Time of death is an important consideration in a murder investigation, but when a killer freezes, burns, or grinds his victim, even the most skilled medical examiner would be at a loss about how to calculate it.
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For homicide investigators, it's a race against time as they track their deadliest foe: a serial killer for whom killing is the only way to feel alive.
A dog can be a dead man's best friend. Dogs have been trained to sniff out corpses, drugs, explosives, and missing persons. They're often the first to find the essential clue that sets an investigation in motion.
Drowning deaths often look like accidents and water can destroy the scant clues the killer may have left behind. Investigators must turn to forensic science to solve cases where the victim is found dead in the water.
Accidental deaths, suicides, disappearances, and fires they're an everyday part of an insurance investigator's life. But cases shouldn't be taken at face value. Forensics has become a tool for exposing insurance fraud.
Time of death is an important consideration in a murder investigation, but when a killer freezes, burns, or grinds his victim, even the most skilled medical examiner would be at a loss about how to calculate it.
At the scene of a murder, sometimes the victim provides the only clues to their killer. Forensic anthropologists use skeletal remains to decipher the clues written in the bones.
Some people do get away with murder at least for a while. Flush with their success, serial killers murder again and again. But each time they kill, they leave behind a few more clues, which ultimately lead to their capture.
In criminal investigations, a simple clue can provide the missing link by placing a suspect at a crime scene. Dirt left on shoes, tires or clothes, or even a tiny piece of plastic can pinpoint a crime scene.
When a murder is committed and deceit clouds the evidence, investigators turn to science and technology to uncover the truth and expose a murderous lie and capture the killer.
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.
There's never a good reason for murder, but some killers are particularly brutalchoosing their prey at random or with no apparent motive and then cunningly covering their tracks. Even so, telltale clues remain.
They say that a burden shared is a burden halved, but when partners team up to commit murder, the weight of their guilt remains just as heavy. Investigators must rely on forensic science to capture partners in crime.
The solution to the most heinous crimes often hinge on the smallest of clues. Investigators must have their eyes trained to find the full story of a murder written in a single scrap of evidence.
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.
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