meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

The Slaying of Debra Sue Reiding

Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

Vincent Strange

True Crime, Society & Culture, News

4.61.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Debra Wilt married Robert Reiding in November of 1978, they immediately moved to Austin, Texas from Choteau, Montana to escape the brutal Winter. Robert had a relative that could give him work, and although it left much to be desired money wise, Debra found work at a restaurant near their apartment. But just shy of two months into settling in the Texas Capitol City, the newlywed 18-year-old was slain in the couple’s home. But it wasn’t a homicide the cops in Austin were accustomed to. It was, however, one they’d at least become somewhat familiar with over the course of the 1970s as the city underwent a major growth spurt – something Austin Police Homicide Lt. Nolan Meinardus called, “faceless crime.” Debra’s case went cold fast, and when it heated up decades later, it appeared the warm and friendly young woman might finally see justice.

If you have any information about the murder of Debra Sue Wilt Reiding in January of 1979, please call the Austin Police homicide tip line at (512) 477-3588, the Homicide Unit at (512) 974-5210, or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-8477

Please consider donating to the go fund me for Leon Laureles. You can find it at: gofundme.com/f/leon-laureles-private-detective-and-memorial

You can support gone cold and listen ad-free at patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using @gonecoldpodcast and on YouTube at: youtube.com/c/gonecoldpodcast

The Austin American-Statesman, The Great Falls Tribune, and KVUE Austin were used as sources for this episode

#JusticeForDebraSueReiding #Austin #AustinTX #ATX #TravisCountyTX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #GoneCold #GoneColdPodcast #ColdCase #Unsolved #Murder #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder

This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3203003/advertisement

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The concollege podcast may contain violent or graphic subject matter, listener discretion

0:06.7

is advised.

0:10.0

In the 1970s, police in Austin, Texas couldn't get a break from the savage and seemingly

0:16.2

motive-less homicide cases that they began calling faceless crimes due to the lack of evidence.

0:24.8

As soon as the trail of leads dried up on one case, another almost always followed.

0:31.4

A handful of murders in the capital city's south and southwest ends proved to be especially

0:38.4

difficult.

0:39.4

First, in February of 1975, at the southwest Austin apartment she shared with her husband,

0:47.2

21-year-old Phyllis Lee Bouteau was found brutally stabbed to death, nearly a dozen times

0:53.5

in her hand, arms, chest, back, and neck.

0:58.6

Not a soul had seen or heard anything, and the story quickly disappeared from news reports

1:04.6

until, when in June of the same year, 18-year-old Martha Lynn Reed was slain.

1:12.6

Martha had also been repeatedly stabbed in her upper body, and her throat slashed by

1:18.7

a still-unknown man who had pretended to be interested in viewing an apartment at the

1:23.6

complex she lived in and managed.

1:27.6

Phyllis Bouteau also managed the apartment complex where she lived, and Austin police detectives

1:34.3

discovered evidence that a man who seemed disinterested in renting or deceptive in his

1:39.8

desire to rent had tried to lure other apartment managers into vacant units.

1:46.6

Phyllis also considered the fact that both Phyllis and Martha were killed on Mondays in

1:51.7

the morning hours a significant similarity.

1:56.0

Neither woman was sexually assaulted.

1:59.3

Though a witness provided a description of a suspect in the case of Martha Reed, her

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vincent Strange, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vincent Strange and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.