Rand Son Dies at 61

Texas’ Public Information Act isn’t as robust as Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act — something to keep in mind when politicians tell us they want to make our FOIA more like other states’ — so Whispers has had to piece this together.

We can confirm that Wayne Anthony Rand, 61, the oldest of infamous serial fraudster Tony Rand’s five felonious sons, died in Dallas County last Tuesday.

We can also confirm that Landon Rand, 21, was booked into the Dallas County jail on a charge of murder shortly after midnight on Wednesday. Tony Rand, who raised his family in North Little Rock, has a grandson of that name, according to his mother-in-law’s obituary.

We can also confirm that “a middle-aged man” died Tuesday of multiple stab wounds in a motel room in the Dallas County town of Addison, and that a suspect believed to be the victim’s son was taken into custody by the Addison Police Department.

But, because it’s still under investigation by Addison police and the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office has not declared a cause and manner of death as of Thursday afternoon, we can’t confirm that Landon Rand is charged with stabbing his father, Wayne Rand, to death at a Red Roof Inn. But hold that thought.

Wayne Rand’s death and Landon Rand’s arrest for murder — which, again, we can’t confirm are related — are the latest blows for a family that has been in crime news periodically for more than 30 years.

Tony Rand, now 81, was convicted in 1991 on 26 counts of fraud and money laundering in a $17 million scheme to deceive lenders and suppliers who extended credit to his Rand Theatres chain. He spent nearly seven years in federal prison, after which he and most of the family relocated to Texas and reinvented themselves as oil and gas executives.

Tony and sons Wayne, Jeff, Greg, Mark and Bill all pleaded guilty in 2010 and 2011 to living large by defrauding investors in oil and gas schemes totaling a mind-blowing $110 million, although they weren’t all working together. Wayne was the only one prosecuted by the state of Texas, while the rest pleaded guilty in federal court. Wayne was sentenced in 2011 to 20 years in Texas state prison but had been released by 2021.

Greg Rand, 58, is the only one of Tony’s sons who is still incarcerated, and he’s set for release from the federal Bureau of Prisons in August 2025.