Forensic Files
Upcoming episodes
Apr 22nd
1100a
Visibility Zero
In 1993, the Amtrak Railroad experienced the deadliest train crash in United States history when the Sunset Limited derailed while crossing Alabama’s Bayou Canot bridge. Forty-seven passengers and crew were killed; scores more were injured. The clues to the cause of the crash lay etched in twisted steel and buried in the mud of the Bayou Canot.
Apr 22nd
1130a
Flashover
A fire erupted in the Kings Cross Underground Station in London, killing 31 people and injuring dozens more. Arson investigators were able to pinpoint the cause of the fire, but it would take state-of-the-art computer technology and experts in the field of fluid dynamics to explain why it became a deadly inferno.
Apr 22nd
1200p
The Disappearance of Helle Crafts
A Connecticut flight attendant went missing and was never seen again. Police suspected her husband was guilty of murder and they were able to prove it – even though they never found the woman’s body.
Apr 22nd
1230p
The Magic Bullet
A fifteen-year-old boy died from a mysterious gunshot wound to his head while he was sitting in the lobby of his father’s gun club. Ballistics, laser technology, made-to-scale models and the latest in forensic animation showed that bullet had followed a tragic course after a misfire at the outdoor range.
Apr 23rd
1100a
The House that Roared
A woman disappeared and her husband became the prime suspect -- especially after police found a huge bloodstain on the carpet of their bedroom. When they sprayed the bedroom with Luminol, they discovered it was awash with blood spatter. Complex DNA testing proved it was the wife’s blood. Now all they had to do was find her body.
Apr 23rd
1130a
The Footpath Murders
British detectives worked with a pioneering scientist to solve crimes of sexual assault and serial murder. This 1986 case marked the first time DNA was used as evidence in a court of law.
Apr 23rd
1200p
Planted Evidence
Early one morning in a deserted area outside of Phoenix, a motorcyclist discovered the body of a young woman. She had been beaten, bound, strangled and possibly raped. The nearby plants would tell investigators more about the killer than any other single piece of evidence.
Apr 23rd
1230p
Southside Strangler
Shortly after Thanksgiving in 1987, an intruder broke into a residence in Arlington, Virginia. That crime launched a new era in police investigations: DNA evidence and psychological profiling helped catch a serial killer and free an innocent man.
Apr 24th
1100a
Legionnaires' Disease
Philadelphia, the birthplace of the United States, played host to millions of tourists and hundreds of gatherings as America celebrated its 200th year of independence. History was made that summer of 1987 -- not because of the bicentennial, but because of the mysterious death of 34 Legionnaires.
Apr 24th
1130a
The Wilson Murder
On the night of May 22, 1992, Betty Wilson returned home after a meeting. She walked up the stairs to the bedroom and discovered her husband, lying in a pool of blood. Jack Wilson had obviously been murdered... but how? And by whom? Even the experts couldn’t agree.