Seasons & episodes
S2 · E5Bitter Potion 1997-10-30 · 23 min
The flu-like symptoms of a mother and her children proved to be indicative something much more serious: thallium poisoning. Investigators had to find the source of the poison... and when the mother died, to determine if the exposure was accidental, or if they also needed to find a killer.
S2 · E6The Blood Trail 1997-11-06 · 23 min
In a quiet village in Great Britain, a farmer came upon a chilling sight. Impaled on his fence post was a severed lamb’s head along with a note which read, “You next.” The author of the note didn’t elaborate on why the farmer had been targeted, but between the lines, he’d said plenty.
S2 · E7Fatal Fungus 1997-11-20 · 23 min
An infant was rushed to a Cleveland emergency room with serious breathing problems. The baby’s lungs were bleeding, a life threatening, extremely rare condition. Within months, there were more than 30 cases – an incidence more than a thousand times higher than anywhere else in the world. Doctors had never seen anything like it, and searched frantically for the cause and a cure.
S2 · E8Charred Remains 1997-11-13 · 23 min
Shortly after daybreak in Vancouver, British Columbia, a fire was set in a dumpster. No one saw either the arsonist or the fire, and it burned for hours in the deserted parking lot. But there was more than garbage in the container, and it would take sophisticated science to find the evidence in the ashes.
S2 · E9Something's Fishy 1997-12-04 · 23 min
Two people in Seattle, Washington died after taking an over-the-counter pain reliever; lab analysis of the pills showed they were tainted with a lethal concentration of cyanide. The investigation which followed led police to a suspect with a motive for murder and a callous disregard for others.
S2 · E10Sealed with a Kiss 1997-12-18 · 23 min
For more than a year, angry, hateful letters were sent to a first grade school teacher in a small town in Pennsylvania. When scientists analyzed the letters, they found evidence that the stalker knew a lot about the victim - more, in fact, than anyone could possibly have imagined. DNA analysis would eventually help seal the perpetrator's fate.
S2 · E11Postal Mortem 1998-01-15 · 23 min
On October 15, 1985, two bomb explosions rocked Salt Lake City and resulted in two deaths. A third explosion occurred the next day; this time, the victim was injured but survived. As the investigation progressed, police came to believe the survivor was more than an innocent by-stander. When they turned to forensic science for help, they uncovered an almost unbelievable story of forgery, fraud and murder.
S2 · E12Micro-Clues 1998-02-05 · 23 min
After a day of fishing in a small, quiet village in Switzerland, a teenage boy did not return home as planned. The investigation revealed some important microscopic evidence in the water near where he was last seen. It was the only forensic evidence detectives had. But would it be enough for them to find him?
S2 · E13Deadly Parasites 1998-03-05 · 23 min
In the spring of 1993, an unexplained illness struck the residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Four hundred thousand people developed a serious gastrointestinal illness, 4,000 were hospitalized and, by the time the epidemic was under control, more than 100 people were dead. Health officials suspected it was influenza, but it proved to be more serious and more difficult to identify.
S3 · E1Without a Trace 1998-10-01 · 23 min
In Omaha, the deaths of a child and a truck driver in the same hospital on the same day are investigated to see if there is a link between them.
S3 · E2Knot for Everyone 1998-10-08 · 23 min
In the mid-1980s, bodies of nude woman were found in remote hill of California. The killer gags and molests prostitutes, cuts their clothes in random patterns and cuts off their hair; microscopic evidence helps solve the case.
S3 · E3The Talking Skull 1998-10-15 · 23 min
In 1987, a human skull and some bones were discovered at a Boy Scout Camp near Farmington, Missouri. A facial reconstruction aided the investigators in this case. Once the victim was identified as Bun Chee Nyhuis, her husband Richard H. Nyhuis, was no longer just a person of interest.
S3 · E4Foreign Body 1998-10-22 · 23 min
Between 1986 and 1989, a disease swept through British cattle herds, which came to be known as Mad Cow disease. Scientists began to suspect that this was somehow related to some human illness. A California neurologist said both humans and animals were suffering from a mutated prion. When defective prions are transmitted from an infected host to a new host, they convert any normal prions they come across into copies of themselves so it is possible for a mutated prion to be transmitted from a cow to a person by eating beef. Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner received a Nobel prize for his work with prion.
S3 · E5Deadly Delivery 1998-10-29 · 23 min
A serial bomber was waging a vendetta against the legal profession: a judge, two attorneys, and even a courthouse had been targeted. Employing a range of forensic techniques, investigators used evidence from the bombs to lead them to the perpetrator.
S3 · E6'Sim'ilar Circumstances 1998-11-05 · 23 min
Robert Sims returned home after working the night shift, and found his wife, Paula, unconscious on the kitchen floor. Their two-year-old son, Randy, was asleep in an upstairs bedroom, but their six-week-old daughter, Heather, was missing. Paula Sims was the only witness to a crime that baffles investigators to this very day.
S3 · E7Grave Evidence 1998-11-12 · 23 min
The shooting of a man during a hunting trip is reopened years after the incident, and the victim's hunting partner becomes a suspect.
S3 · E8Deadly Formula 1998-11-19 · 23 min
A possible case of Munchhausen syndrome is investigated after an infant dies of what appears to be toxic levels of antifreeze in his system.
S3 · E9Beaten by a Hair 1998-12-03 · 23 min
Early one fall morning, Laura Houghteling left her Bethesda home and walked to the station to take a train to work. She was never seen again. A peculiar strand of hair found in Laura’s hairbrush enabled investigators to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
S3 · E10Crime Seen 1998-12-17 · 23 min
Edward Honaker was convicted of rape, sodomy and aggravated sexual battery; he was sentenced to three life terms in prison. Honaker steadfastly maintained his innocence. After years in prison and writing countless letters, he finally found someone who believed him, and was willing to pay for DNA testing which could prove he was telling the truth.
S3 · E11Speck of Evidence 1999-01-07 · 23 min
On September 17, 1984, in a suburb of Tucson, Arizona, eight-year-old Vicki Hoskins left home on her pink bicycle to mail a letter for her mother. She never returned, but her slightly damaged bicycle was found nearby. Investigators turned to forensic science, in the hope it would tell them not only what happened to Vicki, but also who was responsible.
S3 · E12Broken Bond 1999-01-14 · 23 min
When a two-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital suffering from brain seizures and breathing difficulties, doctors could not find the cause of his illness. Then the boy’s sister provided an important clue, and raised the possibility of a syndrome of which few had ever heard.
S3 · E13Out of the Ashes 1999-01-21 · 23 min
On a cold December night in 1993, Rose Larner stopped in a convenience store on her way to her boyfriend’s house. She was never seen or heard from again. Rose’s disappearance remained a mystery, until a tiny clue found years later revealed a tragic tale of drugs, romance and revenge.
S4 · E1Invisible Intruder 1999-06-10 · 23 min
In 1996, police received a call from Darlie Routier telling them of her two sons' murders. However, investigators were not certain about the validity of Darlie's story and began an intensive search of the crime scene. The police found out who the killer was by analyzing blood spatter, doing behavioral profiling and analyzing Darlie's 911 call.
S4 · E2The Killing Room 1999-07-01 · 23 min
Scott Dunn was missing and when the police sprayed his bedroom with Luminol, a scene of horrific violence emerged. Now investigators faced a daunting task: to prove Scott Dunn had been murdered, even though they had no body, no weapon, and no witnesses.