Forensic Files
Upcoming episodes
May 27th
1100a
Treading Not So Lightly
When a four-year-old girl is found unconscious in a parking lot, police concluded it was a hit and run vehicle accident, and left it at that. But the girl’s mother was determined to find out exactly what had happened. She was a fan of murder mysteries and forensic science shows, and used much of what she had learned to determine who was responsible for the accident which severely injured her daughter.
May 27th
1130a
Shopping Spree
A mother and her daughter leave home for a day of shopping, but never return. The little girl’s body was found dumped off of a roadside, but there was no sign of her mother. The suspects included the mother, the girl’s father, and anyone who had come in contact with the two while they were shopping. It took forensic science and deductive reasoning to determine if the baby’s mother was a suspect or a victim. Once that was established, the meaning of other forensic clues became clear.
May 27th
1200p
The Cheater
Walter Notheis, Jr. was better known to the American public as entertainer Walter Scott, lead singer of the band, “Bob Kuban and the In-Men.” Their most popular single was the 1966 hit, “The Cheater.” Little did Walter know that the song would foreshadow the events that would lead to his demise.
May 27th
1230p
Forever Hold Your Peace
When a young man confessed to the rape and murder of a woman in a restaurant, police were convinced the case was solved. Eight years later, another man imprisoned for an unrelated crime, admitted HE committed the murder. But authorities viewed that admission as unfounded. They could not understand why an innocent man would confess to a crime he did not commit, and if he were innocent, why he said nothing during his eight years in prison.
May 28th
1100a
Reel Danger
When two boys are viciously attacked while fishing in a nearby pond, authorities spring into action. They suspect a group of teenage thugs, but lack solid evidence. It would take the murky waters of a fishing hole to provide clear evidence, and help authorities reel in the boy’s attackers.
May 28th
1130a
Who's Your Daddy
The body of a young woman was found in an icy Ohio waterway. She had been strangled to death, and most of the evidence had been washed away by the rushing water. Investigators conducted a painstaking examination of the victim’s body and clothing, and discovered a tiny clue – hardly bigger than a human hair. That clue would enable police to determine where the victim had been just before she died; it would also lead them to her killer.
May 28th
1200p
The Alibi
In a small South Carolina town in 1991, 17-year-old Crystal Faye Todd, a popular high school student, was raped and murdered. With few leads, authorities asked Crystal’s male friends and acquaintances to provide a blood sample for DNA testing. Fifty-two of them agreed, including Ken Register, Crystal’s best friend. When his DNA matched semen at the crime scene, he couldn’t believe it. Neither could his mother, his girlfriend – and even Crystal’s mother. Ken had a solid alibi for the night of the murder, and he asked a question no one could answer: “If I had killed her, why would I have given blood?”
May 28th
1230p
Purr-fect Match
A woman vanished from her home on Prince Edward Island. Her abandoned car was found in a field; inside, the windows were spattered with blood. During the search for her body, police found a plastic bag containing a pair of sneakers and a bloody leather jacket. On the jacket were white hairs… hairs that investigators discovered had come from a cat. Forensic testing on a cat had never been done before – anywhere in the world. This case made history: It was the first time that animal DNA was used to solve a crime.
May 29th
1100a
Bio-Attack
In 1984, hundreds of people in The Dalles, Oregon became ill with food poisoning. Local, state and federal disease detectives slowly unraveled the medical mystery. Along with a unique strain of bacteria, they discovered a religious cult's bizarre plot to overthrow the government -- using germ warfare.
May 29th
1130a
A Shot in the Dark
When a woman is found dead of a gunshot wound, police conclude that she was murdered by her husband. Investigators theorized the couple had argued, and during the ensuing struggle, the husband shot his wife in the back and then staged the scene to make it look like a suicide. Forensic scientists were able to piece together the clues and determine what really happened. In doing so, they proved once again that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.