A successful businessman's role in the case of a missing young woman is exposed.
A mother of two is killed leaving church-choir practice. There is little evidence at the scene, but the police uncover a scandal during their investigation.
A case of stolen identity is unearthed by forensics as the police investigate the death of a man in a garage fire.
Forensic evidence in the case of a missing teenager illustrates the tragedy behind a decision to play hooky.
A woman is found raped and killed on a public trail. An eyewitness account leads the police to the murderer.
A man's shooting death appears to be robbery related, but the discovery of a mysterious greeting card changes the course of the investigation.
The police find a murder suspect on the scene after a child calls 911 about his dead father. But when forensics clears the man, the police must rely on DNA evidence to find the real killer.
The sexual assault and murder of a woman in her apartment is investigated. The police have no evidence to prove their prime suspect's guilt, but another woman's tragedy may help them solve the case.
After years of suffering domestic abuse, a young woman is found murdered in her bathtub; among numerous clues, a hamburger bun proves the most incriminating.
Evidence that includes threatening emails, a missing person and an abandoned truck lead police to a woman's suspected killer, but they don't have the victim's body.
A woman has an accidental fall down a flight of stairs and appears to have hit her head, but the lack of blood splatter and misplaced shoes lead police to believe the fall was staged.
A missing-person case turns into a homicide investigation.
Lack of evidence compels investigators to look beyond the obvious when a woman is beaten to death at her in-laws house.
A man is found dead of an apparent suicide. But soon after, information emerges which reveals a much more menacing scenario.
A dismembered body is dumped on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike and before police realize it, bodies are turning up between two states.
The murder case of a university student is the focus.
A small saliva sample serves as a vital clue to solving a cold murder case.
An Ohio woman and her two daughters go missing while vacationing in Florida; their corpeses are found floating in Tampa Bay with a hand-written note by one of the victims; putting it on five billboards helps them find the killer.
A young scientist's death is probed, and evidence found in the man's hair leads investigators to his killer.
A young college student is found dead in her apartment and the autopsy rules the death a homicide by an unknown male suspect.
The killer removed the computer that links him to the murder of a woman and her soon-to-be ex-husband that he had met online.
A body is found stuffed into a suitcase forcing the police to search though the landfill for another missing victim.
The murder of a Florida restaurant manager in an apparent robbery gone wrong is investigated. A bloody fingerprint left at the scene leads to a suspect other than the robber.
A murder victim's body is discovered after firefighters extinguish a blaze in a parking lot. An electric blanket and tire tracks serve as evidence.
The investigation into an Arizona surgeon's murder is the focus. The police initially believe it was a random act, but later uncover evidence that points to a wealthy suspect motivated by jealousy.
A look at a case more than a decade old involving a Maine mother's murder. The only witness was her 12-year-old daughter.
A family walk in on a burglary, resulting in a double murder. The case is initially tied to a series of local thefts, but the probe reveals a different motive and killer.
The 1995 murder of South Carolina hairdresser Dana Satterfield, who was found strangled in her beauty shop, is recalled.
The 1995 murders of Oregon residents Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill are recalled. Robert James Acremant admitted to shooting the pair in a pickup truck, after trying to get money from them.
The discovery of a bag aids police in solving a couple's murder.
A mobile-home fire leads to an investigation of a man's murder.
A missing security guard's body is found after 19 months, but leads run cold for 14 years until an investigator finds evidence on the victim's foot.
A shop owner is found dead in her store and police get an unusual break from nature.
A politician's suspicious death is probed.
An interrupted robbery that ended in murder is probed.
Evidence found on a bridge shows that a woman's apparent suicide was actually murder.
The police search for a woman and her child, who were abducted during a carjacking.
Running shoes and a mobile phone shed light on a cold case involving a student's abduction and murder.
Police suspect foul play in the case of a missing college student after they find blood in her boyfriend's bedroom.
The suspect in a woman's death is linked to a six-year-old murder case in another state.
The hunt is on for a serial rapist in Texas.
A woman disappears after church services, leaving behind a car with no gas and a missing emergency fuel can. When her body is found days later, the search begins for her abductor, who is thought to be driving a van.
Police hunt for the killer of a girl found dead in Washington after going missing on the Fourth of July.
A killer leaves equally incriminating evidence at the scene when he meticulously wipes away his fingerprint and shoe impressions.
After a woman is found dead at a yacht club in California in an apparent case of love gone wrong, investigators discover her home life was as dramatic as films made in nearby Hollywood.
The brutal murder of a state park employee over $2,000 rattles her co-workers and tourists while leaving police to sift through hundreds of leads.
When evidence shows a woman's rape and murder, police must find the killer as well as the victim.
A week after a couple disappears from the beach, police get a mysterious lead from a robbery.
Fifteen years later, DNA technology leads to justice for a murdered woman and her savagely beaten 4-year-old daughter.
