Austin, Texas is both a state capitol and a beatnik college town. Home to both religious radicals and left-wing liberals, Austin is extremely eclectic. Musicians, artists and activists from all walks of life consider Austin friendly territory. But when the city's most infamous left-wing activists mysteriously disappeared in the summer of 1995, people were left with hard questions about just how open-minded the city really was.

In Austin, music and politics dominate the local culture. The club scene around the University of Texas has spawned one of the nation's largest rock-n-roll festivals. And the halls of state government have launched the careers of U.S. senators, presidents, even George W. Bush. The city is also the home of liberal professors, career college students, and religious holy rollers, and of course the notorious Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

In her heyday, Madalyn Murray O'Hair was arguably the most famous and most reviled activist in America. Her enemies called her “Satan in a Housedress” whilst her followers saw her as a defender of free speech and a stalwart in the fight for separation of church and state. In 1963, she filed the lawsuit that led to the banning of school prayer. Appearing on every talk show from New York to LA, Madalyn Murray O'Hair became a household name. She founded American Atheists, which boasted chapters nationwide. O'Hair proudly claimed the title of America's most hated woman. And when given the chance, she'd defend her title by publishing articles that described the Bible as "nauseating...the ravings of madmen."

While O'Hair found the Bible disturbing, she showed little concern for the extensive criminal record of her office manager, David Waters. Before coming to work for American Atheists in 1993, Waters served time for various offences, including murder. So O'Hair should not have been surprised to find Water's hand in her organisation's till. She accused him of stealing $54,000 from the American Atheists, but Austin police made no arrest. Outraged, O'Hair lambasted Waters in her group's newsletter. The article embarrassed Waters, who began expressing revenge fantasies about torturing O'Hair to death.

In September 1995, O'Hair vanished along with her son and granddaughter. They were last seen in San Antonio. Waters was also spotted in San Antonio around the time of O'Hair's disappearance. According to an affidavit filed by the Austin Police Department, Waters and two accomplices kidnapped O'Hair and her grandson and granddaughter. At first, police believed Waters stole half a million dollars from the O'Hairs before killing them and one of his accomplices, a drifter named Danny Fry. But after gathering mounds of evidence against Waters, the Austin police allowed him to remain free. To many in Austin, it looked as though the local police were ignoring the case because of the victims' notorious reputation.

Four years after O'Hair’s disappearance, a reporter in San Antonio received an anonymous tip that an unidentified body found four years ago in Dallas was that of Danny Fry, one of Waters' partners in crime. After DNA testing confirmed that the corpse was indeed that of Danny Fry, the police finally arrested Waters and his accomplice, convicted rapist Gary Karr. Waters provided police with vital information about the O'Hairs but Karr stopped short of telling authorities where the family was buried. There was enough evidence to charge both Waters and Karr with kidnapping.

Waters finally cracked and told investigators that he and Gary Karr had indeed murdered the O'Hair family and Danny Fry. He lead them to a farm outside of Camp Wood, Texas, where the bodies of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son and her granddaughter were found. Around the city of Austin there is still considerable debate about how the local police handled the case. As for Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her atheist legacy and her reputation as a hard-nosed rabble-rouser are alive and well in Austin. But in a town this eclectic and diverse, exactly what that legacy is remains to be seen.