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Murder and mayhem--screwing up on live T.V.--and a proud father's love for his son

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

Chapter One

People sometimes ask me what's the weirdest story I've ever cover. It's a hard question to answer. There have been so many.
Like the one about the mid-west family that figured out a pretty effective way to perform a "do-it-yourself mummification" in the basement of their home.
It's the ...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Weirdest of the Weird--Chapters One and Two--Daddy's a Mummy and Daddy's a Dame

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |