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The Best Episodes of Forensic Files

Every episode of Forensic Files ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Forensic Files!

The Best Episodes of Forensic Files

Real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world are solved by experts using scientific laboratory analysis which helps them find previously undetectable evidence. Brilliant...
  1. Background image for The List Murders
    8.4/10(239 votes)

    #1 - The List Murders

    S1:E12

    In 1971, John List left a note with the bodies of his mother, wife, and three children in his mansion ballroom, funeral organ music blaring from a central sound system, and disappeared. Eighteen years later, all detectives had to work from is an outdated photograph of List. In 1989, the popular television series America's Most Wanted commissioned an age-scaled bust of List to aid viewers in identifying the confessed murderer. Dr. Frank Bender, nationally-recognized artist and sculptor, worked with forensic psychologist Richard Walter to develop a profile of the aging List.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for Bad Blood
    8.1/10(148 votes)

    #2 - Bad Blood

    S6:E18

    In 1992, in a rural Canadian community, Dr. John Schneeberger is accused of sedating and sexually assaulting two of his female patients. DNA tests show him to be innocent, but the women persist with their claims; 7 years later, a private investigation leads to a surprising discovery.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Something's Fishy
    7.9/10(126 votes)

    #3 - Something's Fishy

    S2:E9

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Haunting Vision
    7.9/10(152 votes)

    #4 - Haunting Vision

    S4:E11

    Lori Keidel, her two sisters and her brother were left home alone while their father went to a nearby laundromat. Suddenly, a large fire engulfed their brick ranch home. Only a few months earlier, the children's mother had disappeared and made no effort to contact them. Lori found the courage to tell police that she had witnessed her own mother's death.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for A Voice from Beyond
    7.9/10(134 votes)

    #5 - A Voice from Beyond

    S5:E4

    When a decomposed body is discovered inside a barrel, police immediately suspect foul play. But the body had been placed there 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. Scientists desperately searched for a way to unlock the secrets of that address book.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Skin of Her Teeth
    7.9/10(120 votes)

    #6 - Skin of Her Teeth

    S6:E16

    In 1994, a human skull found in an Ohio pond uncovers a ghastly crime. Markings on the skull indicate that the victim had been stabbed many times and that the teeth had been removed with needle-nose pliers in an attempt to keep the victim's identity a secret. Forensic scientists use DNA matches to indentify the skull.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  8. Background image for A Daughter's Journey
    7.9/10(125 votes)

    #7 - A Daughter's Journey

    S9:E13

    Haunted by the disappearance of her mother some twenty years earlier, a young woman undertook an investigation of her own. Her mother's diary was in the now cold case file; there, in her mother's own handwriting, she discovered a dark family secret, which might have been the reason her mother vanished.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for All Butt Certain
    7.9/10(98 votes)

    #8 - All Butt Certain

    S12:E19

    A 6-year-old girl ran and hid when she saw her grandmother being beaten to death, but the man followed her, beat her and assaulted her. The girl said he was her Uncle Clarence, and he was convicted because of her identification. She recanted her testimony years later, but the court denied Clarence's petition for a new trial. His wife was convinced he was innocent, and decided to conduct her own investigation to prove it.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Invisible Intruder
    7.8/10(139 votes)

    #9 - Invisible Intruder

    S4:E1

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Ties That Bind
    7.8/10(110 votes)

    #10 - Ties That Bind

    S4:E7

    When a sexual predator murders two young boys in Nebraska within three months of each other, an obscure style of rope and forensic analysis lead to his arrest and conviction.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Badge of Betrayal
    7.8/10(120 votes)

    #11 - Badge of Betrayal

    S9:E18

    The body of a young California co-ed was found under an isolated ramp of the Interstate, and San Diego police had no idea who would want this girl dead. But their questions would be answered when they discovered a tiny, unique fiber on the victim's clothing, which led them straight to the most unlikely of killers.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Point of Origin
    7.8/10(109 votes)

