After years of speculation and international headlines, a new study by Texas State University criminologists and the Austin Police Department has concluded the “Rainey Street Ripper” — a purported serial killer targeting Austin men on the edges of Lady Bird Lake — isn’t real. At least 21 bodies have been recovered from the lake since […]
Author Archives: Olivia Messer
Olivia Messer is editor-in-chief of The Barbed Wire. Her decade-long, dogged investigative work on the Texas Legislature has repeatedly exposed a culture of sexual abuse and harassment, sending bipartisan shockwaves through the state and leading to significant reforms. (Keep sending her tips: olivia@thebarbedwire.com.)
Olivia grew up in Houston, then cut her teeth as a local crime reporter for The Waco Tribune-Herald before moving to New York, where she wrote for The Daily Beast’s award-winning Cheat Sheet newsletter and then national news desk. She is now based in Austin and has published work in Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, Slate, Texas Monthly, and Texas Observer. Tina Brown once called her “meticulous,” and Barbara Bush once read to her elementary school class. Her forthcoming novel — about a journalist losing her grip on reality — is called Something’s Wrong With the Girls and will be published by Rare Bird.
Posted inCrime
Religious Leader Who Calls Himself ‘Jesus’s Best Friend’ Made $50M from Human Trafficking, DOJ Says
Another day, another false prophet. Two self-professed religious leaders — including 53-year-old David Taylor, who calls himself “Apostle” and “Jesus’s best friend” — made approximately $50 million through forced labor at sites in Texas, Florida, Michigan, and Missouri, according to a grand jury indictment announced on Wednesday. The scheme was sprawling, but simple: The ministry […]
Posted inCulture
Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Ten Commandments in Classrooms, Calling It Religious ‘Coercion’
A federal judge in San Antonio issued a ruling on Wednesday temporarily halting the controversial Texas law that would require all public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. In a comprehensive, sometimes cheeky 55-page ruling first reported by The Houston Chronicle, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sided with several […]
Posted inPolitics
‘Women Have Always Been on the Front Lines.’ How Five Women at the Texas Capitol Stood Up to ‘Fascism.’
Tuesday morning, state Rep. Nicole Collier awoke from her seat on the floor of the Texas House, “bonnet and all,” after spending the night locked in the Capitol. It’s an image that will go down in history. In a photo posted online, the Fort Worth Democrat is wearing a dark blue eye mask and white […]
Posted inNews
In First Lawsuit After July 4 Floods, 22-Year-Old Texas Woman’s Grieving Family Sues Campground for $1 Million
In the weeks since devastating floods hit Central Texas, killing 119 people in Kerr County — including 39 children — much has been made of various investigations, legislative proposals, and potential lawsuits over what went wrong in the early morning hours of July 4. Questions remain over where exactly to place blame for the high […]
Posted inNews
Wrongful Death Suit Filed by ‘Extremist’ Anti-Choice Lawyer Claims Man Hid Abortion Pills in Hot Chocolate
On Monday morning, Texas abortion advocates and lawmakers were preparing for a public hearing on a bill that would allow wrongful death lawsuits against anyone who manufactures, mails, prescribes, or delivers abortion pills. At the same time, the architect of Texas’ original “vigilante” abortion ban filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging — in an explosive, […]
Posted inUncategorized
July 30, 2025
Hi friends! I’m Olivia Messer, editor-in-chief of The Barbed Wire. I’m delighted to share that we’re just weeks away from our 🎂 One Year Anniversary 🎂 on Aug. 26, which means our free The Barbed Wire newsletter is going to look extra fancy while we try to convince you to support us with some of […]
Posted inNews
Author of Texas Abortion Ban Denies He Paid for Abortions Amid Bombshell Allegations from Former Exotic Dancer
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, who authored Texas’ “trigger ban” on abortion, said in a statement on Friday that he has never paid for an abortion. The statement, posted on X, came after Alex Grace — who describes herself as a mother of four, political news curator, and exotic dancer — alleged that the Southlake-based Republican […]
Posted inUncategorized
A THC Ban Is Back on the Menu. From The Barbed Wire
Hi friends! It’s-a-me! Olivia Messer, editor-in-chief of The Barbed Wire. I’ve missed you so much — and I know you’ve missed my emojis 💖. Senior Editor Brian Gaar is on a well-earned vacation, so I’m here to tell you about all of the important, entertaining stories we’ve cooked up for you this week. Welcome back […]
Posted inNews
‘It’s a Waking Nightmare’: Camp Mystic Alum Recalls Flood That Hit the Same Cabins in 1987
Forty-eight-year-old Katherine Howe let memories of the summer of ‘87 rush back to her on Friday. As the world woke up to the news of missing girls who’d been swept away from their summer camp cabins in violent flood waters on July 4, Howe was transported back to when she was 10 years old and […]