The 2004 murder of Florida insurance adjuster Katrina Froeschle, who was killed while visiting a home to assess storm damage. Jason Funk, who was renting the house, later admitted to killing the victim after trying to rape her.
The 2005 murder of Christie Wilson, who disappeared after leaving a California casino, is recalled. Mario Flavio Garcia was convicted in 2006 of killing Wilson after meeting her at the casino and spending time drinking and gambling with her.
The 1996 murder of Memphis resident Shannon Sanderson is recalled. She was abducted from her home and killed after winning money at a casino in Tunica, Tennessee. Gerald Lee Powers was convicted of the murder in 1998 and sentenced to death.
The 1986 murder of Wisconsin resident Lynnea Gran, who was bludgeoned in a grocery store. The case went unsolved for years, until DNA evidence led to the arrest and conviction of the victim's son, Rodger Allen Gran.
The 2000 murder of Australian David Crawford, who was killed with an axe during a robbery. The victim's pacemaker recorded the exact time of death and led to the conviction of Ivan John Jones, a suspect who did not have an alibi for that specific time.
An elderly woman's fatal fall down a flight of steps is dismissed as an accident until the police receive a tip indicating otherwise.
A house fire that killed a woman is investigated, and a heater appears to have started the blaze, but officials soon suspect foul play.
When three students are brutally murdered close to campus, investigators must determine what the women had in common before their serial killer strikes again.
A woman is murdered in her home, and clues include a pair of eyeglasses and a shoeprint in a squashed tomato.
The investigation into a missing Texas school teacher is aided by an ATM transaction and a shoelace.
The case of a missing Michigan State University student.
A report on Georgia dentist Barton Corbin, who confessed to killing his wife, Jennifer, and former girlfriend Dolly Hearn; and staging the killings to look like suicides.
The 1993 rape and murder of Janet Siclari, who was killed in New Jersey. Thomas Jabin Berry was convicted, and sentenced to two life terms.
The 1991 disappearance of Black Forest, Colorado teenager Heather Dawn Church is recalled. Church's remains were found two years later on a remote Colorado road. The victim's neighbour, Robert Charles Browne, was convicted of the murder and given a life sentence.
The 1991 murder of Myrtle Beach resident Heather Stigliano is recalled. The victim was killed by James Bernard Whipple during a robbery.
The 2001 murders of Texas residents Cammy Lynn Keleman and Dana Denise Feazell are investigated.
The exoneration of convicted murderer Roy Arthur Brown is examined. Brown was found guilty of the 1991 killing of New York social worker Sabina Kulakowski and sentenced to prison, based in part on bite marks found on the victim. However, DNA evidence would later prove that Brown was innocent.
The 2004 murder of Florida resident Cathy Lamb, who was bludgeoned to death with a tire iron in her home, is recalled. The victim's husband, Jeffrey Lamb, was convicted of the crime and given a life sentence.
The 1998 murder of Texas trial lawyer Leslie Vaughn, who was shot while sleeping. The victim's son Brian was convicted of murder and given a 33-year sentence.
The 1998 murder of Ohio resident Judith Johnson is recalled. Johnson's son-in-law, Clarence Elkins, was originally convicted of the crimes, but was exonerated by DNA evidence.
The 1984 murder of Middle Tennessee State student Laura Salmon, who was killed by numerous blows to the head. The victim's ex-boyfriend, David Kyle Gilley, was convicted of the murder after his DNA was found on a pair of men's jeans that were covering the vicitim's body.
A woman is found dead in her car in a creek in an incident that may not have been accidental.
A suspect's dog might provide a clue in an investigation of a stockbroker's death.
Key suspect has a solid alibi in the murder of a war veteran; but police get a lead by finding a new suspect with a sweet tooth.
The death of an equestrian is thought to be a suicide, but investigators soon suspect foul play, and a clue may come from the victim.
The slaying of an off-duty policeman is investigated, with clues coming from tiny fibers and an asthma inhaler.
A triple homicide leads investigators to an offshore gambling operation.
A man dies in a hit-and-run boating incident, and a witness comes forward during the investigation who claims to have been in the fleeing boat.
Authorities investigating the death of a woman who worked at an Arizona insurance company discover that she died of cyanide poisoning.
The police question a woman's claim that she was abducted; then physical evidence emerges that could confirm her story.
Blood-spatter experts and a forensic meteorologist try to determine whether the death of a man's wife was accidental.
Two young people are found dead, and their house burns down.
The investigation into the 1994 abduction-murder of Emory University student Shannon Melendi following a softball game is detailed.
An investigation into a woman's deadly tumble down a staircase is featured.
The death of a police lieutenant's wife is investigated, and a short audio tape found by the police helps solve the case.
A used tissue, 12 years after the murder of a young Missouri woman, may be what cracks the case with a suspect list a mile long.
A fire investigator determines if a kerosene heater is the cause of a fire that killed one person or if it was murder.
