The title of my, memoir is gonna be Blood and Ink, because that really kinda summarizes my whole family. Mike Cox was the reporter's reporter. You could say ink ran in his veins. Writing about cops and crime on the police beat has been his lifelong pursuit. Cox comes from a family where storytelling is a way of life, a tradition passed down through generations to him. His parents met covering the murder trial of a contract killer.
I tell people that I am, literally the the product of 2 of man's more singular acts, one of them being murder. In 1943, a hit man was accused of the brutal murder of a doctor and his wife while their 2 year old daughter hid in a closet. The crime and trial unfolded in Littlefield, near Lubbock, in the lower Texas Panhandle. The old joke about the Panhandle is that there's nothing between, the North Pole and and the Texas Panhandle but a barbed wire fence.
On a change of venue, the trial was moved to Sweetwater, located west of Abilene. Mike's future parents, Bill Cox and Betty Wilkie, were rival reporters. Betty scooped Bill by getting an exclusive jail cell interview with the accused contract killer. Bill protested to the district judge and received equal access. A romance blossomed, and the couple eloped aboard a private airplane owned by the newspaper where Bill worked. And it was, an old,
open cockpit airplane. Even though this was 1947, it was sort of a glorified prop duster. And my mother always told me that, my dad had brought along a newspaper that had a big page 1 story about him with his byline, and proudly showed it to my mother. Well, when they got over Paladiro Canyon, they got in some air turbulence, and my mother got nauseated and barfed all over his, front page byline. Storytelling and journalism were ingrained in Mike Cox's DNA.
His father and grandfather were both veteran Texas newspapermen, magazine writers, and book authors. His maternal grandfather, L. A. Wilkie, launched his career during the tumultuous days of the Mexican Revolution, founding a newspaper in 1914. Cox grew up captivated by his grandfather's vivid recollections of the colorful figures he encountered, especially the Texas Rangers.
This early influence shaped Cox's literary journey, leading him to author 4 volumes on the history of the Rangers, North America's oldest law enforcement agency in continuous service. As a senior in high school and editor of the school paper, Cox sold his first story to a true crime magazine. Around the same time, he wrote a teenage news column for the Austin American Statesman, making a famously flawed prediction that the Beatles would never outlast Sonny and Cher.
I can relate. I made a similar misjudgment during a guest appearance on a high school radio show called Teen Beat on KPLT 14:90 AM, but that's another story. Besides writing the teen column, 17 year old Cox was working in production at The Statesman. In August 1966, his instinct for journalism sharpened when he heard a broadcast by a popular teen radio station that a sniper was on top of the University of Texas tower.
The first bulletin that somebody was shooting from the UT tower, put on a snap on tie and white shirt and or white shirt and snap on tie and rushed to the UT campus. Cox got within the 4 block range of rifle fire from 25 year old Charles Whitman, who picked off students and pedestrians for 96 minutes. Whitman's shooting spree, which killed 15 people, including an unborn child, and injured 31 others, ended when 2 Austin police officers stormed the observation deck platform and shot him to death.
Cox was on the trail of a story that would then become known as the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in US history. I got back in my car and and drove back to the newsroom. And, of course, it was just in in chaos. And, I got assigned to, help a friend of mine, another reporter who was only a couple of years older than I was, maybe 3 years older. And the, I guess the city editor told us to try to find where Whitman lived. We already
had the name. It hadn't been released to the public, but, the police reporter had gotten the name. And so, my friend and I rushed to the, to Whitman's residence, hoping that we could, you know, do the standard sort of thing of interviewing the neighbors. And when we got there, discovered that he had moved from that address. Unfazed, Cox persuaded a telephone operator to divulge Whitman's new address, a testament to his budding tenacity as a reporter.
And so, you know, back then, of course, all you had to do was dial 0 to speak to a phone operator. So I dialed 0 and got a, an operator, a woman, woman operator. And one of the first times I used whatever sweet talking ability I have, I said, hey, I know y'all aren't supposed to do this, but a good buddy of mine lives here in town, and I I just came in for the earlier today, and I'd really like to get together with him. And, his name is Charlie Charles Whitman. The name had not been released.
And so the operator said, well, okay. And so she looked looked him up and gave me his righteous address. And so, with that, we were able to, rush to his house in South Austin. The police hadn't gotten there because they didn't have any reason to go there at that time. They did not know that Whitman's, the dead body of Whitman's wife was just
right inside his back door. Before his rampage from the University of Texas Tower, Charles Whitman had already committed 2 murders, stabbing both his wife and mother to death in their respective apartments. For Mike Cox, it was his first encounter with a mass murder, one of many to follow. In 1970, Cox joined the Austin American Statesman as a police beat reporter, where he broke the story of notorious serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.
