Forensic Files schedule

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Young Navajos in the Southwest were dying at an alarming rate. The tribe's medicine men provided investigators with a critical clue that would lead halfway around the world to a most unlikely killer.

Police instituted an intense search when the mother of two young children went missing. Twenty years after her body was found, new technology recontextualized old evidence and pointed directly to the killer.

Professional photographer Charles Rathbun claims model Linda Sobek died during a consensual sexual encounter gone wrong, but Sobek's corpse and digital imaging tell a more sinister story.

On the night of May 22, 1992, Betty Wilson returned home after a meeting and discovered her husband lying in a pool of blood. Jack Wilson had obviously been murdered — but how?

A retired police officer is found dead with a single gunshot wound to the head. His wife says the motive was robbery, but later tells police he committed suicide.

In 1996, Virginia Beach police arrive at the Makdessi apartment to find the bloodied bodies of Elise Makdessi and Navy sailor Quincy Brown. But was Brown Elise's lover or her assailant?

Casino security cameras tracked a young woman's movements until shortly before she disappeared. She was never seen again, but through the evidence she left behind, she was able to tell investigators what happened to her and who was responsible.

In 1995, Palm Beach waitress Denise O'Neill is abducted and murdered. Her neighbor Luis Caballero arouses suspicions by behaving oddly toward TV crews covering the crime.

The victim was a self-made man who never minced words. Perhaps he was murdered by a disgruntled client or employee. Perhaps the racy photos in his safe held the clue to solving the crime.

In 1981, New York correctional officer Donna Payant disappeared and was later found in a landfill. The medical examiner not only identified the cause of death, but also found an important clue.

In 1996, 54-year-old Gayle Isleib was ambushed in her Manchester, Connecticut driveway and shot to death. Police had to determine whether obsessive love was the motive for her murder.

An obstetrician returned home from the hospital and found his wife on the bathroom floor. She was covered with blood and not breathing. He tried unsuccessfully to revive her, staining his clothes with her blood in the process.

A young TV news producer is raped and murdered in her apartment. Police identify two suspects, but both are cleared of any wrongdoing. When the case stalls for more than a year, investigators turn to the Commonwealth of Virginia's DNA Databank.

Doctors don't know why a young scientist has fallen gravely ill. When tests finally reveal the cause, it's too late to save him.

When a fire destroyed most of a home and a young boy went missing, police organized the largest search in the history of their small town. First the boy's backpack was discovered five miles from home, then his body was found 50 miles away.

An assistant manager of a Florida steakhouse is stabbed to death. It appears to be a robbery gone wrong, but a bloody fingerprint reveals that he knew his killer.

In 1987, a human skull and some bones were discovered at a Boy Scout Camp near Farmington, Missouri. Facial reconstruction aids the investigators in this case.

When a college student is found dead, evidence suggests that he knew his killer. With just three hairs and some microscopic cells, police unravel a web of lies and find the motive for murder.

They thought the fire would cover their crime. But one tiny clue, no bigger than a thumbtack, remained. It held all the information investigators needed to put a trio of cold-blooded killers behind bars.

Police suspect Dr. John "Jack" Boyle in the disappearance of his wife, Noreen, when he signs mortgage papers for a new house with a woman pretending to be his spouse. The police later find Noreen's body in the basement of Dr. Boyle's new house.

Two different men called police to report the same murder. Apparently, neither one knew that the other had called. The investigation uncovered even more unusual circumstances.

In 2006, Darlene VanderGiesen received threatening emails and then disappeared. Tracking the source of the emails led police to the home of Daphne Wright, where they believe a murder was committed.

A wealthy man and his wife were attacked by three masked men outside their luxurious Louisiana home. He was shot dead and she was forced to open their hidden safe. To solve the crime, police would have to find out who knew about the concealed safe.

In 2004, Rebecca Barney and her soon-to-be ex-husband Fred were found shot to death in their Tulsa, Oklahoma, home, which had been set on fire.

An infant is rushed to the emergency room with serious breathing problems. Within months, there are more than 30 similar cases. Can doctors find the cause and a cure?

