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Full episode
394: Bait and Switch
Act One

Neighborhood Watch

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A couple in Texas find a seemingly abandoned car and think they've stumbled across a crime scene. And they're right...but not in the way they imagined. Michael May tells the story. Michael is the Books and Culture editor at The Texas Observer. (18 minutes)

By

Michael May

More in Crime

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706: A Mess to Be Reckoned With
May 29, 2020

Act One

When Lissa’s niece, Carla Yellow Bird, went missing in 2016, Lissa threw everything she had into figuring out what happened to her—including talking for hours on the phone with someone she suspected was involved.
660: Hoaxing Yourself
Nov. 2, 2018

Act Two: Conning The Con Men

The story of a con man, one of the most successful salesmen in a long-running multimillion-dollar telemarketing scam, who finally got caught when he was conned himself.
653: Crime Scene
Aug. 3, 2018

Act One: Grime Scene

Reporter Nancy Updike spends two days with Neal Smither, who cleans up crime scenes for a living, and comes away wanting to open his Los Angeles franchise, despite the gore — or maybe because of it.

More by Michael May

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498: The One Thing You're Not Supposed To Do
June 21, 2013

Act One: Breaking the Ice

Reporter Michael May tells the story of activists from the National Immigrant Youth Alliance who intentionally got arrested for being undocumented.
438: Father's Day 2011
June 17, 2011

Act Four: Bring Your Child to Work Detail

Michael May tells this story about two prison inmates in Texas—Daniel Johnson and Jesse Johnson—and the unusual bond they formed.
405: Inside Job
Apr. 9, 2010

Act Two: Taking a Big Pink Eraser to the Thin Blue Line

Michael May tells the story of Barry Cooper, a former crooked narcotics cop who has turned his interest elsewhere...to busting crooked narcotics cops.
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