An investigation into the killings of two police officers in El Segundo, California in 1957.
A man is killed while riding a bicycle, and a piece of plastic becomes a key clue to finding the vehicle that struck him.
Investigators determine what caused a house fire that killed an elderly couple and whether the victims' son is responsible.
Detectives are suspicious after a woman is killed in a hunting accident, but it takes more than twenty years before a trace evidence analyst is able to match fibers on a soiled blanket to the killer.
When hunters find a skull in a Texas canyon, police find bits of clothing, a woman's shoe, some small bones and a strand of hair; once they discover her identity, it was time to find the killer.
Suicide notes and a pistol in hand lead police to suspect that a mother of two young children appeared to had killed herself, but when investigators learned of a house fire she was in three years earlier, they reinvestigate.
The murder of an Air Force sergeant's wife, whose body was found on a Philippines air base, is examined. Investigators use computer forensics to help search for the killer.
Pieces of plastic the size of sand hold clues to a bombing.
At first glance it appears a young woman suffocated, but further investigation shows the scene was staged.
The case of a Spokane boy who vanished and was found dead, is spotlighted.
A nighttime traffic accident is investigated and the forensic evidence gathered leads authorities to believe it was more than a fender-bender.
Investigators determine if a computer crash which almost ruined a manufacturing company was accidental or deliberate sabotage.
An irrigation canal murder remains unsolved until a similar murder occurs.
An obstetrician's wife is murdered, and potential theories of the crime include a botched burglary, and a targeted attack by militant pro-life activists.
Weed analysis and photogrammetry are used to help solve the 1995 murder of a California teenager is found dead after disappearing from her home.
When police recover the submerged car of missing man, they find no body; the investigation that follows uncovers a deadly obsession and the motive for murder.
Emergency dispatch recieved a call from a man who said his girlfriend shot and killed herself. But the wound was not self-inflicted.
Investigators piece together evidence found at the scene of a Native American woman's murder; the tyre tracks and shoe impressions could lead them to the killer.
Experts seek answers to a young businesswoman's death just before she was to testify in a criminal trial.
The disappearance of a woman last seen in a grocery-store parking lot in Colorado is investigated. The probe turns up bloody gloves and strange tire tracks.
Forensics hopes to determine if this was revenge when the home of a state's witness is bombed, killing his father.
In a wealthy area of Philadelphia, police are called to the scene of what seems like a regular accidental drowning; the investigation begins to focus on one person who has many reasons to want the victim dead.
Two women are murdered in the same town and police fear a serial killer is on the loose, further investigation finds that they were both close to the same man.
The police investigate the slaying of a disc jockey, whose body was found in a garden.
A man is killed by criminals who invade his home, but his wife is also a suspect after authorities find a wound on her that may have been self-inflicted.
Three seemingly unrelated deaths proved to be serial murders; the killer had been careful, he uses poison which had no taste or odour, fortunately for investigators, it also has a unique chemical signature.
The slaying of a Philadelphia chef leads investigators to initially suspect his restaurant's employees until they determine the ingredients of his demise: debt, deceit and betrayal.
With very little else to go on, investigators find that a show impression puts them on the right track to finding a killer in Lansing, Mich.
The owner of a restaurant is killed; investigators uncover tales of debt and deceit, but the case remains open, until one detective gets inspired by an earlier episode of "Forensic Files," and looks for clues in an empty holster.
Homicides in two different continents are investigated.
A man becomes the prime suspect in his wife's death after forensic science raises questions about her apparent suicide.
An alleged killer tries to destroy evidence of a crime, but inadvertently creates new evidence.
Who put a bomb in the home of a 29-year-old woman and killed her?
A killer tried to destroy everything which could link them to the crime; but in doing so, they inadvertently created new forensic evidence, evidence which came to light using a technique never before used in a criminal investigation.
A discarded sleeping bag, containing bloody sneakers and a purse, leads police to the body of a young woman; a mark found on the victim's body enables police to track the killer.
A woman's apparent accidental death begins to look fishy after police uncover a letter written by the victim days before her untimely death.
An Alaskan trooper finds a woman's body beside a frozen road, but evidence is scant even after a suspected murder weapon is found.
A real estate tycoon must have had a premonition about foul play, as he wrote it in his will.
Police link a clump of hair discovered in an isolated area with a woman who disappeared 20 years ago.
When a prominent banker's wife is kidnapped, the trail leads police on a wild goose chase; they track down disgruntled bank customers and examine computer fonts.
A woman's mysterious illness leads doctors to suspect that someone is poisoning her.
A trio of men, responsible for several bank robberies, leaves no evidence behind; forensic scientists help catch them by looking at the criminals' posture and clothing.
A missing bank president's body is found floating in a lake; the duct tape used in binding him to a chair helps solve the crime.
A husband was shot and killed, forensic psychiatry helped the wife to remember the details for what happened.
