Forensic Files

- Season 7

(2002)

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 3.

Hair and fiber evidence help solve the 1988 murder of an Ohio woman whose body was discovered in a frozen river.

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? Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 5.

A Bite Out of Crime.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 7.

The 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack: Investigators uncover a plot to overthrow the government, after a unique strain of salmonella makes people ill. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 8.

Two sets of scientists, probe a woman's death. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 9.

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 ...

While standing outside of a motorcycle gang's clubhouse, two witnesses watched in horror as a truck intentionally ran over an unconscious man. The truck was finally located, but the forensics lab could not find a single speck of evidence in it. And the body didn't turn up either. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 11.

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. Using anthropology, toxicology and DNA testing, police are able to determine who the victim was and follow the trail of evidence to his killer. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 14.

A man well-loved in the community is brutally stabbed to death and cash and valuables are missing. Detectives are stymied until one neighbor begins to show a peculiar obsessive interest. Finally a confession that seems half true.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 17.

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. Originally aired as Season 8, Episode 40.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 20.

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.

A woman disappeared along a California highway in 1991; three years later, the case was solved when a man's refrigerated truck was looked upon with suspicion.

Tracy Jo Shine disappeared in 1987, but the investigation went cold until 2000, when a cold case squad learned that the woman's ex-boyfriend Michael Neal had bragged about killing her.

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

When 6-year-old Michelle Door disappeared, her father became the prime suspect, having failed a polygraph. Years later, police learned that a man who'd been convicted of another murder lived just two doors away from Michelle when she disappeared. This discovery, and tiny drops of blood shed a decade earlier, helped police to solve the crime. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 25.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 26.

When the mail-order bride of a former army sergeant goes missing, investigators look into the deaths of the man's previous two wives.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 28.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 30.

The Janet Overton Case. 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.

In 1981, an 86-year-old California woman was murdered and her house was ransacked. The crime would remain unsolved for sixteen years, until DNA profiling and new fingerprint technology helped identify the killer.

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. When the gun was found, the police discovered that the shooter had scratched the serial number off of it to make it untraceable. But forensic scientists had a way to make the number reappear. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 33.

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. Originally aired as Season 7, Episode 38.

The wife of a murdered horse rancher explains that the last time she saw her husband was when he was leaving the house to go jogging, but police become suspicious when forensic evidence eventually leads investigators back to the ranch.

An examination of the 2002 DC-area shooting spree that resulted in ten murders.

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.