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Paul Wagner signs off from FOX 5 for the last time
Paul Wagner is signing off from FOX 5 for the final time.
WASHINGTON - It’s the end of an era at FOX 5.
Veteran crime journalist Paul Wagner reported for WTTG for the last time Tuesday.
A mainstay in District media for decades, Wagner received a sendoff from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser herself during a Tuesday news conference.
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DC mayor says farewell to veteran FOX 5 reporter Paul Wagner
Veteran FOX 5 reporter Paul Wagner reported for the station for the last time on Tuesday - and Mayor Muriel Bowser took time out to say goodbye to him.
The mayor says she has marveled at Wagner’s resourcefulness over the years.
LISTEN: The Mansion Murders podcast
“I didn’t quite believe it when I heard it this morning because Paul is certainly a D.C. fixture when it comes to this press room and covering local news. You will understand that if you’re in my position and he has all these great sources – he knows the news before we make it news, and you wonder how he does it,” she said.
But Bowser went on to credit Wagner not just for his ability to break news, but to do it the right way.
“We know he does it because he’s honest, he has served with integrity and the people who watch him nightly appreciate the news that he’s bringing,” the mayor said.
LISTEN: Missing Pieces podcast
The mayor closed by offering Wagner a round of applause.
Wagner arrived in the District in 1981 – and his first job was reporting on traffic from atop the Washington Monument.
Before arriving at FOX 5 in 1999, Wagner had posts in radio and with the Associated Press.
Wagner describes himself as an equal opportunity storyteller, and he hopes to continue doing that in some fashion.
“Believe me, it’s been a pleasure working in this city, covering the news here and being able to shine a light on what’s going on here,” Wagner told the mayor on Tuesday.
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He also thanked the mayor and her staff for their help.
“He’s a storyteller at heart – so keep telling stories,” Bowser said.
“If you asked me for my proudest accomplishment, I would have to say it’s the law passed by the D.C. City Council ensuring evidence in homicide cases is preserved for 60 years,” Wagner says in his bio.
The law was authored by then-city council member Kathy Patterson after watching a series of stories I did on evidence mysteriously disappearing from the D.C. police evidence warehouse.
During the last few years at FOX 5, Wagner branched off from on-air reporting to record multiple successful true crime podcasts – including Mystery on Swann Street (Missing Pieces) and The Mansion Murders.