Before cartel violence dominated headlines, a powerful criminal empire was operating in plain sight along the Texas-Mexico border.

In this episode of Crude Acts, we examine the rise of the Chagra brothers—Jimmy, Joe, and Lee Chagra—whose world of drug trafficking, gambling, wealth, and influence made them some of the most notorious figures in Texas crime history.

Their empire collided with the federal government when U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr., known for handing down harsh sentences in narcotics cases, became a target. On May 29, 1979, Judge Wood was ambushed and murdered outside his San Antonio home in what would become the first assassination of a federal judge in the United States during the twentieth century.

The investigation uncovered a web of organized crime stretching from Texas to Las Vegas and ultimately led to one of the most infamous names connected to the case: Charles Harrelson—the convicted hitman and father of actor Woody Harrelson.

Drawing from Gary Cartwright’s landmark book Dirty Dealing, this episode explores a story of power, greed, corruption, and murder that reads more like a Hollywood screenplay than real life. Yet every part of it happened in Texas.

If you’ve never heard of the Chagras, you’re not alone. But their story helped shape modern federal law enforcement and remains one of the most extraordinary true crime cases in American history.

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In This Episode

* The rise of the Chagra brothers

* Drug trafficking on the Texas-Mexico border

* The murder of Judge John H. Wood Jr.

* The first assassination of a federal judge in the twentieth century

* Charles Harrelson and his connection to the case

* Woody Harrelson’s father’s criminal past

* Organized crime, gambling, and political influence

* The federal investigation that exposed a criminal empire

* The legacy of Dirty Dealing

In 1976, a gunman walked through the largest privately-owned home in the United States and shot four people. Two of them died. The man charged was T. Cullen Davis — heir to a Texas oil fortune, one of the wealthiest men in America, and by every account, a man who believed the rules did not apply to him.

What followed were two of the most expensive, most watched, and most controversial murder trials in Texas history. He was acquitted both times.

Gary Cartwright’s Blood Will Tell is the book. This episode is the reckoning.

Crude Acts is a Texas true crime podcast covering cases drawn from nonfiction books. Season 4: Murder in Print.

Houston true crime. A contract killing. A rigged trial. And the most dangerous defense attorney in Texas.

In 1968, Alan Berg — a Houston carpet salesman — was lured to the parking lot of the Brass Jug on Sin Alley, forced into a car, and murdered for hire. His body was found six months later in a cedar grove off County Road 257 between Surfside and Galveston, clad in one shoe, a coat, trousers and a belt. He was 31 years old.

Charles Harrelson — the contract killer who would later assassinate a federal judge — pulled the trigger for $1,500. Percy Foreman, the most feared criminal defense attorney in America, represented both Harrelson and the man who allegedly ordered the hit. The eyewitness was Sandra Sue Attaway, who had worked at Houston's Cork Club — the same private club where Ash Robinson drank and Joan Robinson Hill was a regular. Foreman destroyed her testimony with a single legal argument. Both men walked free.

This week on Crude Acts, we're covering David Berg's memoir Run Brother Run — the book Berg spent forty years waiting to write about his brother Alan's murder, the 1970 Angleton trial, DA Ogden Bass, and the Houston organized crime infrastructure that made all of it possible.

If you've been following our Blood and Money deep dive this season, this episode is the connective tissue. Same lawyers. Same city. One year apart.

Key names: Alan Berg, Charles Harrelson, Percy Foreman, Racehorse Haynes, Sandra Sue Attaway, Frank DiMaria, Nathan Berg, Robert Leonard, Dennis Weadock, Crawford Booth, Ogden Bass

Key locations: Brass Jug Club Houston, Sin Alley Houston, Cork Club Shamrock Hotel, Imperial Carpets Montrose, Surfside Island, Brazoria County, Angleton Texas

Crude Acts is a Texas true crime podcast covering organized crime, corruption, and the cases that shaped the Gulf Coast. New episodes every week.