American Justice Season 8 Episodes

Episode 1

The Sinatra Kidnapping

Tue, Jan 5, 199960 mins

The 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr., who was taken from his hotel room in Lake Tahoe, Nev. He was released by his captors three days later after his father paid the $240,000 ransom, and his three captors were caught and convicted.

Episode 2

The Larry Flynt Story: Hustling the First Amendment

Wed, Jan 20, 199960 mins

A chronicle of the legal battles of publisher Larry Flynt. Included: Flynt v. Falwell, a libel suit heard by the U.S. Supreme Court; Flynt's conversion to Christianity; and the shooting that left him wheelchair-bound. Interviewed: Flynt, his brother Jimmy, his attorneys, Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Episode 3

Mark Chapman

Sun, Feb 7, 199960 mins

The lives of the Beatles' John Lennon and his killer, Mark Chapman, are paralleled. Lennon's success is contrasted with Chapman's emotional instability. Also: the murder and trial are documented using film footage and photographs.

Episode 4

A Teenage Murder Mystery

Wed, Feb 17, 199960 mins

The circumstances surrounding the 1991 murder of a Pennsylvania teenage girl and the convoluted legal proceedings that followed. Among those interviewed are the victim's mother.

Episode 5

Leonard Lake and Charles Ng

Sun, Feb 21, 199960 mins

The story of how a serial killer and his wealthy accomplice were apprehended is chronicled using video footage, photographs and interviews.

Episode 6

Leopold and Loeb

Mon, Feb 22, 199960 mins

The 1920s investigation and trial of Leopold and Loeb for kidnapping and murder in Chicago is chronicled.

Episode 7

Body in the Trunk Murders

Sun, Mar 7, 199960 mins

Three murders---each involving women's remains found in railway baggage---that took place in England during the 1920s and '30s are detailed.

Episode 8

Gary Heidnik and Jeffrey Dahmer

Sun, Mar 7, 199960 mins

Serial killers Gary Heidnik and Jeffrey Dahmer are profiled. Included: comparisons of common elements of their crime sprees, such as cooking their victims.

Episode 9

A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story

Wed, Mar 24, 199960 mins

The story of Elizabeth Anne Broderick is profiled. On November 5, 1989 a depressed and distraught Betty Broderick shot and killed her ex-husband Dan Broderick III and his new bride 28 year old Linda (Kolkena) Broderick as they slept in their San Diego home. American Justice takes an in depth look at what drove her to murder and her two ensuing murder trials.

Episode 10

Gaston Dominici and the Drummond Murders

Sun, Apr 4, 199960 mins

A look at the case of a family murdered while on vacation in France and the local farmer suspected in the mysterious crime.

Episode 11

Judge Joe Peel

Sun, Apr 11, 199960 mins

A report on the 1955 disappearance of a Florida judge and his wife.

Episode 12

A Murder in Greenwich: The Martha Moxley Case

Wed, Apr 21, 199960 mins

American Justice profiles the 1975 murder of 15 year old Martha Moxley in the rich and well to do gated community of Greenwich Village, CT. Moxely was brutally beaten to death with a golf club on the eve of Halloween in 1975. Initially investigators determined that one of the main suspects was Thomas Skakel, brother of Michael. The Skakel family were neighbors to the Moxley's and part of the powerful Kennedy clan, and it was highly speculated that it was this wealth and power that was able to protect the Skakel boys from the investigation. Former Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrmann privately investigated the case and named Michael Skakel as the murderer. Then he wrote a book about the incompetency of the investigation and why it took until 2002 to finally find Michael Skakel guilty of the crime.

Episode 13

John Duffy: Railway Killer

Sun, May 9, 199960 mins

Profiling John Duffy, the convicted British murderer and rapist, who earned the nickname of "Railway Killer" because he used the train to escape from the scene of the crimes. Included: how "profiling" was used to help capture him; footage of the crime scenes.

Episode 14

Ma Barker and Other Public Enemies

Sun, May 9, 199960 mins

A look at the criminal activities of Ma Barker and her gangster sons. Included: reenactments of their crimes; archival footage.

Episode 15

Myth Of A Serial Killer: The Henry Lee Lucas Story

Sun, May 23, 199960 mins

Profiles the case of Henry Lee Lucas, who confessed to murdering women and whose victims may have numbered in the hundreds, giving him the notorious distinction of being America's most prolific serial killer.

Episode 16

Graham Young: Compulsive Poisoner

Sun, Jun 6, 199960 mins

Profiling Graham Young, the infamous British killer, who was obsessed with poison from his youth. Young was finally caught after the deaths of several colleagues at the factory where he worked, and his life was the subject of the 1995 film "The Young Poisoner's Handbook."

Episode 17

Butch Defeo

Sun, Jun 6, 199960 mins

The case of Ronald ("Butch") DeFeo Jr., an Amityville, New York, man convicted in 1975 of the murders of his parents and four siblings. The house in which the murders were committed later became the subject of speculation that it was "haunted."

Episode 18

Justice Denied: The Hurricane Carter Story

Mon, Jun 14, 199960 mins

Examining the case of boxer Hurricane Carter and his friend John Artis, who in 1967 were wrongly convicted of a 1966 triple homicide. Artis was eventually paroled in 1981, while Carter's conviction was finally overturned in 1985. Included: comments from Artis, Carter and their attorneys.

Episode 19

The Perfect Murder: The Shannon Mohr Story

Wed, Jun 30, 199960 mins

In 1980 Shannon Mohr believes that she has found the man of her dreams, right to the point where he murders her. Soon afterward he disappears and the truth about him starts to become all too clear. American Justice examines the investigation and the seven year hunt for Dave Davis.

