Forensic Files

Forensic Files

In the 1980s, a trio of unsolved murders occurred in Wichita Falls, Texas. Later, a fourth murder from the same time period provided the police with far more than they realized.

Forensic Files

A man riding a bicycle was fatally injured in what police believed to be a hit-and-run accident. Tiny clues found at the scene created a picture of the vehicle which struck him and led police to its driver.

Forensic Files: Within Arm's Reach

A police officer accused of killing his estranged wife insists she committed suicide. Investigators say it was murder — that it was physically impossible for the woman to have shot herself.

Forensic Files

In 1989, 4-year-old April Loveless was found dead in the backyard of her Texas home. Her parents told police that she was attacked and killed by wild dogs. Investigators did not agree.

Forensic Files

A security guard disappeared from his post without a trace; his remains were found a year later in a remote campsite.

Forensic Files

When police recovered the submerged car of a missing man, they expected to find his body — but it wasn't there. The investigation that followed would uncover an obsession turned deadly.

Forensic Files

In 2005, David Castor suffered a slow, agonizing death over a period of days. His wife maintained it was suicide, even though it was done with antifreeze.

Forensic Files

In 2001, Ginger Hayes and her infant son were abducted during a carjacking. The crime had been reported by a witness within minutes of occurrence.

Forensic Files

When a popular disc jockey was found murdered in a community garden, police swung into action. A sniffer dog and a blood spatter expert led police to the killer, who had been much closer than they realized.

Forensic Files

When the wife of a well-known dentist is found dead, police struggle to identify a suspect. Some fibers and a study of the weather patterns on the night of the murder break the case open and reveal the killer.

Forensic Files

Police discover a bullet-riddled car, a missing driver and no witnesses. Had the victim been abducted or was she dead? The answers are found in a unique clue, so tiny it was measured in millionths of a meter.

Forensic Files

In the early hours of a morning just before Christmas, a college student was abducted from the parking lot of her apartment. Her body was found later that day; she had been sexually assaulted and shot at point-blank range.

Forensic Files

In 1988, the body of a young woman was discovered in an Ohio river. Most of the evidence had been washed away, but the victim's 6-year-old son unwittingly told investigators all they needed to know — without saying a word. The clue was in his genes.

Forensic Files

A neighbor watched as a man stabbed his wife, pushed her into the swimming pool and held her head under water. The husband, however, had no recollection of the crime. A jury would have to decide between evidence and the mysteries of the mind.

Forensic Files

When police in the Great Plains are called about a dead body, a background check on the victim leads them into a bizarre web of homeless drifters, cattle auctions and bad checks — all fronted by elderly couple Ray and Faye Copeland.

Forensic Files

In 1994, a human skull retrieved from an Ohio pond reveals a ghastly crime. Markings on the skull indicate that the victim had been stabbed multiple times and that the teeth had been removed with needle-nose pliers.

Forensic Files

An investigation into the murder of a World War II veteran slowed to a halt when the prime suspect had a solid alibi. But a lucky break led to a shady character who wore distinctive boots and had a sweet tooth.

Forensic Files

A young couple decided to celebrate their first wedding anniversary with a camping trip to Mount Hood. During the trip, the husband was shot and killed. Later, his wife told two different versions of the events which led to his death.

Forensic Files

A young woman suddenly becomes critically ill, eventually leaving her unable to walk. A bone marrow test reveals the cause: arsenic poisoning. Investigators must determine if the poisoning was caused by groundwater contamination or something sinister.

Forensic Files

In 1986, Gary Dale Larson was stabbed to death in his Edmond, Oklahoma home. The killer then sexually assaulted Larson's girlfriend, Janet Haynes.

Forensic Files

This examination of the role autopsies play in murder investigations focuses on the suspicious death of Virginia Ridley. Police charge her mentally unstable husband with murder, but a medical examiner discovers that she died of natural causes.

Forensic Files

When 19-year-old Lori Auker left her Pennsylvania home for work and never arrived, it took space-age technology, cat hairs and insects to pinpoint the woman's abductor.

Forensic Files

For 15 months, a serial killer was strangling prostitutes in Florida, then taunting police by leaving the bodies in plain sight. The only clues were a tire impression and some threads.

Forensic Files

In 2003, St. Cloud teenager Jason MacLennan returned home after a night out with friends and discovered his father's body lying in a pool of blood.

Forensic Files

In 1987, the death of Crystal Purcell was considered an accident. Then in 2001, Barbara Purcell called police to suggest that her estranged husband had killed Crystal.

Forensic Files

In 2000, the body of exotic dancer Rachel Siani was found beneath a New Jersey bridge. Investigators wondered if she had committed suicide. They discovered that Rachel offered to assist a drunk customer named John "Jack" Denofa to his motel room.

Forensic Files

Digital enhancement of security camera footage shows that what appears to be a casual encounter is actually a forced abduction. When investigators suspect the crimes are not random, they fear a serial killer may be on the loose.

Forensic Files

A young woman was found dead on a golf course in the Bahamas. The grass on that course was so distinctive, it had evidentiary value. The evidence led police to two suspects, each of whom blamed the other.

Forensic Files

When a dry cleaner employee is raped and murdered in her store, police turn to forensic science for the answers they need.

Forensic Files: A Welcome Intrusion

A man tells police he shot an intruder who had attacked and murdered his wife. The husband paints a tragic picture and is dubbed a hero. Four years later, forensic evidence leads police to re-examine the motives of this so-called hero.

Forensic Files

When a man is gunned down in his own garage, investigators use science to unravel a twisted tale of lust, greed and deception.

Forensic Files

In 2000, teenager Tara Munsey went missing after a work shift at a Virginia restaurant. Did she run away, or was she the victim of foul play?

Forensic Files

The murder of an eccentric millionaire was not entirely unexpected; he flaunted his wealth and cared little for personal security. The evidence at the crime seemed to indicate robbery, but investigators wondered if there was something more.

Forensic Files

In little more than a month, two women who lived in the same apartment complex were brutally murdered. The similarities of the crime scenes led police to conclude they were dealing with a serial killer who harbored an intense hatred of women.

Forensic Files

Seattle police had no suspects in the violent murder of grunge singer Mia Zapata. More than a decade passed before evidence collected by a prescient medical examiner could be used by forensic scientists to identify the killer.

Forensic Files

In 2006, Darlene VanderGiesen received threatening emails and then disappeared. Tracking the source of the emails led police to the home of Daphne Wright, where they believe a murder was committed.

Forensic Files

Forensic Files