Forensic Files — Season 7

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. An autopsy on woman who died years earlier in a peculiar car wreck, a backyard hiding space, and years of investigation combine to finally solve the singer's disappearance.

Two men confess to a murder that took place behind a restaurant and are sentenced to a life in prison. Eight years later, another man, who sentenced for an unrelated crime, claims responsibility. Who really did it?

The investigation into a brutal attack on two boys near a pond relies on evidence fished out of the murky water. It was the first case where Diatom evidence was used to place a suspect at the scene of the crime. The evidence helped in the conviction Christopher Green and Brian Davis.

In 1988, the body of a young woman was discovered in an Ohio river under ice. Most of the evidence found at the crime scene -- like hairs, fibers and fingerprints -- had been washed away. But the victim's six year-old son unwittingly told investigators all they needed to know about the killer without saying single a word. The clue was in his genes.

In this classic episode of Forensic Files, the longest running true crime series in television history, we explore the case of 17-year-old Crystal Faye Todd, who was raped and murdered in her small town. When one of Crystal's male acquaintances' DNA matched semen at the crime scene, it raised the question, why would he volunteer for a DNA sample?.

Evidence in an old pick-up leads police to a man who has been committing sexual assaults against women.

In 1994, on Canada's Prince Edward Island, the body of Douglas Beamish's estranged wife, Shirley Duguay, was discovered. Authorities linked 20 cat hairs found on her jacket to a cat owned by Beamish's parents, with whom Doug Beamish lived. Scientists estimated that chances that the hairs came from another feline were one in 50 million.

The 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack: Investigators uncover a plot to overthrow the government, after a unique strain of salmonella makes people ill.

Two sets of scientists, probe a woman's death.

Forensic File, episode titled, "Without a Prayer", was created because of atheist, Madalyn Murray-O'Hair's activities in removing daily prayers, from public schools, in the early 1960's. There were three deaths, Madalyn, her second son, Jon Garth Murray, and Robin Murray-O'Hair. Robin was a daughter of Madalyn's Christian son, William J. Murray. All three were killed by a temporary atheistic member she fired, David Roland Waters. Madalyn fired Waters after he stole from the atheist headquarters. When Waters returned the stolen money and police did not jail him, this infuriated Madalyn! Leading her to write a story of Waters, calling him homosexual and claimed Waters even had sexual affairs with animals. After reading O'Hair's newspaper article, Waters' tension was so sharp, that David Roland Waters immediately planned to kill Madalyn Murray-O'Hair (and anyone else that was with her) as his quickest his way of revenge. He and Gary Karr also planned on torturing them so she and anyone else that maybe with her, died in heavy grieving pains! Waters' three murders were at the same time, because they were together, when he was wanting revenge to kill Madalyn O'Hair, for firing him and especially the deeply embarrassing newspaper article she composed, after Austin Police did not jail David Roland Waters, after he immediately paid back the money he had stolen. The three disappearances and deaths was almost five and a half years unsolved, are much like Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance, near Detroit, Michagin, on Wednesday, July 30th, 1975. Hoffa's disappearance is still unsolved, being over forty years. Madalyn's first son, and father of Robin, O'Hair, William J. Murray personally spoke for himself, in this Forensic File. He become a Christian and picked Baptist faith, near Mother's Day weekend, of Sunday, May 11th, 1980. When Madalyn heard this, she never spoke to him anymore. William personally said that he regretted in being a part of taking prayer out of public schools.

While standing outside of a motorcycle gang's clubhouse, two witnesses watched in horror as a truck intentionally ran over an unconscious man -- not once, but twice. Fearing for their safety, the witnesses ran into the clubhouse; when they looked outside, both the truck and the victim were gone.

Investigators turn to insects and the forensic entomologist are needed to solve this case.

A clever Ohio girl remembers to leave fingerprints on her kidnapper's vehicle when she is abducted which aids police in their search along with a tire imprint in the mud.

When a severed leg is found in a dumpster, investigators are faced with the challenge of identifying the victim. Conventional methods -- fingerprinting, comparison with dental records, reports of missing persons -- are useless.

It takes a long time and a very hot fire to cremate a human body and destroy all evidence. But the coroner who performed the autopsy on the badly burned body of Charles Lynch found telltale evidence. Not only had the victim been burned, he'd also been stabbed twenty-four times with two different knives. Police search for more than one murderer.

