Forensic Files

For more than a decade, women in a small Louisiana city lived in fear of a rapist who became so experienced, he left no clues to his identity. But computer technology and behavioral science combine to give police a new forensic tool: geographical profiling.

When Betty Wolsieffer, the wife of a well-known dentist Glen Wolsieffer is found dead, police are unsure who killed her and injured her husband. Some fibers and a study of the weather patterns on the night of the murder break the case open and reveal the killer.

When Joann Katrinak is found dead in a corn field with her infant son Alex next to her, the obvious suspect is the husband and father of the victims. But some insects found on the bodies reveal a vital clue, as does a long blonde hair found on the victims. The blonde hair has something uniquely in common with the brunette hair of the husband's former love interest Patricia Rorrer. The link uncovers a twisted story of passion gone wrong.

When a decomposed body is found stuffed in a barrel, it's easy to presume murder. But the body had been placed in the barrel 30 years earlier. One of the few clues was an address book found along with the body, but years of moisture had washed away the ink, which was completely gone. Scientists desperately searched for a way to reveal the information written on the pages of the address book.

When Seattle policeman Matt Bachmeier's house goes up in flames, fire experts suspect arson, possibly committed by someone with a vendetta against the officer. One month later, the officer whose home was torched, arrests low-level drug dealer James Wren, who confesses to the arson. But when the suspect vanishes, investigators start to question the authenticity of the so-called confession.

A woman identifies her husband as her attacker, but questions arise 16 years later regarding her memory.

Nancy Newman and her two young daughters are found brutally murdered and sexually violated in their Anchorage, AK home. Investigators cannot find a conclusive link to their prime suspect. To solve the puzzle, an FBI analyst designs an unique experiment, in which pubic hairs found at the scene are used to establish not only that Kirby Anthoney was in the home, but that he was there when the crime was committed.

Krista Harrison is the 11-year-old murder victim of Robert Anthony Buell. There are few clues to the killer's identity, but authorities are intrigued by unusual orange fibers embedded in clothing found near the victim. Months go by and the case goes cold, until a van turns up with what appear to be the same orange fibers.

This examination of the role an autopsy plays in a murder investigation focuses on the suspicious 1997 death of Georgia resident Virginia Ridley. Police charged her mentally unstable husband Alan with murder, but a medical examiner discovered that she died of natural causes.

A police investigation of a pediatrician, after the mysterious death of one of her patients, leads them to a Texas hospital where the pediatric mortality rate was higher than at any hospital in the country. The common link was nurse Genene Jones, but proving the connection seems impossible until an international team of doctors uncovers an unlikely murder weapon.

When the decomposed body of a teenage girl is discovered in Pennsylvania, police have no clues to her identity. But weeks earlier, stabbing victim Kathy Sagusti told investigators she thought she might have heard a murder taking place in her basement.

Some of the refugees who sought asylum in the United States after World War II lied about the atrocities in which they'd participated. Years later, when a high-ranking religious figure was suspected of war crimes, there seemed to be no way to prove his guilt or innocence.

When Russ Stager, a popular gym teacher, is found dead of what appears to be an accidental gunshot wound, his family becomes suspicious. They think his wife may have planned his murder. When police find that her previous husband died in questionable circumstances, they re-examine the crime scene and uncover evidence that the death was no accident.

A Canadian financier assumed the name of a co-worker as part of a money-laundering scheme. The man turned up dead in the ocean, with an anchor tied around his torso. Police hoped to identify him with a tattoo and the watch he was wearing. But it would be the ten-pound anchor which enabled them to crack the case.

The death of a man suffering from depression is initially considered a suicide, but further police investigation points to his wife.

When a prosecutor discovers evidence linking a habitual drunk driver to a hit-and-run in which a child is killed, he combines the talents of an accident reconstruction expert with a video specialist. This case was the first in which video in the courtroom withstood an appeal, and helped make 'video testimony' viable in other cases.

A surveillance camera captures a murder on tape, but the image of the killer is too degraded to make a positive I.D. Police employ forensic science and modern technology to nab their man.

Deadly Knowledge The investigation into a missing college coed leads police to discover that, unbeknownst to her friends, she lived a bizarre double life, attending school by day and working as a call-girl by night. When her body is found, investigators gather evidence that implicates her killer.