    #12 - Point of Origin

    S9:E21

    In 1984, California firefighters had battled ten arson fires in three weeks. When cigarettes and a scrap of paper connected the southern California fires to several fires further north, the hunt was on for a dangerous pyromaniac. Investigators finally found a fingerprint, and it pointed to a most unlikely suspect.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for The Disappearance of Helle Crafts
    7.7/10(240 votes)

    #13 - The Disappearance of Helle Crafts

    S1:E1

    The case of missing stewardess Helle Craft is recounted. Although her body was never recovered, police used forensic evidence to charge her husband with murder. It became the first murder conviction without a body in Connecticut.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for The Footpath Murders
    7.7/10(125 votes)

    #14 - The Footpath Murders

    S1:E4

    The first case to use DNA evidence is detailed. In 1983 Leicester, England, police were stymied by a rape/murder of a 15-year-old girl; three years later, faced with a similar crime, they turned to Dr. Alec Jeffreys, a molecular biologist with a revolutionary approach to solving the case.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for The Common Thread
    7.7/10(140 votes)

    #15 - The Common Thread

    S2:E1

    The year was 1984, and a serial killer was on the loose in Florida. Eight women had been found dead. At each crime scene, investigators found tiny red fibers, fibers they hoped would lead them to the killer.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Pure Evil
    7.7/10(118 votes)

    #16 - Pure Evil

    S6:E19

    Creating a “profile” of a serial killer is part science and part intuition. The science involves studying criminals who have committed similar crimes, to see what characteristics they have in common. In a search for the killer of two teenagers in Texas, a behavioral profile led to a possible suspect - and hard science proved the profile was correct; it shows a behavioral study on how most serial killers also have a history of abusing animals.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Financial Downfall
    7.7/10(104 votes)

    #17 - Financial Downfall

    S9:E12

    A vibrant young woman falls to her death from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean In what appears to be a tragic accident; a forensic examination of photographs taken at the scene tell a different story. [also marked as S9:E14]

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Fishing for the Truth
    7.7/10(103 votes)

    #18 - Fishing for the Truth

    S9:E26

    A two-man shrimp boat sank when a fast-moving, violent storm struck the Louisiana coast. The captain drowned, and the deckhand was rescued fourteen hours later. He told the Coast Guard that the captain's foot had become entangled in the fishing nets; they tried frantically to free him, but they failed. The deckhand was considered a hero until the captain's body was found. Eventually, the public discovers that he was coerced into confessing to the captain's murder.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Sharper Image
    7.7/10(110 votes)

    #19 - Sharper Image

    S12:E1

    When a young girl was found dead, police quickly arrested the most likely suspect. But cutting-edge technology from NASA enabled a forensic odontologist to prove the wrong man was behind bars. With the killer still on the loose, the investigation was far from over.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for The Day the Music Died
    7.7/10(138 votes)

    #20 - The Day the Music Died

    S12:E7

    Seattle police had no suspects in the violent murder of post-grunge singer, Mia Zapata. More than a decade would pass before the evidence collected by an extraordinarily prescient medical examiner could be used by forensic scientists to identify the killer.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Bitter Potion
    7.6/10(133 votes)

    #21 - Bitter Potion

    S2:E5

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for Charred Remains
    7.6/10(130 votes)

    #22 - Charred Remains

    S2:E8

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for Sealed with a Kiss
    7.6/10(99 votes)

    #23 - Sealed with a Kiss

    S2:E10

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for The Talking Skull
    7.6/10(128 votes)

    #24 - The Talking Skull

    S3:E3

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Til Death Do Us Part
    7.6/10(121 votes)

    #25 - Til Death Do Us Part

    S4:E6

    When a Pennsylvania man checks into a hospital for leg pain and later dies of thallium poisoning, police investigate his wife and find her in the process of collecting an insurance payment for her previous husband's death.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"The List Murders" is the best rated episode of "Forensic Files". It scored 8.4/10 based on 239 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 12/12/1996. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "Bad Blood".