A look at the forensic evidence in the case of the "River Park Rapist," who assaulted four women in South Bend, Indiana during 1996. Three victims identify one man as the perpetrator, however, forensic evidence points to another man.

The murder of couple Raquel Rivera & Jay Johnson was first believed to be the result of a drug deal gone bad. However, no drugs are found in the house and the victims' blood isn't present on the clothing of the suspects. Evidence from the couple's dog eventually ties one of the murderers to the scene. This is one of the first cases where dog DNA was used.

A 33-year old woman meets, falls in love with, and marries a successful young doctor, but an unusual amount of discomfort during her pregnancy arouses her suspicions, prompting a personal investigation that culminates in a startling revelation.

A trio of unsolved murders that occurred in Wichita Falls, Texas during the 1980s, details how a fourth murder from the same time period provided the police with more than they realized. John Little, an investigator for the DA's office, picked up the cold cases years later. He soon connected the fourth crime's confessed killer to the other murders.

The disappearance of Philadelphia college athlete Aimee Willard is investigated after her car was found, still running on the roadside. When her body is found, the police find unusual marks on her body and DNA evidence that eventually lead to her killer, Arthur Bomar.

A pastor's wife appears to have committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. But as the investigation progresses, detectives discover incriminating computer files and learn that the pastor had been having an affair.

The 1991 disappearance of Newport Beach, California resident Denise Huber stumps investigators. Three years later, Arizona residents call police to report a suspicious neighbor, who has kept a Ryder rental truck in his driveway, which they suspect is stolen.

The 1987 disappearance of Tracy Jo Shine is recalled. The investigation went cold until 2000, when a special cold case squad discovered that the woman's ex-boyfriend had bragged about killing her.

A man who runs a car restoration company believes his business partner is trying to kill him.

When six-year-old Michelle Door disappeared without a trace, her father became the prime suspect. He failed a polygraph test and even confessed to the murder of his daughter, but his confession was later discounted.

The 1996 investigation into 48-year-old Martha Hansen's murder in Anchorage is helped by a legal requirement that bars have video cameras installed on the premises. Using video, hair and blood evidence, investigators determine that Evans Lee Curtis was the murderer.

A Texan's mail-order bride disappears.

The murders of an elderly couple leave police stumped. That is, until two years later when they get a huge break. A jeweler looking through old newspaper clippings recognizes a necklace the female victim wore as having been pawned in her own shop.

A plastic garbage bag leads authorities to the killer of a nine-year-old Florida girl.

An investigation into the murder of Katie Poirier is stymied by the lack of a body, but they find a few charred remains including a tooth. The unique properties of the filling in the tooth helps investigators identify her remains. Further forensic evidence is then used to convict Donald Blom of her murder.

The investigation into a suspicious death hits a dead end when the autopsy indicates that no foul play was involved. But a telephone tip and the sensitive nose of a forensic examiner indicate otherwise.

The suspect in a crime eludes arrest for 16 years because the police can't tie him to it. That changes, however, when investigators learn the culprit is left-handed, putting a new spin on old facts.

In Miami, Florida, a sniper opened fire from the rooftop of a manufacturing plant, killing one employee and injuring two others in the parking lot below.

A mysterious arsonist sets dozens of fires in Seattle in the early 1990s.

The use of the computers by law enforcement is detailed in this look at a series of crimes in St. Louis that stumped the local police and the FBI.

The case of the Center City Rapist and the murder of Shannon Schieber. Philadelphia authorities use an anonymous letter and geographic profiling to hone in on a suspect who attacks victims who live on upper floors of apartment buildings.

Investigators look into what is making a family unwell.

A murder investigation in St. Petersburg, Florida, crosses jurisdictions from New York and Jamaica. The police rely heavily on cell phone mapping, wiretapping and a host of forensic evidence to reveal a suspect to the crime.

A man's body is discovered near his family's horse ranch. His wife claims he went jogging, but investigators doubt her story.

Details the case of the Beltway sniper attacks, a 3-week shooting spree which left 10 people dead in the Washington, D.C. area.

An elderly Georgia woman dies in a car fire. Police claim the woman was murdered by her daughter, but an expert witness believes otherwise.

Sharon ("Shari") Smith, kidnapped and murdered in South Carolina in 1985, died about two hours after writing her last will which her killer sent to her parents. The document itself enabled police to identify and convict Larry Gene Bell.