The wife of an Air Force officer was found dead in her bed with a plastic laundry bag near her face. Further investigation proved that the scene had been staged. Her death wasn't an accident — it was cold-blooded murder.

When police discovered the body of Douglas Beamish's estranged wife, authorities linked 20 cat hairs found on her jacket to a cat owned by Beamish's parents. It was the first time animal DNA was used to solve a criminal case.

In 1996, Indiana police identified Richard Alexander as the “River Park Rapist” who assaulted four women that year. Later, DNA analysis casts doubt on his conviction.

A woman was brutally murdered in her home and the only witnesses to the crime were the family dogs. An expert in canine behavior was convinced the killer knew both the victim and the animals, and he was determined find out what the dogs had seen.

A 29-year-old woman is killed instantly when a bomb explodes in her home. The device is so powerful that it embedded shrapnel in houses across the street. The bomber had not only knowledge and skill, but also a motive for murder.

Mark Fair left for work and his fiancée, Karla Brown, stayed home. Later, he found her dead. During the autopsy, bite marks on her body were re-examined and forensic odontology identified the killer.

A woman is shot to death in her store just one day before she is to testify against the man accused of robbing her. The robber becomes the prime suspect, but he has a solid alibi: a timestamped videotape of his activities on the day of the murder.

When Kristine Fitzhugh failed to show up for her music class, her husband found her dead at the bottom of the stairs of their Palo Alto home. Further investigation reveals evidence of murder in the kitchen.

In the 1980s, a trio of unsolved murders occurred in Wichita Falls, Texas. Later, a fourth murder from the same time period provided the police with far more than they realized.

Faced with three homicides that appear to be professional executions, investigators on both sides of the Atlantic must find a common thread between the victims.

In 1991, Grand Junction, Colorado is on edge after a series of deadly bombings kill two people and injure one more. Police race to find the culprit before he strikes again.

The investigation into the kidnapping and rape of an 18-year-old Ohio woman is aided when the victim returns hours after the incident occurred. With her help, the police are able to track the assailant to his front door.

A mysterious computer crash pushed a thriving manufacturing company to the brink of collapse, jeopardizing hundreds of jobs. Forensic investigators had to determine if the crash was the result of a computer defect, human error, or sabotage.

California police had several suspects in the robbery and brutal murder of an elderly couple. Ten years later, a determined forensic scientist used material from a dentist's office to uncover ballistic evidence that had been overlooked.

In 1981, 6-year-old Cassie Hansen disappeared from her Minnesota church during an evening service. After receiving a tip that an older man was seen carrying a small person, police found Cassie's body in a dumpster.

A mother of two young children was found dead in her bedroom. Her death was ruled a suicide — but when investigators learned she had almost died in a house fire three years earlier, they decided to take another look at the evidence.

Two sets of scientists probe a woman's death.

The police investigate when a severed leg is discovered among garbage. Conventional means of identifying the victim are impossible, leading investigators to rely on DNA, forensic anthropology and toxicology.

A 6-year-old girl ran and hid when she saw her grandmother being beaten to death, but the man followed, beat and assaulted her. She said the assailant was her uncle, who was later convicted. She recanted her testimony years later.

In 2000, Judy Southern arrived home from work and was shot by a gunman waiting within. Her husband arrived shortly afterwards, called emergency services and drove her to the hospital.

Doctors cannot pinpoint the source of a businessman's illness.

In 1991, a high school girl vanished after attending a party. The prime suspect had two alibi witnesses for the night she disappeared. A solid alibi can often overcome circumstantial evidence, but forensic evidence is another matter.

In this episode, the decade-old murder of a young Texas housewife is investigated.

The woman had been sexually assaulted, stabbed repeatedly and left for dead. When a perfect suspect practically turned himself in, police were sure they had their man — until DNA evidence proved them wrong.

When a little girl got sick and died, investigators were stumped. Was it an accident, an unexplained illness or murder?

When a wealthy socialite died after falling down the stairs, witness accounts contradicted evidence. To find out what really happened, investigators employed a physicist and an expert in accident reconstruction.

Edward Post drew a bath for his wife before going for a run. He returned to find her not breathing. She died before emergency response arrived. Police considered her death accidental until a motive surfaced.

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