An investigation into the death of a 20-year-old woman who fell from a California cliff leads investigators to suspect that it was not a tragic accident.
The body of a 16-year-old girl is discovered nine months after her disappearance; forensic scientists find clues that paint a virtual portrait of her killer.
The robbery and brutal murder of an elderly couple goes unsolved for 10 years; a forensic scientist makes history when he solves the crime.
A man is charged with the murder of a wrestling champion; six years later, a forensic animator testifies on his behalf.
A 19-year-old girl is found dead in her car in what appears to be a suicide; police discover that the victime was involved in a love quadrangle, giving several people motive to kill.
Fifteen years after a man disappears, using a metal detector, police find evidence which proves what had happened.
The body of a young California co-ed under an isolated interstate ramp sets off an investigation; San Diego police have no idea who would want her dead, but they discover a tiny, unique fiber on the victim's clothing.
Police become suspicious of a man who reported his wife missing 15 years after doing the same thing with his first wife.
A small community in upstate New York is devastated when a car accident claims the life of a well-respected nurse.
Car with three Secret Service agents collides with local deputy's car; investigation launched into who was responsible for the deadly car accident finds two very different conclusions.
While investigating the case of a Colorado hunter shot three times and killed, police suspect two murder weapons, and two killers, but forensic evidence points them closer to home.
A woman disappears without a trace, and police learn two other women vanished under similar circumstances.
The disappearance of a shrimp boat captain is investigated and one of his own crew becomes a suspect.
Forensic-science techniques employed by real CSIs are examined in this documentary series, which follows coroners, law-enforcement personnel and others as they try to solve baffling crimes.
The cold-blooded murder of an American tourist in a Mexican resort causes law enforcement to focus on both sides of the border.
The derailment of the Sunset Limited was the deadliest train crash in U.S. history killing 47 passengers and crew with several more injured.
Hikers near Anchorage, Alaska discover a body wrapped in sheets edged in orange stitching; they discover threads of evidence clinging to the sheet.
Arson investigators attempt to determine the cause of the 1987 fire at the Kings Cross Underground Station in London.
The son of a murder victim contacts the police when a flight attendant is brutally murdered in a remarkably similar way.
A man has no recollection of events after stabbing his wife and holding her head underwater in a swimming pool.
Forensic scientists work with the only clue recovered from a multiple-victim shooting: a 12-gauge shotgun. Scientists use unique methods to lift the serial number from the weapon in order to trace it to its owner.
An obscure print found at a crime scene.
The case of a woman found dead in her home leaves investigators stumped.
Neighbors do not hear the gunshots when a union official is killed in his home.
The search for an abducted woman leads investigators to a rental car, but the signature on the rental paperwork is a forgery. Forensic science is used to identify the signature despite the killer's attempts to falsify it.
When fire fighters find a family dead inside their home, it appears to be a murder-suicide; clues at the scene lead investigators to believe otherwise.
A couple's murder leads investigators into the world of white supremacists and a string of hate crimes.
A rare gun and a victim's beloved dog help investigators trying to solve a multi-year long murder case where most of the witnesses were admitted drug users.
A homicide detective claims his wife accidentally shot herself in the head, but the evidence indicates otherwise.
Officials probe the death of a woman investigating the possible side effects of the drug she was prescribed for bipolar disorder.
The murder of a businessman leaves the investigators stumped; the prime suspect's alibi is questioned.
An 11-year-old girl is sexually assaulted and shot twice at close range.
A woman is killed weeks before testifying against the man who sexually assaulted her.
New York police hunt the Zodiac killer after a series of deadly attacks.
When a healthy young man dies mysteriously in his sleep, toxicology tests reveal that it may have been foul play. Could a `suicide note' hold the key to solving the case.
A child's memory, a diary and a forensic psychologist help investigators solve a young woman's murder.
The bodies of two young women are found in the ashes of an apartment fire.
The murder of a TV news producer leaves investigators stumped when their two prime suspects are both cleared. Three years later, Virginia's DNA Databank provides a hit---and leads to the conviction of the culprit.
Two different men report the murder of a single mother and when the case's other anomalies stall the police, a candy wrapper and seeds help expose the killer.
After a Connecticut man's body is found in a burning rental car on a Mexican highway, an insurance company suspects a scam.
When a pipe bomb rips through a rural home, killing a young man and seriously injuring his mother, detectives hope that the remnants of a mailing label will lead them to a killer.
A quiet residential community, shattered by the murder of a neighbor. See how modern techniques helped investigators catch the culprit in less than 12 hours.
The murder of a sexual-abuse victim who had agreed to take the stand against her attacker is investigated. Although the police suspect the defendant, the case remains open for 15 years before DNA testing is able to verify their suspicions.
A man is murdered in a drive-by shooting. When a mobile phone trace incriminates a killer, it's up to a forensic geologist to find evidence that he was at the scene.
