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13 Episodes 1997 - 1997
Episode 1
Tue, Mar 18, 199754 mins
The FBI's Behavioral Science Unit specializes in "profiling" serial killers. In this episode, Robert Ressler revisits the case of the "Vampire Killer of Sacramento," who removed organs and drank the blood of his victims. The Academy Group, ex-FBI profilers, explain the terms "organized" and "disorganized," as they apply to serial killers. Ressler interviews Wayne Gacy at length to gain further insights. He suspects Gacy killed at least twice as many as the 33 he was convicted of.
Episode 2
Tue, Apr 15, 199753 mins
Forensic photographers are essential today in solving crime; 3 examples prove their values. 1) A murdered woman is found in Virginia in a snowy church parking lot. The police photographer takes the pictures that convict the killer: a wide shot obtained by "painting with light;" bloody tire prints where her car had been driven through her blood; and a shot of boot prints leaving her car. 2) Morgue photos provide a visual database in Miami where a reported suicide is determined to be a murder because of the stippling and angle of the shot, confirmed by high-speed photography. 3) In Pennsylania, a determined coroner spent six years proving that the fire which killed 18 residents in a nursing home was not accidental. His hobby of photography recorded the scene of the ruins. He would not sign off on the death certificates because his photos convinced him there was arson involved, not the electrical cause the fire investigators concluded.
Episode 3
Wed, Apr 23, 199753 mins
Unusual examples of the extraction of DNA for forensic use. Vancouver, B.C.: the burned body of a woman is found in a dumpster. Where can they find surviving DNA? The narrator says, "How could he know the charge against him would come from his victim's own mouth?"--thanks to an odontologist. Clay Co, Alabama: a woman's burned body under charred remains of a mattress. DNA extracted from shared cigarette butts is used to link the killer, victim, and the burned area. The Innocence Project uses DNA to exonerate wrongly convicted individuals, including Troy Webb. Evidence from the rape (a smear on panties) excluded Webb, and he was pardoned and freed after eight years in a Virginia prison.
Episode 4
Wed, Apr 30, 199753 mins
The 'stars' of this episode are forensic entomologists who specialize in determining time of death by the development of insects found with the body. In Hawaii, a missing person case becomes a murder when a body wrapped in a blanket is found. An entomologist simulates conditions with a dead pig and watches fly development to pinpoint her time of death and convict her killer. In Tennessee, a dried-out wasp's nest in a dry skull helps identify a victim. William Bass, a forensic anthropologist, determines age and sex, as well as the length of time required for conditions to allow skull and nest to be there (at least 18 months). Searching missing teen reports are matched with jewelry found, and the victim is identified. Forensic entomologist Neal Haskell teaches lawmen how to observe and collect the evidence provided by insects. The last case involves a house in Indianapolis with three dead bodies in it (two of them mummified), bodies and surfaces covered with beetles. Haskell helps police unravel the STRANGE circumstances they had encountered. Last, we are reminded that many insects can provide DNA and toxicology on victims.
Episode 5
Wed, May 7, 199754 mins
Season 2 Episode 08 - Face of Tragedy 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.
Episode 6
Tue, May 13, 199751 mins
Modern technology is used to convict the killer of a teenage girl, linking a bloody shirt, a broken watch, and blood in the wheel well of the suspect. The second case starts with fragments of a skeleton found buried at a Boy Scout camp. Falsely believed to be Caucasian, the skull proved to be of Mongolian descent; a forensic reconstruction circulated on TV, etc., led to a bizarre story--including a body kept in the freezer before burial. The last case involves a parent abduction and computer "aging" of a child's picture which restored them to the custodial parent, thanks to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Episode 7
Tue, May 20, 199753 mins
Puzzle 1: How can a body burned in a barrel for two days, the fragments hammered to bits and dumped in the river be evidence of murder? If the killer refuses to take a polygraph and confesses to a friend, if the barrel is recovered and a forensic anthropologist from the Smithsonian identifies tooth fragments from the barrel, and the gun is found...CONVICTED! Puzzle 2: what if a whole house is burned? The missing owner isn't found at first, but under the debris in the basement is a spent bullet and a scattered skeleton. William Bass determines the cause, ID's the victim, and another killer is caught. Puzzle 3: How can Randy Blake find remains of his journalist brother Nick in Guatemala where he had been killed in 1985? He hears that the Civil Patrol had even burned the bones. After one attempt to deceive, the CP agreed-for a fee-to provide the real remains. The box contains a frontal crest which corresponded to X-rays of Nick's assistant; again the Smithsonian scientist succeeds in solving the puzzle, after accompanying Blake on another trek to Guatemala.