Episode 20

Body of Evidence: The Tom Capano Trial

Wed, Jul 7, 199960 mins

Reports on the 1996 murder of Anne Marie Fahey, assistant to Delaware's Governor by Thomas Capano, politically connected lawyer, the subsequent cover-up and trial.

Episode 21

Justice Denied: The Wrong Place, the Wrong Time

Wed, Jul 21, 199960 mins

Episode 22

Who Killed the Candy Heiress? The Helen Brach Story

Wed, Aug 4, 199960 mins

The disappearance of Helen Brach, the heiress to the Brach's Candy fortune is the focus of American Justice. February 17th, 1977 would be the last time that anyone would ever see Helen Brach alive. Although her body was never found, she was declared dead in 1984. Profiled are the two main suspects in the case. Her house man and chauffeur James Matlick, who's stories didn't add up to investigators, and Richard Bailey. Bailey was a con-man and was later convicted of defrauding Helen Brach and at the time the judge accused him of conspiring to kill Helen Brach. He was never convicted of her murder.

Episode 23

Lethal Injection: The Hospital Murders

Wed, Aug 11, 199960 mins

In the spring of 1981 an usually high number of patients are dying at Community Hospital of the Valleys in Perris, CA. After the hospital is closed for an inquiry investigators discover a sinister pattern. American Justice examines the case of serial killer Robert Diaz who was convicted of murdering 12 patients with lethal injections of the drug Lidocaine.

Episode 24

Till Death Do Us Part: The Barbara Stager Story

Wed, Aug 25, 199960 mins

On February 1st, 1988 Russ Stager is accidentally shot in the head by his wife Barbara in their Durham, NC home as she tried to wake him from bed. With the help of Stager's ex-wife, investigators see it as something other than an accident. American Justice examines the murder conviction of Barbara Stager.

Episode 25

The Jonesboro Schoolyard Ambush

Thu, Sep 2, 199950 mins

Documentary about the Jonesboro school massacre which occurred on Tuesday, March 24, 1998. The show depicts how 4 students and a teacher were killed by 2 armed middle school boys in Jonesboro a town in northeastern Arkansas. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, pulled a school fire alarm and fired into the crowd as people filed out of the Westside Middle School, killing four girls and a teacher, and wounding 9 others. In August 1998, they were both sentenced to confinement until they reached the age of 21, the maximum under Arkansas law. The docudrama searches for clues to what happened and how to prevent similar tragedies in the future. The punishment the boys received led to changes in Arkansas' juvenile justice laws.

Episode 26

Drowning in Lies: The Trial of Edward Post

Wed, Sep 22, 199960 mins

On June 3rd, 1986 at a hotel in St. Louis, Edward and Julie Post are in town from New Orleans for a real estate convention. Julie Post drowns in the bathtub of their motel room while Edward goes out for an early morning jog. Investigators initially thought the drowning to be accidental. But as they learn of Edward Post's financial debt and the insurance money that he was going to collect from the death of his wife they take a much closer look, and discover what they believe is a motive for murder.

Episode 27

Rape in Connecticut: The Alex Kelly Story

Wed, Sep 29, 199960 mins

The case of Alex Kelly, a high-school athlete who fled the country for Europe just before his 1987 rape trial. Kelly surrendered to authorities in 1995, and was convicted in 1997.

Episode 28

Duty, Honor and Murder

Wed, Oct 6, 199960 mins

David Graham and Diane Zamora were two teenagers who were intensely devoted to each other during high school and had both joined the U.S Naval Academy in Annapolis. While at the academy, Diane confides in roommates that her and David had murdered Adrianne Jones while they were in high school in Mansfield, TX. They had murdered Jones because David Graham had cheated on Zamora by having a one-time sexual encounter with Jones, and Zamora wanted to kill her in order purify their relationship. American Justice profiles this case of murder and jealousy that also became a made-for-television movie.

Episode 29

It's Not My Fault: Strange Defenses

Wed, Oct 27, 199960 mins

American Justice profiles some of the more bizarre defenses in the history of the American legal system. First up, the so called "Twinkie Defense". On Nov. 27, 1978, San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk who was another supervisor. White claimed he committed the crimes after binging on junk food. Next, "The Sleepwalking Defense" where Scott Falater stabbed his wife 44 times, but claimed he was sleepwalking while he did it. Then, "The Nymphomaniac Defense" where a woman claimed she was engaged in sexual surrogate therapy rather than prostitution.

Episode 30

Vigilante Dad

Thu, Nov 4, 199960 mins

The case of Ken Arrasmith, an Idaho man who, in 1995, gunned down a couple who had allegedly sexually abused Arrasmith's daughter. Arrasmith was convicted of their murders in 1996.

Episode 31

Donald Merrett: The Murderous Buccaneer

Sun, Nov 7, 199960 mins

Chronicles the life and career of John Donald Merrett. Included: the "not proven" verdict at his matricide trial, his drug smuggling and his suicide after he was considered to be a suspect in the murders of his wife and mother-in-law.

Episode 32

Sister Against Sister: The Twin Murder Plot

Wed, Nov 24, 199960 mins

Recalling the attempted 1996 murder of California resident Sunny Han by men hired by Sunny's identical twin sister, Gina. Gina received a 26-year sentence for the crime.

Episode 33

Payback for a Bully

Wed, Dec 8, 199945 mins

On July 14th, 1993 eight kids in their teens to early twenty's get together for the evening in Hollywood, Florida (a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale)to hang out. Several of the teenagers gang up on 20 year old Bobby Kent, who was with their group, and stab him repeatedly. Kent dies from his wounds, and despite the efforts of the youths to cover up the incident, the truth comes out and they are all charged with 1st degree murder. In their defense they claimed that Bobby Kent was a "vicious bully and this was his payback".