A high school gym teacher gives his friend a ride home but never returns; his wife and friend receive letters saying he started a new life, but they suspect foul play despite no body being discovered.
A 16-year-old girl is killed in her own home by her mother and father. Her parents said they acted in self-defense, but the forensic evidence indicates otherwise.
A forensic botanist is called in on a murder case when the police hone in on a suspect but have no evidence linking him to the crime scene.
The police investigate a pipe-bomb incident that took the life of a young man and injured his mother.
When Rosemary Anderson is found dead on the side of the road, her boyfriend becomes the prime suspect. He eventually confessed to her murder, but so did another man: serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke.
A computer database crash at a manufacturing company is investigated.
A London fire that killed 31 people is investigated.
Eight years after a man confessed to the murder of a young woman, another man claims that he committed the crime, and investigators must use forensic evidence to determine the true killer.
An examination of an unusual case in Texas involving the 1988 rape and murder of a pizza-parlour employee. After a suspect confessed, and he and an alleged accomplice were imprisoned, the case was considered closed. Eight years later, however, another man confessed to the same crime---and DNA evidence cleared the first suspect while implicating that the second was, in fact, guilty.
In a small South Carolina town in 1991, 17-year-old Crystal Faye Todd, a popular high school student, is raped, murdered and dumped in a deserted field; with few leads, authorities test the DNA of several friends, and one match shocks everyone.
An examination of the Crystal Faye Todd case. In 1991, the 17-year-old was brutally murdered in Horry County, South Carolina. The police asked 52 male acquaintances to provide blood samples so that they could compare the DNA to semen found at the murder scene. The process eliminated all but one young man---and he's now serving a life sentence.
Investigators build a makeshift tent around a woman's body and use super glue fumes to lift the killer's palm print from the victim's skin.
The murder of a young Seattle couple puzzles investigators until the victims' dog, Chief, leads police to the killer.
An outbreak of food poisoning in 1984 Oregon leads authorities to a religious cult.
A woman's death is investigated. The husband claims it was suicide; but the police suspect otherwise.
A handsome young doctor's fiancee experiences severe illness after revealing that she is pregnant, and launches her own investigation to determine if the doctor is somehow responsible.
Witnesses claim to have seen a white van run over a man in an alley behind a bar, but when the police respond they find no body and no blood on the van.
The disappearance of a mail-order bride proves suspicious when detectives learn that two of the Texas husband's previous wives had died in mysterious circumstances.
Exploring how an American hit single from 1966 -- "The Cheater" by Bob Kuban and the In-Men -- foreshadowed the demise of the group's lead singer, Walter Scott.
A jeweler's search through old sales records helps police find likely suspects in the murder of elderly couple Edward Kowalzck and Gertrude Thompson.
When young prostitute's body turns up in an Ohio waterway, authorities have one tiny clue which could point to her killer, but face huge challenges due to her policemen clients and DNA evidence being washed away.
A woman is found dead from a gunshot wound and police suspect her husband, however, forensic teams prove what really happened and the truth is stranger than fiction.
Using an anonymous letter and geographical profiling, investigators close in on a serial rapist, and a cleverly obtained DNA sample confirms their suspicions.
When a young boy has serious respiratory problems and his father shows signs of early Alzheimer's disease, a chance encounter with a stranger kicks off an investigation into the cause.
After American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair disappears, the discovery of a mutilated body helps police catch the culprit.
Two people witness a truck driving over an unconscious man and flee into a nearby bar, but when the police turn up, the truck, the man and the witnesses are gone.
A trash collector finds a severed human leg in a trash bin but police cannot use conventional methods of victim identification; investigators turn to toxicology and DNA tests to find the murder-mutilator.
A coroner finds telltale clues on the badly burned body of a murder victim, sending police in pursuit of a couple of killers.
Police find fragments of deleted computer files leading them to suspect a woman's suicide is really murder.
A suspicious neighbor gives police a break in a cold case.
A family suspects their teenage daughter's new friends were involved in her disappearance.
Insect evidence helps to solve the mystery of a woman found dead near a river bank.
An investigation into a murder is stymied by the lack of a body. But a recovered tooth provides the evidence needed to solve the case.
When a 6-year-old disappears, her father becomes the prime suspect; he fails a polygraph test and even confesses, but 10 years later, the investigation gets turned on its head.
The sensitive nose of a forensic examiner sniffs out murder.
When a 12-year-old was found dead in her home, police were left clueless until a string of burglaries months later. A trail of stolen goods may help solve a murder.
When 15 year-old Marlene Miller was murdered, it would take 24 years and several retrials before forensic scientists discovered the evidence to bring her killer to justice.
A garbage bag leads police to a child's killer.
A family links its ill health to an uninvited "guest" in their brand-new home.
A murder investigation in St Petersburg, Florida crosses jurisdictions from New York and Jamaica. The police rely on mobile phone mapping, wiretapping and a host of forensic evidence to link a suspect to a murder.
