Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields on Netflix explores the unsolved murders of four young women and a father's fight to find his daughter's killer.
Since the 1970s, 30 bodies have been found in and around the land along the interstate corridor connecting Houston and the beach town of Galveston, earning the terrifying name, The Texas Killing Fields.
The murders are believed to be the work of multiple serial killers, but William Lewis Reece is the only suspect to be convicted of more than one murder in the Texas Killing Fields.
Kevin Edison Smith is the only other killer who has been caught and given a murder conviction in the Texas Killing Fields, for strangling 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker in 1996.
Newsweek has everything you need to know about serial killer, rapist and kidnapper William Reece and his whereabouts today.
Who Is Serial Killer William Reece?
William Lewis Reece was born on July 1, 1959, in Oklahoma as one of 13 siblings.
He worked as a farm laborer, then enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard, and was married twice before he embarked on a crime spree.
In October 1996, Reece was released from prison after serving 10 years for the rape of two women in Oklahoma.
Reece then turned to murder, from April to August 1997, and four of his victims have been identified. However, there possibly could be more.
In September 1997, Reece was arrested for the kidnapping and attempted murder of 19-year-old Sandra Sapaugh. He received a 60-year sentence for the attack.
Almost two decades later, in 2015, Reece's DNA was found to match that on a dress belonging to 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston, who had been murdered in Oklahoma in 1997.
Already serving time for the attempted murder and kidnapping of Sapaugh, Reece was convicted of Johnston's murder and sentenced to death in August 2021.
He then confessed to killing Jessica Cain, 17, and Kelli Cox, 20, who had been missing since 1997.
To avoid the death penalty, Reece aided authorities in finding their bodies, which were uncovered along a large area in two separate dig sites.
Reece also confessed to police he had kidnapped and murdered Laura Smither, 12, who disappeared from Friendswood, Texas, on April 3, 1997. Her body was found 12 miles from her home on April 20, 1997, according to The Houston Chronicle.
Smither's killing occurred one month before he attempted to kidnap and kill Sapaugh outside of a convenience store in Webster. He was named as a suspect in Smither's murder but was not charged, due to a lack of evidence.
In June 2022, he was extradited to Texas where he was found guilty of the murders of Smither, Cain and Cox. He pleaded guilty and received three life sentences.
Where is Serial Killer William Reece Now?
Today, Reece, 63, is incarcerated at Allan B. Polunsky Unit, West Livingston, in Texas, which is located just over an hour's drive from the Texas Killing Fields.
As Reece was also convicted of Johnston's murder in Oklahoma, officials told KPRC 2 after his sentencing for the murders of Smither, Cain and Cox, that they would "work out the details of when he may be sent back to Oklahoma."
Once in that state, Reece would then be imprisoned on Death Row.
Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields is streaming on Netflix now.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more
