Forensic Files
Police increasingly utilize scientific laboratory analysis to solve crimes. This program reviews and re-enacts dramatic cases from around the world in which forensic scientists find and examine previously undetectable evidence. Through their hard work, criminals are brought to justice and the innocent are set free.
- 1996-2011
- 15 seasons
- Court TV
- Documentary, Suspense
- TV-14
Police increasingly utilize scientific laboratory analysis to solve crimes. This program reviews and re-enacts dramatic cases from around the world in which forensic scientists find and examine previously undetectable evidence. Through their hard work, criminals are brought to justice and the innocent are set free.
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 1996
Episode 1
The Disappearance of Helle Crafts
Sun, Apr 21, 1996 23 mins
Helle Crafts, a flight attendant and mother of three, disappears after learning of her husband's infidelity. Her sudden vanishing prompts suspicions of foul play. Despite the absence of her body, forensic experts uncover crucial evidence linking her husband, Richard Crafts, to the crime. The investigation reveals bloodstains, fibers, hair, bone fragments, and even a tooth, all pointing to a gruesome murder. Utilizing forensic techniques, the team pieces together the chilling sequence of events that led to Helle's death and dismemberment.
Episode 2
The Magic Bullet
Thu, Oct 17, 1996 23 mins
The tragic death of 15-year-old Trey Cooley is investigated after he is struck by a mysterious bullet while sitting in his father's gun club. Despite the safety measures in place, the bullet manages to find a path through multiple barriers, ultimately hitting Trey. Forensic experts use ballistics analysis, laser technology, and forensic animation to trace the bullet's trajectory and uncover how it bypassed the safety features. The investigation reveals that the bullet was fired from a modified gun at an improper firing line, leading to an extraordinary and fatal journey.
Episode 3
The House That Roared
Thu, Oct 17, 1996 23 mins
A woman mysteriously disappears, and police detect blood on her bedroom carpet. Testing with the chemical Luminol reveals a room awash in blood spatter. DNA testing confirms the victim's identity. Can police find her body - and the killer?
Episode 4
The Footpath Murders
Wed, Oct 23, 1996 22 mins
British detectives worked with a pioneering scientist to solve crimes of sexual assault and serial murder. This 1986 case marked the first time DNA was used as evidence in a court of law.
Episode 5
Planted Evidence
Thu, Oct 24, 1996 23 mins
Early one morning in a deserted area outside of Phoenix, a motorcyclist discovered the body of a young woman. She had been beaten, bound, strangled and possibly raped. The nearby plants would tell investigators more about the killer than any other single piece of evidence.
Episode 6
Southside Strangler
Thu, Oct 31, 1996 22 mins
Shortly after Thanksgiving in 1987, an intruder broke into a residence in Arlington, Virginia. That crime launched a new era in police investigations: DNA evidence and psychological profiling helped catch a serial killer and free an innocent man.
Episode 7
Legionnaires' Disease
Thu, Nov 7, 1996 22 mins
Philadelphia, the birthplace of the United States, played host to millions of tourists and hundreds of gatherings as America celebrated its 200th year of independence. History was made that summer of 1976 - not because of the bicentennial, but because of the mysterious death of 34 people at an American Legion convention. The groundbreaking investigation by the CDC had to explain why dozens inside a hotel - and some who just walked by outside - all got sick.
Episode 8
The Wilson Murder
Thu, Nov 14, 1996 23 mins
On the night of May 22, 1992, Betty Wilson returned home after a meeting. She walked up the stairs to the bedroom and discovered her husband, lying in a pool of blood. Jack Wilson had obviously been murdered... but how? And by whom? Even the experts couldn't agree.
Episode 9
Deadly Neighborhoods
Thu, Nov 21, 1996
Eleven children in an elementary school in Phoenix contracted childhood leukemia; nine of them died. And in Guilford, Connecticut, five people were diagnosed with brain tumors on a street where there were only nine homes. Two towns, two cancer clusters, two mysteries. The investigation answered some questions, but raised many more.
Episode 10
Insect Clues
Thu, Nov 28, 1996 23 mins
Between 1985 and 1988, 18 people were choked, molested and left for dead in the remote desert mountains of California. The only witnesses were the insects - and they also proved to play an important role in solving the crimes and bringing the killer to justice.
Episode 11
Outbreak
Thu, Dec 5, 1996 23 mins
In 1985, 121 people in South Dakota and Minnesota were struck with a mysterious illness. There had been only one outbreak like it, and when it happened then, no one could figure out why. This time, disease detectives would use scientific tools to unravel a mystery centered on the technique of a butcher.
Episode 12
The List Murders
Thu, Dec 12, 1996 22 mins
A man has been in on the run for eighteen years after killing his family in cold blood. It would later take art and science to solve the nearly two decade case and the former neighbors in Denver, Colorado, are able to identify the man as John List while watching an episode of America's Most Wanted. It is soon discovered John moved to Colorado in early 1972, he went by the alias of Robert "Bob" Peter Clark, applied for a new social security card, and he got married a second time and the second wife had no idea of John's past or the crimes he committed. John was soon arrested in Richmond, Virginia at his accounting firm, he was charged with five counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Episode 13
Raw Terror
Thu, Dec 19, 1996 22 mins
In 1991 after a weekend earning wilderness merit badges, a boy scout ended up with slight fever and diarrhea, sending him to the hospital. His kidneys started shutting down and his diarrhea turned into hemorrhaging, leaving doctors puzzled.