An investigation into the disappearance of a young woman uncovers a tooth that helps police solve a crime without a body.
A woman convicted of killing her mother in a car fire is granted a new trial. An expert fire witness shares an opinion on how the fire ignited that differs from the prosecution's theory and, if verified, would clear the daughter of any culpability.
Authorities track a kidnapper who allowed his victim to write a last will and testament on a note pad; a phone number written on a previous page left a lasting impression.
A death in Pennsylvania is strikingly similar to one in North Carolina.
A bite mark is all the evidence needed to convict a suspect who was robbing tourists in Florida.
Computers aid the police and FBI in solving a string of crimes.
Technology able to analyze human bite-marks yields information on a woman's death.
When a nurse starts experiencing a variety of flu-like symptoms, she discovers that she is HIV-positive; she learns that her infection was not accidental.
Police in St. Petersburg, Fla., use cell phone mapping, wiretapping and a host of forensic evidence to find a surgeon's killer.
After a man's body is discovered a few miles from his home, authorities trace the crime back to his house and question his wife.
A random serial sniper is plaguing Virginia and Maryland, with no profile of their victims.
A woman wins her release after being imprisoned for allegedly killing her mother in a car fire.
time of death becomes pivotal when a pregnant woman is found murdered in her air-conditioned bedroom.
Authorities are able to apprehend a kidnapper because he allowed his victim to write a will on a telltale pad of paper.
The case of Carolyn Killaby, who vanished in 1995, is detailed. Dennis Keith Smith was convicted of murder after police found two drops of blood in his car and linked them, via DNA testing, to Killaby.
The investigation into the disappearace of Maine resident Pearl Bruns centres on her husband once blood is found in their home. But despite three thorough searches, the lack of her body and further evidence leave police unable to arrest him. Using a new technology called "ground penetration radar", however, they turned up new evidence: the body, buried in a crawl space beneath the house.
When 4-year-old April Renee Tucker is found dead in her backyard, her parents tell the police that neighborhood dogs attacked and killed her, but the injuries on her body don't match their account of what happened.
How "anonymous" letters can be identified is related in this study of a murder investigation. When police receive a tip with information only the killer could know, they trace the note to the exact location from which it was mailed.
One year after her father's death, a teen's role in a high school production of "Hamlet" causes her to reveal the chilling truth behind her family's tragedy.
An examination of arson investigators and whether their conclusions are always correct.
The death of a patient at the office of Glendale, California doctor Richard Boggs leads investigators to a bizarre scheme involving an insurance scam, switched identities and murder.
The use of shoe impressions to catch criminals is detailed, including one instance in which the evidence almost melted away.
Fingerprints taken from a piece of cloth help solve the rape and murder of a 22-year-old woman in Henrico County, Va.
The FBI profiles a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a 6-year-old girl during an evening church service; a witness leads authorities to the likely killer, but then becomes a victim herself.
The murder of model Linda Sobek is detailed. Police identified a suspect from photos discovered by a traffic scofflaw picking up trash. The suspect, Charles E Rathbun, claimed Sobek died during consensual sex and that he panicked, but the forensic evidence proved otherwise. Convicted of murder, he's now serving a life sentence.
The case of Kimberly Hricko is presented. Hricko's husband, Stephen, was discovered dead in their cabin, badly burned from the waist up. Investigators zeroed in on the wife, who stood to collect $400,000 in life insurance.
The case of Shannon Mohr is related. In 1980, the Michigan woman died in what appeared to be a horseback-riding accident. However, further tests revealed that she died from a drug that causes suffocation. In 1989, her husband was convicted of murder.
A serial killer in Tampa, Fla., taunts police by strangling prostitutes and leaving their bodies in plain sight, but tire marks and fibers lead to the culprit.
The case of elderly farming couple Aaron and Faye Copeland is related. They were convicted and sentenced to death for a bizarre scheme that involved bad checks, cattle auctions and the murders of five drifters.
The process of identifying a skull recovered from a watery grave is detailed. Although the killer removed his victim's teeth, police were able to establish her identity and hone in on a suspect.
An examination of a 1995 bank-robbery case involving a group of white supremacists who followed the Phineas Priest movement. Prosecutors relied on forensic science and the latest in crime technology to convict them.
The case of John Schneeberger is related. The Saskatchewan doctor was accused of sexually assaulting female patients. Although initial DNA tests cleared him, he later admitted to circumventing the testing by inserting a plastic tube filled with another man's blood into his arm. It was a private detective, hired by one of Schneeberger's patients seven years later, who uncovered the ruse.
The case of would-be serial killer Jason Massey, who wanted to become like his idols Ted Bundy and Henry Lee Abbott, is related. In 1993, the 21-year-old was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death for murdering two teenagers.
