News Team

Robert Riggs

Co-host and Creator
Investigative Reporter

Robert Riggs is a Peabody Award-winning investigative reporter and content entrepreneur. He has received three coveted Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Journalism Awards for Investigative Reporting. The Peabody and duPont are respectively considered the broadcast TV equivalent of the Oscar and the Pulitzer.

Texas A&M University named Robert an Outstanding Alumnus from the College of Architecture in recognition of his journalistic accomplishments. It is a distinction received by fewer than 1% of the College’s graduates.

Riggs is the co-host and creator of the True Crime Reporter™ Podcast, and the SWAT Brothers Podcast.

William W. “Bill” Johnston

Co-host – Attorney at Law
Former Federal Prosecutor

Bill Johnston devoted his career as a federal prosecutor to in effect protect the sheep from the wolves. Today in private practice he specializes in complex fraud cases.

Johnston played the key role in launching a nationwide manhunt for notorious serial killer Kenneth Allen McDuff who tortured and murdered countless young women across Texas. Plus Johnston , who has been featured in Texas Monthly spearheaded an investigation into corrupt practices in the Texas parole system that set McDuff and hundreds more convicted criminals like him free on early parole.

During three decades of practice in federal and state courts, Johnston has tried cases in more than two hundred jury trials and handled more than five thousand cases.

Louis Fawcett

Retired Criminal Investigator
Law Enforcement Liaison and Researcher

Louis Fawcett, a 43-year veteran Texas Peace Officer, is known as one of the nation’s best fugitive hunters through his clever tactics and dogged determination. Fawcett served a quarter century as a criminal investigator for the Office of Inspector General of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).

During that time period with TDCJ, Fawcett was assigned to FBI Violent Crime Squads in Dallas and Lufkin for a combined thirteen years. He also served a five year stint with the U.S. Marshals Service in East Texas.

He participated in a wide variety of cases involving violent felons including; fugitive apprehension, bank robbery, extortion, kidnapping, bribery, gangs, domestic terrorism, International terrorism and escape.

Shannon Smith

Operations Manager

Shannon Smith’s father was a DEA agent for 30 years

“When ‘Take Your Kid to Work Day’ rolled around each year in grade school, Shannon always looked forward to being taken to the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Dallas, Texas.

She and her classmates would have their fingerprints and photos taken before being thrown in a jail cell for a few minutes (don’t worry, her dad never kept them in the cell longer than 15 minutes!)

Life with her father meant watching ‘Cops’ on Friday pizza nights at home and having her dad make an appearance in the DEA helicopter by landing on her elementary school’s playground for career day.

Seiler Burr

Producer – Audio & Video

Seiler Burr is the editor and producer of the True Crime Reporter™ Podcast. He graduated from the world’s first journalism school at the University of Missouri. He earned his bachelor’s degree through the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism.

He’s in charge of running True Crime Reporter™’s in-studio production. When he’s not in the studio behind the cameras and soundboard, he can be found working on the show’s post-production. In particular, he’s responsible for crafting the highly-produced True Crime Reporter@ Extra episodes. The software he uses includes the Adobe Creative Cloud and Blackmagic Design
products.

In his free time, Seiler plays Ice Hockey locally in Dallas, is an avid fan of the Stars, and loves reading history and listening to his favorite podcasts.

Marc Montoya

Director of Business Development

Marc Montoya has established a reputation for his innovative vision during 34-years in the ever-evolving business environment of digital media. During that time period, he held executive positions with Nexstar Media Group, Match.com, AOL, Yahoo!, Broadcast.com, and Belo Broadcasting.

When Montoya was a Vice President at Mark Cuban’s Broadcast.com, he staged the nation’s first video news stream in 1998 featuring Riggs interview with the FBI’s head of counter-terrorism.

Elizabeth Arnold

Executive Producer

Beth Arnold is a former professional dancer and currently teaches theater at a private school for children with learning differences in Dallas. She was a staff member in the Washington, D.C. office of the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas.

Beth is also an avid rider of American Saddlebred horses in both the Western and English disciplines.

James Richard

Music Producer

James Richard, a native of Dallas, studied entrepreneurship and music business at Belmont University. James is a lifelong musician who creates music for himself and scores episodes of the True Crime Reporter™ podcast. As an entrepreneur, he has launched a business that produces vitamin infused honey. While health and music are very important to him he also enjoys playing hockey on weekends and watching the Dallas Stars.

Igor Kraguljac

Photography

Igor Kraguljac is an award winning photographer/videographer known for his extraordinary creative eye and lighting. He earned his BA in Cinematography at Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade (Serbia) and his master’s degree in Visualization Sciences at Texas A&M University. He has been a part of many publications including New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Digital Camera, and One Eyeland Book – “Best of The Best Photographers in 2013” the world’s finest collection of creative images.

Brian David Kerr

Graphic Designer

Brian designed the logo, graphics, and studio banners for both the True Crime Reporter™ and the SWAT Brothers podcasts. Robert became a fan of Brian’s creativity when he was the Senior Creative Director for The Dallas Morning News.

Kevin Adams