Forensic Files
Upcoming episodes
Jun 23rd
1100a
Flower Power
Two different men telephoned 911 to report a woman had been murdered; neither knew the other had called. The victim’s ex-husband was a gun collector, so police had three viable suspects. Careful examination of bloodstains, a discarded candy wrapper and a few tiny seeds enabled forensic scientists to determine who committed the crime.
Jun 23rd
1130a
Past Lives
The body of a wealthy American businessman was found in his rental car. The car had swerved off the road into a ravine, and caught fire. Teeth and bone fragments were all that remained of the body; miraculously, an engraved wristwatch and medic alert bracelet had escaped the inferno and were found in the ashes. When the victim’s wife filed a claim for $7 million of life insurance, investigators sought the help of a renowned forensic anthropologist. His findings and the work of other forensic scientists uncovered a chilling scheme of fraud and deceit.
Jun 23rd
1200p
Over and Out
When a pipe bomb ripped through a rural home, killing a young man and seriously injuring his mother, police had no idea who was responsible. A lot number on a 9-volt battery and the remnants of a mailing label found on a computer’s hard drive enabled investigators to determine who sent the bomb, and why.
Jun 23rd
1230p
Death by a Salesman
No one in a quiet residential community saw or heard anything unusual the day one of their neighbors was brutally attacked and murdered. Fingerprints found at the crime scene and surveillance video from a security camera helped investigators to apprehend the presumed killer within twelve hours – even though he’d already left the state and was on a bus, headed for New York City.
Jun 24th
1100a
Web of Seduction
Bruce Miller was shot to death in the office of the junkyard business he owned. The crime scene was almost pristine. In the untidy office which hadn’t been cleaned for years, there should have been footprints, or fingerprints, or foreign hairs and fibers… but there weren’t. When a computer forensics expert examined the computers owned by the victim’s wife and by her lover, he found all the evidence needed to convict the person most responsible for the crime.
Jun 24th
1130a
Grounds for Indictment
A drive-by shooting leaves one man dead and another seriously wounded. Cell phone calls and shell casings point to a suspect, but authorities are unable to place him at the crime scene. When a forensic geologist compared soil from the crime scene with soil found in the wheel wells of the suspect’s car, he proved that dirt is anything but dumb.
Jun 24th
1200p
Dueling Confessions
When a teenaged girl is found dead on the side of the road, her boyfriend becomes the prime suspect. He eventually confessed to her murder – but so did another man. It would take the passage of forty years, an author, and an expert in the field of pedestrian accident reconstruction to determine who was telling the truth.
Jun 24th
1230p
Traces of Truth
A high school gym teacher took time off from class to give his friend a ride home -- and never returned. After his disappearance, his wife and friend received letters, explaining that he needed to make a clean break and start a new life. Investigators suspected foul play but, without a body, the case would be difficult to prove… difficult, but with the help of forensic science, not impossible.
Jun 25th
1100a
Honor Thy Father
A sixteen-year-old girl was killed by her mother and father, in her own home. Her parents said they acted in self-defense, but the forensic evidence indicated otherwise. Definitive proof would come from an unlikely source: a recording made by an FBI electronic surveillance device
Jun 25th
1130a
Road Rage
The investigation of a discarded sleeping bag, containing bloody sneakers and a purse, leads police to the body of a young woman. Evidence from the autopsy and the crime scene was carefully collected and analyzed, but it would be a mark found on the victim’s body which would enable police to track the killer.