Forensic Files

The Best Episodes of Forensic Files

Genres:CrimeDocumentary

Every episode of Forensic Files ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into 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...
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  1. 8.4/10(232 votes)

    #1 - The List Murders

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    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 Eighteen years later, all detectives had to work from is an outdated photograph of List.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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  2. 8.0/10(143 votes)

    #2 - Bad Blood

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    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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  3. 8.0/10(144 votes)

    #3 - Water Logged

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    S14:E11

    In 1989, the bodies of Joan Rogers and her two teenage daughters were found floating in Tampa Bay. The water washed away any evidence, but police hoped a handwritten note found in the victims' car would lead to the killer, so they posted huge copies of the note on five highway billboards.

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  4. 7.9/10(124 votes)

    #4 - A Daughter's Journey

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    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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  5. 7.9/10(100 votes)

    #5 - Grave Danger

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    S11:E16

    A young man was killed in a mysterious car crash, but the evidence at the scene led investigators to believe it was not an accident. Forensic science revealed what really happened, and the truth devastated three families.

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  6. 7.9/10(110 votes)

    #6 - Social Circle

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    S14:E12

    In 2003, Tiffany Rowell and three of her friends were brutally murdered in their affluent Clear Lake, TX, neighborhood and the crime scene yielded little evidence. The next-door neighbors had seen two young people dressed in black walking nearby and their descriptions were used to create composite drawings, which become a key element in solving the crime.

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  8. 7.8/10(124 votes)

    #7 - Something's Fishy

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    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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  9. 7.8/10(131 votes)

    #8 - A Voice from Beyond

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    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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  10. 7.8/10(118 votes)

    #9 - Skin of Her Teeth

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    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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  11. 7.8/10(78 votes)

    #10 - X Marks the Spot

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    S7:E35

    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. (also marked as S7:E44)

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  12. 7.8/10(110 votes)

    #11 - Last Will

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    S7:E42

    Authorities are able to apprehend a kidnapper because he allowed his victim, 17-year-old Shari Smith, to write a will on a telltale pad of paper. [also marked as S7:E52]

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  13. 7.8/10(119 votes)

    #12 - Badge of Betrayal

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    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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  14. 7.8/10(85 votes)

    #13 - Freeze Framed

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    S14:E7

    In 2005, David Castor suffered a slow, agonizing death over a period of days. His wife Stacey maintained it was suicide, even though it was done with antifreeze. Police were skeptical, especially when they learned Stacey's first husband Michael Wallace died when he was only 38 years old and she refused to consent to an autopsy.

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  15. 7.7/10(121 votes)

    #14 - The Footpath Murders

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    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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  16. 7.7/10(138 votes)

    #15 - The Common Thread

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    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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  17. 7.7/10(116 votes)

    #16 - Pure Evil

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    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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  18. 7.7/10(101 votes)

    #17 - Breaking the Mold

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    S7:E37

    In Dripping Springs, TX, March 1999, a 3-year-old boy develops serious respiratory problems and then his father later shows signs of early Alzheimer's disease. A chance encounter with a stranger kicks off an investigation into the cause. [also marked as S7:E19]

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  19. 7.7/10(108 votes)

    #18 - Point of Origin

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    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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  20. 7.7/10(101 votes)

    #19 - Fishing for the Truth

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    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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  21. 7.7/10(98 votes)

    #20 - Ring Him Up

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    S11:E26

    In 1994, 19-year-old college co-ed Shannon Melendi disappeared while at Emory University in Atlanta. For ten years, her disappearance of remained a mystery, until new scientific testing cast a different light on someone who had been a suspect from the beginning.

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  22. 7.7/10(113 votes)

    #21 - Two in a Million

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    S11:E40

    A millionaire and his family were executed in their own home. For three years, the murders went unsolved and then a 30-year-old box of ammunition and some fluorescent fibers revealed the ultimate betrayal.

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  23. 7.7/10(84 votes)

    #22 - Fate Date

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    S14:E14

    In 2003, Rebecca Barney and her soon-to-be ex-husband Fred were found shot to death in their Tulsa, OK, home, which had been set on fire. After the fire was extinguished, Kenneth Maxwell, who was the man who had called 911 to report the fire, was also found shot dead in his car. Only the computer had been taken from the Barney home and with it, seemingly the means to identify the killer.

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  24. 7.7/10(79 votes)

    #23 - Trail of a Killer

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    S14:E15

    In 2003, Kathy Lorick was raped and murdered on a Concord, California jogging trail in the middle of the day while talking to her husband on her mobile phone. The leads from Kathy's cell phone records and search dogs go nowhere. Nine days later, a witness tells police about a chance encounter.

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  25. 7.6/10(232 votes)

    #24 - The Disappearance of Helle Crafts

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    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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  26. 7.6/10(130 votes)

    #25 - Bitter Potion

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    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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Best Episodes Summary

"The List Murders" is the best rated episode of "Forensic Files". It scored 8.4/10 based on 232 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 12/12/1996. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Bad Blood".