Over the years, he would cover hundreds of crime scenes, each more grisly than the last. 15 years later, Cox transitioned to a new role, becoming the chief of media relations for the Texas Department of Public Safety which oversees state troopers and the legendary Texas Rangers. During his time at DPS, he bore witness to even more murder and mayhem, with some of the state's darkest moments unfolding before him.
I met Mike while covering several high profile cases: the Luby's cafeteria massacre, the 51 day Branch Davidian cult siege, and the standoff with Republic of Texas separatists in the rugged mountains outside Fort Davis. You know, Mike, the thing that always struck me covering this murders, everything else is just how monstrous people can become in the things they do.
It really kinda goes back to why by the time I left the DPS and during that period of time at the DPS, I had been deeply involved in the, mass murder at Luby's cafeteria in Killeen. I I walked among the 20 plus bodies, only an hour or so after they died, and that stuck with me to this day. And then I I helped count body bags at, Mount Carmel after the David Koresh, situation.
And then, again, I think I counted up one time, I I was the spokesman in 13 cases where a trooper or a DPS officer, was killed in the line of duty, including 1 Texas Ranger. So I had just, you know, by the time I left the DPS in 2000, I really it was pretty murdered out. Cox, as he puts it, had grown martyred out after years of covering grisly crimes. However, his wife's fondness for true crime television shows, especially Dateline, rekindled his passion for the subject.
They set a regular date night to watch the show. What began as a lighthearted joke about the popularity of true crime shows eventually inspired Cox's latest book, Getting Away with Murder, Learning from Dateline and Other True Crime Shows. So it just occurred to me, you know, I ought to do kind of a fun little tongue in cheek book discussing stupid ways that, that people end up getting caught for murdering somebody and frame it in the context of, of, those that these were pro tips.
And, of course, early in the book, I make a a declaration that I ran by my lawyer. And that is that, of course, I had no intention of actually trying to assist anyone in getting away with murder. This was written as a tongue in cheek, you know, spoof in a way. There have been several instances where life has eerily imitated art, with killers using true crime shows as a blueprint for planning their murders. But they got caught. I begin to notice this as a reporter. Most criminals, most murderers
are just plain dumb. I doubt very seriously if many murderers spend much time watching Dateline or other shows or reading true crime books. There are still so many people out there who apparently believe that you can type into your computer how to get away with murder and that somehow that will not be seen when they start looking at your history. You know what I mean? Yes. So there's a lot of stupidity out there. Or you shop for the murder weapons.
Yeah. Yeah. What's that ideal murder weapon? You know, how long does it take a body to decay? You know what I mean? Just, you know, on and on and on. You do have some funny tongue in cheek stuff. 1 about to, feed your your victim to an alligator. But then you warn that a hungry, angry alligator might decide you look tastier than your intended victim. That's right. You know, it's got to
be careful. And, there are just, you know, endless ways that you can do get in trouble, you know, trying to, trying to kill somebody or trying to dispose of the body. And did you see a case in Dateline or somewhere where somebody did do that or tried to do that? Yes. I think there was one in Florida where somebody ostensibly went, duck hunting with a friend and never returned. And I think that, the theory was that person ended up, supporting an alligator's diet. You know, as you said, I try to
think of other funny things. I mean, you know, some people, are very faithful in keeping their diaries, but I said that, you know, best not to write down in your diary, your your the steps you went through to, kill your wife and collect her insurance money. And then, there are the ultimate way to get away with murder, as I point out in the book, is don't do it. You know, I mean, you're not gonna never get caught for murder if you don't
don't, don't kill somebody. And the other absolute is that if you do kill somebody, don't tell anybody. You know, people seem to seem to forget that jail cell phone or that jail in prison phone calls are, you know, automatically, recorded. They they seem to think somehow that it's smart or beneficial for them to tell their cellmate, brag to their cellmate about what they did. I mean, you know, stupidity is a key factor in many people getting
getting caught. The cellmate is a criminal who's always ready to snitch you out to get their sentence reduced. So Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. You got a section of the book called Devil's Dictionary of True Crime Shows Speak. And it's all the cliches like a quiet, well mannered young man, the loner who kept to himself, provide closure to the family. Yeah. I think I'd have to call that my favorite
favorite part of the of the book. You know, I've as a long time writer, I have always, tried to, issue cliches in my writing and and, I can spot the cliche fairly well. But, so, in this case, you know, I knew a lot of them. I picked up more in watching, Dateline and others. You know, I say things like the line, quote, He swept her off her feet, right into a shallow grave, that is. And, she was finally leaving him this time. Unfortunately,
she waited too long. I've always loved what Ambrose Bierce did with his Devil's Dictionary, you know, well more than a century ago. And of course, the absolute classic is she lit up the room. You know, every every that is said of almost every, woman who is is is murdered. But as I say, if you light up the room, very often time, eternal darkness follows. But who are these writers that regurgitate?
