‘Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields’ on Netflix: Your Guide to the Many Murder Cases and Suspects

Netflix‘s latest true crime docuseries is tackling one of the most frustrating and unanswerable mysteries in American history. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields dives into the history behind a plot of land that has served as the burial ground for more than 30 murder victims. As horrifying as this story is, it comes with disturbingly few answers.

If you’re the type of person who needs to know what you’re getting into before you press play, this guide is for you. Consider this your quick explainer about the secrets these fields are hiding and what the Netflix docuseries covers.

What Are the Texas Killing Fields?

Located in League City, Texas, the 50-mile piece of land known as the Killing Fields lies about 26 miles away from Houston. Since the 1970s, over 30 bodies of murder victims have been found there. Almost all of them were young women and girls, and many believe that these crimes were the work of multiple serial killers.

What stands out about this area is its location. This patch of land is situated near Interstate Highway 45, making it an easy dumping site. It’s also isolated enough that it would be difficult to hear a person scream, and if someone was able to escape their attacker, there are very few if any places to go. Federal agent Don Ferrarone once told a correspondent for 48 Hours Mystery, “it’s just a perfect place [for] killing somebody and getting away with it.”

Has Anyone Been Arrested for Crimes Connected to the Texas Killing Fields?

Despite how many bodies have been found on this stretch of land, there have been shockingly few convictions. In 1987, Robert King confessed to the police that he and Gerald Peter Zwarst raped and strangled 19-year-old Shelley Sikes. Authorities were unable to find her body, but both men received life imprisonment for aggravated kidnapping. A decade later in 1997,  William Lewis Reece was arrested for the kidnapping and attempted murder of 19-year-old Sandra Sepo. Reece later confessed to killing Tiffany Johnston in Oklahoma as well as Jessica Cain, Kelli Cox, and Laura Smither, whose bodies were all found in the Killing Fields. He received life imprisonment and died behind bars. Finally in 2012, Kevin Edison Smith was arrested and convicted for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker. He too was sentenced to life in prison. 

But that’s about it. There have been several suspects over the years and even what is now believed to been a false arrest. Michael Lloyd Self died while he was still in custody, and it was only after his death that a number of officials revealed that they believed he was wrongfully convicted. The other two primary suspects are Edward Harold Bell and Mark Stallings. Both confessed to killing women in this area. Due to a lack of evidence, neither were charged for their confessions, and Bell died in 2019. Even this slightly longer list of suspects doesn’t account for all of the bodies that have been found in this part of Texas.

What Is the Texas Killing Fields Movie?

Directed by Ami Canaan Mann and starring Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jessica Chastain and Chloë Grace Moretz, the film adaptation of this crime spree premiered in 2011. The movie follows two detectives who try to track down a serial killer by examining the mangled bodies of his victims. That’s where the similarities between reality and fiction end. In the movie, the killer switches gears and starts to hunt the detectives, resulting in a race against time as they also try to save a young girl’s life.

It’s not regarded as a particularly good movie. The Rotten Tomatoes score is currently at 38 percent, and Roger Ebert wrote of it, “Scenes do not always necessarily follow one another.”

Is Texas Killing Fields Streaming?

If those lackluster reviews didn’t scare you away, you can stream this one. At the moment, Texas Killing Fields can be watched with ads thanks to Roku. It’s also available for digital rental or purchase on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, or YouTube.