Forensic Files
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Forensic Files
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Up next: 16:30 · Forensic Files
2026. okt. 10.
Times in America/New_York
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In 1989, 4-year-old April Loveless was found dead in the backyard of her Texas home. Her parents told police that she was attacked and killed by wild dogs. Investigators did not agree.
Soon after organizing a workers' strike, a union official is executed in his home. Neither his wife nor anyone in the neighborhood hear any gunshots. It takes a forensic sound test, an electron microscope and a nightgown to explain why.
After 6-year-old Michelle Lee Dorr went missing, her father confessed to murdering her. But investigators soon poked holes in his story, leaving the case unsolved for 14 years.
A highway patrolman was dispatched to what he thought would be a routine traffic accident — until he looked in the car. He had seen hundreds of accidents, but none with as much blood as this.
When investigators found Bruce Miller dead in the office of his junkyard business, the crime scene was almost pristine. But when a computer forensics expert examined computers owned by the victim's wife and her lover, he found all the evidence needed.
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.
There was no clear reason for a young, healthy college student to be dead. But when the coroner discovered a tiny clue during the autopsy, investigators were able to uncover a mystery filled with betrayal and revenge.
An aspiring model turned up dead and the prime suspect was her boyfriend. When he was eventually cleared, investigators had to dig deeper to find the perpetrator. With the help of a forensic geologist, they identified the most unlikely suspects.
When a dedicated, well-respected teacher disappeared, police had to determine if she'd gone on vacation without telling anyone or if she was the victim of foul play.
When a popular gym teacher is found dead of what appears to be an accidental gunshot wound, his family is suspicious. A tape recorded by the victim just before his death tells the true story of his strange marriage and his wife's insatiable greed.
It was one of the most unusual cases in forensic history. Investigators had to find a way to solve a murder case using only a squashed tomato found at the crime scene and tiny, pinpoint reflections of light in a photograph.
After a day of fishing in a quiet village in Switzerland, a teenage boy doesn't return home as planned. The investigation reveals some important microscopic evidence in the water near where he was last seen.
Authorities track a kidnapper who let his victim write a last will and informed the family of her murder. A phone number written on a previous page left a lasting impression, which helped to convict.
In 1991, San Francisco pornographer Artie Mitchell was murdered in his home. His brother and business partner, who was found near the scene carrying a rifle, later confesses to shooting Artie.The question is whether the shooting was premeditated.
A two-man shrimp boat sinks when a fast-moving, violent storm strikes the Louisiana coast. The captain drowns, but the deckhand is rescued fourteen hours later. The crewman is hailed as a hero — until the captain's body is discovered.
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.
In 1990, Shirley Andronowich's body was found mutilated. Eyewitnesses told police she had a fight with her husband the night before, but forensic evidence proved that he had nothing to do with her death.
It was a tragic twist of fate. Just days after a woman sold her home and moved to a modest trailer, a fire took both the trailer and her life. But the autopsy proved this was no accident.
When Washington, DC is plagued by a series of arson fires — each started with the same type of incendiary device — it's up to forensic scientists to find the clues that lay in the ashes.
In 2003, Kathy Lorick was murdered on a Concord, California jogging trail while talking to her husband on her mobile phone.
For six years, a serial killer prowled the streets of New York City. He wrote letters to police and The New York Post, indicating he would kill twelve people — one for each astrological sign.
The victim had ingested a massive amount of cyanide. An unlikely clue — a flaw on a mailing envelope — exposed a murderer who was willing to kill innocent people.
After a street fight takes the life of a national wrestling champion, police must determine if he was killed in cold blood or in self-defense.
A surgeon is stabbed to death and the most likely suspect is seen in a restaurant at the time of the murder.
Two suspects are linked to a murder by bloodstained boots and a gun, but the owner of the items says he has never met the victim. Investigators hope manufacturing codes from beer bottles will determine who is telling the truth.
When the number and volume of bloodstains at the scene was greater than usual, it was up to forensic scientists to find out why.
For seven years, a trio of men robbed one bank after another. They always got away before the police arrived and they left no evidence behind. But the way they stood and the clothes they wore told a story that could be read by forensic scientists.
In 2003, St. Cloud teenager Jason MacLennan returned home after a night out with friends and discovered his father's body lying in a pool of blood.
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.
In 2003, Tiffany Rowell and three of her friends were brutally murdered in affluent Clear Lake, Texas.
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.
In 1993, the Amtrak Railroad experienced the deadliest train crash in United States history when the Sunset Limited derailed while crossing Alabama's Big Bayou Canot bridge. 47 passengers and crew were killed; scores more were injured.
In 2005, the body of young mother Summer Baldwin was found in a suitcase in a Texas landfill.
Three seemingly unrelated deaths prove to be serial murders. The killer had been careful; he used poison which had no taste or odor. Fortunately for investigators, it also had a unique chemical signature.
A college senior was found raped and murdered near an unpaved footpath used by students to walk from one side of campus to the other.
An investigation of a pediatrician, prompted by the mysterious death of one of her patients, leads to a Texas hospital where the pediatric mortality rate is higher than at any hospital in the country.
In 2002, a small community in upstate New York was devastated when Patty Wlasiuk died in a truck accident. But burdock seed pods found in her hair and on her clothes indicated that this was no accident — it was cold-blooded murder.
A married couple decided to escape the cold of winter with a mini-vacation in Key West. The wife went missing and police searched every square inch of the island; they found nothing but a pair of sandals which might have belonged to her.
When Scott Dunn goes missing, police spray his bedroom with Luminol and uncover a scene of horrific violence. Now investigators face a daunting task: proving that Scott Dunn had been murdered without a body, a witness or a murder weapon.
When Joann Katrinak is found dead in a corn field with her infant son, the obvious suspect is the husband and father of the victims. But insects found on the bodies reveal a vital clue which uncovers a twisted story of passion gone wrong.
A young man was killed in a mysterious car crash, but the evidence at the scene led investigators to believe it was not an accident. Forensic science revealed what really happened and the truth devastated three families.
Responding to a 2008 garage fire, Illinois emergency response discovered a man crushed beneath a truck.
Survivors of Nazi atrocities recognized Archbishop Trifa, former head of the Romanian Orthodox Church in America, as having directed a bloody attack against Jews during World War II. He was deported in 1984 and died three years later.
When a decomposed body is found stuffed in a barrel, it's easy to presume murder. But the body had been placed in the barrel 30 years earlier. One of the few clues was an address book found along with the body.
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.
In 1992, Laura Houghteling disappeared from her Bethesda home and was never seen again. Forensic scientists use evidence from her bedroom to direct police to a prime suspect.
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.
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.
Seattle police had no suspects in the violent murder of grunge singer Mia Zapata. More than a decade passed before evidence collected by a prescient medical examiner could be used by forensic scientists to identify the killer.
A young hairdresser was sexually assaulted and murdered in her own beauty salon. The evidence at the crime scene didn't match any of the suspects and, after the initial investigation, the case went cold for ten years.
Two men are murdered while sleeping in their beds. The next night, arson destroys a family planning clinic. Investigators wonder whether some shards of glass, paint chips and a chicken feather could link what appear to be two separate crimes.
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