No Justice for A Texas Cowboy: A $750 Million Elder Abuse Tragedy

[STEPHEN MICHAUD]
The baby boomers are now getting really old, and there are a lot of us. We say, “Gosh, you know, I wonder how I protect myself from something like this? Because if Robert, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, couldn’t get himself an aspirin, what can I do?”

Investigative reporter Stephen Michaud, among the nation’s best, spent six years unraveling how an iconic ranch was taken from a dying Texas cowboy.

A ranch 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 fortune. But the cowboy who once owned it and his relatives never saw a penny. It’s a case of elder abuse like none other, according to my guest.

Hello. I’m investigative reporter Robert Riggs, here 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 entitled “Conversations with a Killer,” based on 150 hours of audio recordings of their interviews with Bundy in prison. They really got into his head.

Now Michaud is back with a fascinating look inside South Texas ranching royal families.

If you ate steak in the 1960s, it likely came from these ranches. 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.

[ROBERT RIGGS]
Stephen Michaud has written about this saga in an amazingly detailed investigative book called “Robert’s Story: A Texas Cowboy’s Troubled Life and Horrifying Death.” And indeed, it was horrifying.

[ROBERT RIGGS]
Let’s pause for a moment. When we come back, we’ll pick it up from there.

[ROBERT RIGGS]
I’m talking with investigative reporter Stephen Michaud, who has written “Robert’s Story,” such an in-depth investigative book about tracing how an infirm old cowboy lost everything he had.

[STEPHEN MICHAUD]
Although the person to whom you refer was Helenita Groves, who is a great-great-great-granddaughter of the founder of the King Ranch and Robert’s cousin. Yes, she went to see him on his deathbed and said your quote is that, you know, “I’ve run around, I’ve seen a lot, but there was at least manslaughter.” Helenita, who is now deceased, was not given to exaggeration.

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 other people around you whom 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.