And these shows are full of it. And, you know, you and David Simon who've who wrote Homicide and all, you don't find that in those? Well, you know, another fascinating thing that I've noticed in watching Dateline and The Elk, and that is that cops have fallen back on these cliches. And I think part of it is that the whoever's interviewing them is is basically feeding them the line like, you know, the the interviewer will say, well, that must have broken the case wide open.
And and, you know, sure enough, the cop will come back and say, oh, yeah. That, you know, that that broke the case wide open. And, you know, you just hear that almost in every every show, and and there's, of course, many, many more that you hear. Well, you got another section that's that's amusing here. And true crime show snacks to die for. Yeah. Like 45 caliber Devil Days. Do you did you have a favorite, snack on here? Car bomb salsa. Well, I, my cousin, is the one that I think
had the idea for offering some, recipes. And then we all all of us came up with funny names and then worked backwards. You know what I mean? I I think I came up with car bomb salsa. I think that one comes from my wife, Beverly, and then, Ditto for the 45 caliber a. I will give credit to my cousin, and I think it's the best name in the in the section, and that was FBI Scream. That was that was hers. And, you know, I think that's pretty
pretty darn funny. Yeah. Well, you've got another section called, you may be a true crime addict if, which reminds me the old stand up routine, you may be a redneck if. Yep. Yep. Yep. That's certainly, that's certainly informed by Jeff Jeff Foxworthy, who, you know, I greatly admire. I guess he's not performing that much anymore, but that was one of his absolute classic riffs was, you may be a redneck
if. And so, yeah, I started looking for things online, and then I started thinking, you know, of other things that just popped into my head as, hopefully, humorous. Yeah. One of them, you fantasized about how you'd get away with the perfect murder. Or 5 minutes before daylight starts your dog or cat sitting expectantly on your recliner waiting for you. Yeah. That's right. And our, that's kind of where our our dog is. I mean, she's, she's very used to sitting with us, as we're watching
watching Dateline. It should either be in my wife's chair or my easy chair. You know, another thing too, just overall, I mean, God knows there's so many horrible, deadly, serious things going on in the world. And, it's, you know, obviously well documented that laughter and and, even a chuckle produces, feel good heartburns like, dopamine. So if there's ever a time Texas and the nation and the world itself is needful of, some humor, I I I don't know when it would
be. I mean, you know, they just, you know, from politics to Mideast wars to climate change to Mhmm. Whatever. We need something to laugh about. In his book, Cox shares his list of the 10 must read true crime books that are impossible to put down. Truman Capote's In Cold Blood takes the top spot. That book came out in 1965 just as I was, you know, beginning to my interest in true crime was really beginning to take off.
And I remember buying that book at a, a long since vanished, bookstore that was right across from the, University of Texas on Guadalupe. And man, I mean, it was it it it was just, brilliantly written. I mean, I I could I could not I didn't wanna put it down. I mean, you know, name your cliche and it it, it connects to how I reacted to that book. I've got a good friend who felt the same way about it, and he said that he recently reread it for the first time since 1950s, 65 or 66.
And he said he found a whole new layer of nuance to it, that he had missed the first time. And so I God knows I've got so many books that I want to read, I don't know if I'll ever reread it. But, that certainly says a lot about a book that you can read it once and then come back and read it, you know, a lifetime later, practically, and still get new stuff out of it. When it comes to true crime consumption, millions of Americans are repeat offenders.
Women make up the largest percentage of televised true crime viewers. And Cox says Taylor Swift is Dateline's most famous fan. The singer songwriter revealed that nobody, No Crime, a country song in her 2020 album Evermore, was inspired by Dateline. Cox says watching Dateline made his wife more cautious about the evil things that can happen. I think women are able to identify with that more so
than a man. And I think also from some of the stuff that I read, and I think I use it in the book, is that some women watch these shows, with a with a mind of toward, you know, learning from them in in ways that they can stay safe. You know, I mean, they they learn, you know, don't have a fight with your husband and walk out at 3 o'clock in the morning and start walking down a lonely road, you know. I mean, stuff like that.
And then I I just think there's something, I mean, you know, the the interest in true crime goes back really to about the time that movable type was invented, if not even farther back, you know? Because people just seem to have a fascination about, you know, why would somebody want to kill somebody else? And how did they get caught? You know, how did, the police finally figure out who done it? And, you know, on a lower level, it's kind of, you know, like the old,
very popular board game Clue, you know? Was it, was it missus White with the rope or or, in the kitchen with the with the chandelier or the candlestick holder? For many, you know, it sort of becomes a a parlor game. Mike Cox's lifelong immersion in crime as a reporter, author, and spokesperson for the Texas DPS gave him a rare perspective on the subject.
His latest book, How to Get Away with Murder, Learning from Dateline and Other True Crime Shows, isn't just a reflection on the dark side of human nature. It's a funny dive into the fascinating intersection of real crime and the media that chronicles it. After decades of covering murder and mayhem, it's clear that Mike Cox isn't just reporting the story. He's still living it, one case at a time.