Episode 8
Mon, May 26, 199755 mins
An unordered toolbox was addressed to six people in New York; 4 exploded, killing 6; 2 others did not explode. All the intended recipients were people in the same family; ATF used tool markings, evidence in the suspect's storage unit (explosives, how-to books, and disguises) and chemical residue on his clothes to make the case. A Georgia facility demonstrates how they explode car bombs, make pipe bombs, etc. to train ATF investigators to gather evidence. Adding role-player "survivors" makes it more realistic. When an explosion on the Florida estate of the Benson tobacco family kills or injures all but one of the family, he becomes the prime suspect and lawyers up. Pipebombs were determined to be the explosive; tracing the purchase of its parts was crucial. A financial motive was discovered, and testimony of the surviving sister was conclusive.
Episode 9
Fri, May 30, 199753 mins
In San Diego a serial killer who strangled 35-40 prostitutes, put them in garbage bags wrapped with tape, and disposed of them in dumpsters was not found until a Canadian lab was able to get prints from a plastic bag 6 years later. A Hollywood cold case file was solved by computerized fingerprint ID (AFIS), convicting a killer over 30 years later! A man in Vermont was skewered to the floor by a ski pole; the murderer had left bloody fingerprints on a door frame and a palm print on the pole, but raising them took an expert. The suspect was convicted--delivered into the arms of justice by his own hands.
Episode 10
Fri, Jun 6, 199753 mins
Forensic document analysts solve a variety of crimes. In Minneapolis, MN a husband is found by his wife and stepson Nathan; a typewritten note claimed revenge as the motive. Nathan's fingerprint led to his confession; Mom asked him to write out the note for her; the typewriter was found at her employer's home. An Eastern Virginia a murder was judged to be premeditated because of a to-do list (including 'KILL'), confirmed to be written in the suspect's handwriting by an expert. A mistake by an expert created the biggest hoax in publishing: Hitler's diaries, sold for over $2 million. An international team determined the materials (paper, ink, etc.) were too recent; the samples used for verification were also forged. A 72-year-old woman went missing in Tennessee; her younger boyfriend Ricky had used her ATM card after her disappearance. His family shared a bizarre story: she was killed by strangers and he buried her. Sheets from a notebook with faint impressions were used to connect Ricky with knowledge of the body's location.
Episode 11
Thu, Jun 12, 199754 mins
Season 2 Episode 14 - Witness to Terror 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." Virtually indestructible, the black box could be the only witness to the final horrifying moments of a doomed flight.
Episode 12
Wed, Jun 25, 199754 mins
The 1995 trial of O. J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman put more than the defendant on trial. The LAPD police and prosecutors, criminalists and SOC officers, even forensics itself were accused by the defense ('The Dream Team') of sloppy work, planting evidence, lying and blatant racism. Interviews with the LAPD officer in charge of the case and defense representatives show that evidence must be interpreted. After the 133-day trial, the jury (who had been sequestered nearly a year) took less than 3 hours to bring the verdict. The civil trial profited from the prosecution's mistakes, and O. J. was held responsible for the two murders, to the tune of $33.5 million in damages.
Episode 13
Thu, Jul 3, 199754 mins
An Indiana grandfather collapsed on the 4th of July on a picnic ground; when turned over, a bullet wound was found but no shooter or weapon was in the area. A ballistics expert determined the weapon that fired it: a .44 Magnum and the possible distance (1 1/2 miles). A stray bullet was traced to its source; a careless shooter arrested. In Chicago, there were 2 versions of a police raid on the Black Panthers which resulted in Bobby Hampton's death. Who shot first and why? Was Hampton assassinated? Using dowels, ballistics proved police shot 99 holes in apartment walls/doors, ONE from the Panthers; and police fired first. Hampton's body was exhumed to verify that the fatal shots were at the same angle in the back of his head, probably asleep. A New Orleans 12-year-old was killed in a drive-by shooting. The newly installed IBIS system checked guns confiscated from a felon and tied them, not only to the boy's death, but also finding previous crimes in which they were used.