Identifying Burned Remains: It's difficult to have a murder investigation without a body, and burning up the victim is a time-honored method of destroying physical evidence.
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Arson fires are set for their own sake, or to cover a different crime, such as murder. Think fire consumes all vital clues? Think again. Arson investigators can glean important clues from scorched rubble and ignite the unquenchable flames of justice.
When there's a difficult case to crack whether it involves drugs, arson, or weapons the investigators and scientists of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have the means to crack it.
For serial killers, once is never enough. For investigators, the challenge is steep when the killers murder by numbers.
Some people murder for love. But these killers did it for the money. When greed is the motive, investigators must make every clue pay off.
Every family has its secrets, and sometimes blood relations lead to bloodshed. When murder becomes a family affair, investigators must turn to forensics to uncover family plots.
These cases took a decade or more to solve. There's no statute of limitations on murder. As a case turns cold, the clues become scarce, investigators must rely on science to close cold cases.
When lovers turn on each other, or marriages fail, some ruthless spouses find a grisly way to gain an uncontested divorce with no paperwork. When murder tears lovers apart, forensic science must put piece together the mystery to catch the killer.
What does it take to prove murder if the victim cannot be found? Investigators must go to extreme lengths to catch the killer when the victim is presumed dead.
A good coroner provides what's necessary to solve a crime. A bad one can spoil an otherwise rock-solid case. Cyril Wecht and Henry Lee, two of the country's most respected coroners, share their cases and insights into crime solving.
They know as much about crime as any crime fighter, or any criminal. They're the crime writers, and through their eyes we see murder most foul.
Some of the best clues come from the least likely places. Baffling crimes have been solved and criminals betrayed through evidence provided by insects, beer bottles, and other seemingly meaningless objects.
Drug trafficking has spawned a violent and deadly criminal underground. It's providing a challenge to forensic investigators devoted to cracking drug rings.
Forensic Sculpting: Forensic sculptors retrieve people from oblivion. Using clay and an intricate knowledge of anatomy, forensic arts place a face on an unidentified skull, recreating the victim's likeness, which often leads to his name.
Explosives Investigations: The crime lab is the place where science meets murder. In New York State, Eleanor Fowler opened a small package, which as mailed to her home. When she lifted the lid the box exploded killing her instantly.
Black Boxes: Little evidence is left after an airplane takes a deadly plunge from the sky. Investigators' best hope for an answer comes from the flight data recorder known as a black box.
DNA Analysis: With the advent of DNA analysis, just a few microscopic cells found at a crime scene can be used to put a murder behind bars.
Identifying Burned Remains: It's difficult to have a murder investigation without a body, and burning up the victim is a time-honored method of destroying physical evidence.
Psychological Profiling: Journey into the dark recesses and calculated madness present only in our worst nightmares, and in the minds of serial killers.
Forensics in the O.J. Simpson Murder Trial: Millions watched on television as the jury rendered their verdict. Orenthal James Simpson was found not guilty of murder.
Ballistics: A corpse is found with a gunshot wound to the head the weapon lies next to the victim. It looks like suicide, but could it be murder? It's a question best solved by ballistics experts.
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