The case of Fred Grabbe is detailed. In 1981, his wife Charlotte disappeared; three years later, police charged him with murder. His girlfriend testified against him in court, claiming that they burned his wife's body beneath a maple tree. Two scientists were able to verify her story, producing physical evidence from the tree to back up her claim.
The case of Susie Mowbry is detailed. Although she was convicted of murdering her husband, her son believed her story that his financially troubled stepfather had committed suicide. The son enrolled in law school and began studying the case, learning that prosecutors withheld crucial findings by a nationally respected blood-spatter expert. After serving almost 10 years, Mowbry was given a second trial---and was found innocent.
The treatment for an injured hand leads to a murder charge in this look at the Elwood Jones case. Jones claimed he cut his hand on a dumpster, but his doctor recognised the wound as a "fight bite". The doctor was the main witness at Jones' murder trial, during which Jones was convicted of killing a 67-year-old woman.
The pornography empire cultivated by brothers Artie and Jim Mitchell crumbles when one turns up dead and his brother confesses to shooting him; investigators question whether the shooting was premeditated.
When prison guard Donna Payant's body is discovered at a landfill, a medical examiner uses a "signature" clue to link her death to a murder the same examiner investigated 10 years earlier.
The brutal assault of a Maine state trooper is connected to an 8-month-old murder case in New Jersey by the "signature" the alleged killer, Steven Fortin, used in both crimes.
A young woman goes missing without leaving many clues, but the advanced technology on offer makes it possible for cat hairs and insects to help build an image of the abductor.
Blood spatter analysis and an investigation lead police to the truth when a pregnant woman is found dead in her home.
A mother is determined to discover what happened when her daughter is injured in a hit-and-run accident.
Forensic science and deductive reasoning determine what happened to a mother and daughter while they were on a shopping spree.
The search for a serial rapist who preyed on the women of Lafayette, Louisiana, from the early 1980s through 1995 is detailed. Despite using the most advanced methods available to them, the investigators came up empty until an anonymous phone call tipped them to a suspect: sheriff's deputy Randy Comeaux. DNA evidence taken from a cigarette butt confirmed that he was their man.
An autopsy performed two years after the murder of a dentist's wife reveals fibres that point toward the killer.
The investigation into the murders of Joann Katrinak and her infant son points toward the husband until police find a long blonde hair at the crime scene.
Included: a body left in a barrel for 30 years. There are few clues, but investigators locate an address book nearby.
The suspected arson of Seattle policeman Mathias Bachmeier's home leaves investigators flummoxed until, a month later, Bachmeier arrests a small-time drug dealer who confesses to the crime. Shortly thereafter, however, the suspect disappears---only to turn up dead. That event leads investigators to a new suspect: Bachmeier.
A mother and her two young daughters are found brutally murdered and sexually violated; the crime scene has no shortage of evidence, but investigators cannot find a conclusive link to their prime suspect.
The investigation into the rape and murder of a girl is detailed. The police used orange fibres found near the crime scene to track the culprit.
This examination of the role an autopsy plays in a murder investigation focuses on the 1997 death of a woman. Police charged her mentally unstable husband with murder, but a medical examiner discovered that she died of natural causes.
A police investigation of a Texas hospital, where children die at a higher rate than at any hospital in the country, hones in on a nurse.
Bug larvae and a wad of gum found near a decomposed body lead to a suspect.
Police suspect a man in the disappearance of his wife when he goes house-hunting with a woman pretending to be his spouse.
The story of Archbishop Valerian D Trifa, former head of the Romanian Orthodox Church in America, is related. Following World War II, Trifa emigrated from Romania to the US In 1957, survivors of Nazi atrocities in Bucharest recogniaed him as having directed a bloody 1941 attack against Jews. He was deported in 1984 and died three years later.
The investigation into a missing coed leads police to discover that, unbeknownst to her friends, she led a bizarre double life, attending school by day and working as a call-girl by night. When her body is discovered, investigators obtain evidence that implicates her killer.
An investigation into a gym teacher's death from a gunshot focuses on the wife, whose previous husband died under suspicious circumstances.
"A body found washed ashore on England's south coast leaves investigators stumped, but service records on the dead man's Rolex watch lead to the discovery of his identity: Ronald Platt. Knowing that, detectives track down his business partner, Albert Walker. A police officer visits Walker's residence, where a neighbor indicates that a ""Ronald Platt"" lived in the house and describes the man---with words that match Walker's description, leading to Walker's arrest for murder."
The death of a man suffering from depression is initially considered a suicide, but further police investigation points to his wife.
A hit-and-run driver is convicted with help from an accident-reconstruction expert and a video specialist, who re-create the incident on tape.
Specialists including a NASA vendor help police reconstruct a damaged surveillance video to catch the murderer of convenience store employee Wanda Mason in Lansing, Mich.
A woman claims that her children were killed by an intruder, but authorities suspect that the woman may have been the culprit.
