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.

In closing, here’s my Reporter’s recap and reflections.

People over 50 now own over 70% of all personal wealth held in the United States.

Learn this lesson from Stephen Michaud’s book.

If a baby boomer with a Texas fortune can become the victim of elder abuse and lose everything, it could happen to you.

Do you have a plan and family members or people around you that you trust? 

You’ve been listening to the True Crime Reporter® Podcast: Stay True. Stay Safe. And Stay Tuned for more stories from inside the crime scene tape.

This is Robert Riggs Reporting.