Wednesday

In 1987 the New Mexico Penitentiary housed hundreds of violent offenders, rapists, killers, men the juries put behind bars to protect society. On July fourth, seven of those men escaped.

In Boston, FBI agents and local police tracked a gang of robbers who specialized in armored car takedowns. Their MO was familiar. The gang used precise timing to steal millions in cash and burned their getaway cars to destroy evidence.

Formed in the 1830s to protect settlers against indian attack, the rangers became part of the texas highway patrol in 1935. Their role has continued to evolve to keep up with changing times; today it includes sophisticated forensics labs.

South Carolina V Nathaniel Rowland. Popular South Carolina University college senior, Samantha Josephson, was the pride and joy of her family as she prepared to head off to Drexel Law School with a full scholarship. So it was unusual when Samantha went missing after a night of socializing at the Five Points bar area popular with students. Tragically her body was found 24 hours later, with more than a hundred stab wounds. When surveillance footage showed her getting into an Uber in Five Points, police put out an all points bulletin, and quickly arrested Uber driver Nathaniel Rowland during a routine traffic stop of a look alike vehicle.

Mixologists arrested for DUI after allegedly drinking on the job.

58-year-old Leroy Williams dies after a hunting trip. The hospital doctors fear he died of rabies, and look to Dr. G to confirm their suspicions. 72-year-old Virginia Lowery is rushed to the hospital after she starts choking and coughing, and soon dies. Now Virginia’s anxious family turns to Dr. G for the truth behind her death.

On February 14, 2000, Bob Dorotik’s body was found on a mountain road near his family’s horse ranch. His wife told police that Bob had gone jogging and never returned, but investigators had their doubts. He had been beaten and strangled, and it appeared that someone else had dressed him. Authorities began tracing the crime back to the family’s ranch, leading them to think Bob Dorotik didn’t leave home alone.

In the fall of 2002, the eyes of the world were on Virginia and Maryland. A serial sniper was on the loose, killing innocent, unsuspecting citizens as they went about their normal activities. By the time it was over, 13 people had been shot, and 11 died. This program examines the behind-the-scenes forensic tests which led to the capture of the killers, including geographic and behavioral profiling, ballistics, crime scene animation, handwriting analysis, DNA testing and fingerprinting. Viewers will also see an exact replica of the car – the mobile bunker the alleged killers called home.

Sheila Bryan was convicted of killing her own mother in a car fire, and sentenced to life in prison. She was set free after appealing to the Georgia Supreme Court, but retried a few months later. Her chances of winning seemed slim – until an expert witness advanced a different theory of how the fire started.

Seventeen-year-old Shari Faye Smith was abducted in broad daylight, in front of her own home. The kidnapper tormented her family with phone calls, leading them to believe Shari was alive – and then they received a letter he’d forced Shari to write, her “last will and testament.” This document would lead investigators to Shari’s killer, a fitting postscript to a heinous crime.

Fire, water, earth – killers call on all the elements in their attempt to cover up their crimes. But even a body burned to ashes, sunk deep into the sea or reduced to fragments will still tell its forensic tale.

Teen runaway Maggie Fetty is found strangled to death on a mountain road. An anonymous tipster blames Maggie’s best friend, but she accuses a mental patient with multiple personalities. Kenda must turn the suspects against each other to learn the truth.

In the late 1990s, one criminal terrorized an entire community. Witnesses refused to speak out. They knew the consequences could be deadly.

In march 1992 claude hawkins was shot dead while he was fishing in coshocton county, ohio. Investigators found no evidence at the crime scene, but hawkins' murder mirrored multiple deaths in other nearby counties and a psychological profile pointed to thomas lee dillon as a suspect. Police arrested dillon on firearms charges, giving authorities time to gather enough evidence to charge him with the murders that had plagued the community.

When a business traveler is found dead on the floor of his locked hotel room, a Texas detective and a veteran private investigator must think outside the box to solve the mystery and bring a remorseless killer to justice.