The investigation into the 1991 disappearance of Scott Dunn from his Lubbock, Texas, home is detailed. The police came to suspect his girlfriend, Leisha Hamilton, of foul play after finding blood stains beneath a replaced segment of bedroom carpeting.
A man confesses to killing his wife, but forensic evidence may lead to another suspect.
Investigators search for a missing girl who disappeared from a party. They find fibres that might match her jumper in the car of a suspect.
Detailing a case of thallium poisoning that was initially diagnosed as Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Police search for a sexual predator after the bodies of two boys are found, and an unusual piece of rope might be a key clue.
Bite marks lead investigators to the perpetrator of a 1978 rape-murder.
The police investigate the death of a woman whose body was found at the bottom of a staircase.
A fire in a home in which two children died is investigated.
The mysterious deaths of a couple are investigated.
A man is suspected of murdering his wife by drowning her in a hotel bathtub.
The deaths of a child and a truck driver in the same hospital on the same day are investigated to see if there is a link between them.
A forensic anthropologist attempts to identify a human skull found at a Boy Scout camp.
An investigation into a pipe-bomb explosion that killed a young man and seriously injured his mother.
A couple are investigated after similar kidnapping claims involving their children.
The shooting of a man during a hunting trip is re-opened years after the incident, and the victim's hunting partner becomes a suspect.
A possible case of Munchausen syndrome is investigated after an infant dies of what appears to be toxic levels of antifreeze in his system.
Investigators searching for a missing woman find wig hairs and fibres in the woman's home, although the victim never wore a wig.
DNA evidence in a 1984 abduction-rape case clears the accused 10 years after the fact.
The 1984 disappearance of a 9-year-old girl in Tucson is investigated.
Two years pass in the investigation of a missing 18-year-old girl, but the authorities make a breakthrough by re-interviewing her boyfriend and a childhood friend.
The hunt for a serial killer who plagued the Tampa area during the 1980s is recalled. The case broke wide open when the perpetrator released a victim rather than killing her and she was able to give the police enough information to track him down.
Eileen and Derrick Severs disappeared from their home in the small village of Hambleton in Great Britain. Originally aired as Season 2, Episode 2.
A look back at a December 1990 accident on Route I-75, near Calhoun, Tennessee that involved 99 vehicles and resulted in 12 deaths. The investigation focused on whether human error, the weather or a combination of the two was to blame.
A case of thalium poisoning is investigated.
The police investigate an odd case involving a farmer who is being harassed by a neighbor.
Investigators in Cleveland try to determine why infants are bleeding from the lungs. An airborne fungus is suspected.
Using dental records, the police try to determine the identity of a woman whose body was burned.
The investigations of two seemingly random deaths in Seattle lead the authorities to a connection: over-the-counter medication that was tampered with.
For more than a year, hateful letters were sent to a school teacher in Pennsylvania. DNA analysis would eventually help seal the perpetrator's fate.
The murder of a 13-year-old boy is investigated, and police find an organism in his lungs that may lead to the cause of death.
The investigation into the disappearance of flight attendant Helle Crafts leads to the murder conviction of her pilot husband.
The disappearance of Oklahoma City resident Caren Campano leads investigators to suspect her husband, Chris, when blood is discovered on a carpet. Using a "reverse paternity" process, they are able to identify it as Caren's---and Chris is charged with murder and is later convicted of manslaughter.
The death of a 15-year-old boy, shot in the head while sitting in the lobby of his father's gun club, is detailed.
The use of non-DNA evidence to solve crimes is detailed.
The case of Timothy Spencer is related. Dubbed the Southside Strangler, he was the first serial killer convicted on DNA evidence. During a three-month span during 1987, he raped and murdered three women in Richmond, Virginia.
An examination of "Legionnaires' Disease", so named after it decimated a 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia. One hundred and eighty attendees developed pneumonia-like symptoms; 29 individuals died.
The murder of Huntsville, Alabama doctor Jack Wilson is examined. A handyman confessed to the crime, but claimed that Wilson's wife and her twin sister paid him to kill the husband. Based in large part on the handyman's testimony, the wife was convicted. However, the sister was found not guilty, despite the fact that the prosecutors used the same evidence.
Police rely on a forensic entomologist to provide time-of-death evidence relating to a murder in which the body had decomposed. By identifying the species of flies milling around the body, he could pinpoint when the victim died.
"High levels of thyroid hormones in a South Dakota community lead investigators to one family whose son was not sick. The reason: he was a vegetarian, and the cause was ""extra lean beef"" that contained thyroid tissue."
The John List case is detailed. In 1971, he murdered his wife and children---and promptly vanished. It wasn't until 1989 that he was caught, when the TV show "America's Most Wanted" spotlighted the case.
An 11-year-old boy comes down with a fever and diarrhea after eating an undercooked burger; when his condition worsens, his mother drives him to a hospital and doctors discover E. coli destroying his body.