The New Detectives
Upcoming episodes
Dec 7th
600a
Signed in Blood
Handwriting analysis: We’ve all heard that our handwriting tells more about our personalities than we think. Are we risk-takers, have low-esteem, fun loving, or are we capable of murder? While our handwriting may not reveal the nuances of our personalities, the dotting of the "i's and crossing of the "t"s is an important business in criminal investigation. Apparent suicide notes, letters from suspected offenders and signatures are scrutinized down to the last dot. Handwriting comparisons can tell if the victim really did sign that new life insurance policy, or if the person who had everything to live for actually wrote the eloquent suicide note.
Dec 7th
100p
Wasted Youth
When teenagers are driven to kill, their victims are but the first to fall. In three such cases, the families of the killers, as well as their communities, become the victims of violent crime.
Dec 7th
200p
Collective Justice
Philadelphia’s vidocq society, named after an 18th century french detective, is one of the world’s most unusual crime-solving organizations. These prominent sleuths solve a murder case from a missing shoe, and successfully prove homicide without a body.
Dec 7th
300p
Murder for Hire
For some killers, murder can be a profitable business. And the scene of the crime can be both a source for clues, and puzzling questions. When a victim has been targeted for death, investigators must look beyond the obvious to uncover a murder for hire.
Dec 8th
600a
Witness to Terror
Black boxes: Little evidence is left after an airplane takes a deadly plunge from the sky. Investigators' best hope for an answer comes from the flight data recorder known as a "black box." Virtually indestructible, the black box could be the only witness to the final horrifying moments of a doomed flight.
Dec 8th
100p
Toxic Death
Sometimes, the cause of death does not match the scene of the crime. When an untraceable poison is used to commit murder, homicide detectives turn to forensic toxicologists to follow a killer’s tracks and expose a toxic death.
Dec 8th
200p
Material Witness
Lies and deceit can often throw investigators off the trail of justice. But when hard evidence contradicts a killer’s story, police must use the clues to piece together the truth. Follow investigators as they unravel a web of lies to track down and catch the killers.
Dec 8th
300p
Betrayed
Sometimes when a death seems to be accidental or the result of a tragic accident, it is up to forensic scientists to reveal the deception lying just below the surface. Watch as law enforcement officials uncover the hidden betrayals that reclassify cases from accidents to homicides.
Dec 9th
600a
Trail of the Century
Forensics in the o.J. Simpson murder trial: Millions watched on television as the jury rendered their verdict. Orenthal james simpson was found not guilty of murder. The jury heard hundreds of hours of testimony and every twist and turn of the trial was played out in the media, but what was the evidence? Forensic scientists reconstructed the events that took place on the night nicole brown simpson was murdered. But was their report accurate, and could the evidence be trusted? We'll examine what forensics could and could not tell us about the trial of the century.
Dec 9th
700a
Deadly Target
Ballistics: A corpse is found with a gunshot wound to the head; the weapon lies next to the victim. It looks like suicide, but could it be murder? It's a question best solved by ballistics experts. Gunshot residues, the pathway of the bullet into the body, shells and the guns themselves all hold important clues. The ability to determine whether an individual has actually fired a gun is vitally important in homicide and suicide investigations.