A serial bomber was on the loose in Illinois. Two churches had been bombed and one person was killed. Investigators had to capture the criminal before he struck again and they hoped to catch him by following a thin copper wire.

In Pennsylvania 1984, a passer-by finds the torso of a woman in a cardboard box. Investigators rely on insect activity analysis by a forensic entomologist to determine when the murder victim was killed. She remained unknown until a year later, when her sister called to report her missing. Eventually she was identified and a man was convicted of her murder, but would further forensic entomology change the outcome?

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. [also marked as S7:E38]

Georgia resident Sheila Bryan, who was convicted of killing her mother in a car fire, is granted a new trial. An expert fire witness shares an opinion on how the fire ignited which differs from the prosecution's theory and, if verified, would clear Bryan of any culpability. [also marked as S7:E50]

Troubling clusters of deadly cancer cases strike concerned communities across the country. In a Phoenix suburb, too many children are fatally stricken with leukemia and, on a Connecticut street, there is a disproportionate amount of illness, including four cases of brain cancer. Modern environmental agents such as buried poisons and electrical substations are found... Could these be the culprits?

In 1987, Susie Mowbray was charged for her husband Bill Mowbray's death, which had the appearance of suicide. Her son was so convinced of her innocence that he enrolled in law school to try and clear her name.

A woman is found dead from a gunshot wound and police suspect her husband; however, forensic teams prove what really happened and the truth is stranger than fiction. [also marked as S7:E17]

How Illinois scientists solved a 1992 murder case involving cremation. It takes a long time and a very hot fire to cremate a human body, and thus destroy all evidence of foul play, but the coroner who performed the autopsy on the badly burned body of Charles "Jack" Lynch found telltale clues. Not only had the victim been burned, he’d also been stabbed -- 24 times, with two different knives. Police knew that a person, acting alone, would probably use only one weapon. So investigators were on the lookout for a couple of killers.

Forensic scientists work with the only clue recovered from a multiple-victim shooting: a 12-gauge shotgun. Scientists use unique methods to lift the serial number from the weapon in order to trace it to its owner. [also marked as S7:E40]

A union official is executed in his home not long after a strike by the union membership. Neither his wife nor anyone in the neighborhood heard any gunshots. It would take a forensic sound test, an electron microscope, and a nightgown to explain why.

Two men were murdered, while sleeping in their bed. One night later, an arson fire destroyed a family planning clinic. Investigators wondered, wherether some shards of glass, paintchips and a chicken feather, could link for what appeared to be, two separate crimes.

A suspicious fire swept through an apartment killing two young women. The cause of the fire and the identity of the victims were unclear. But a closer look at the fire scene revealed something hidden in the ashes.

It was supposed to be a routine motorcade for the Queen of England. But on the way to Yosemite National Park, a car carrying three Secret Service agents collided with a car driven by a deputy from the local sheriff's office.

A fire erupted in Kings Cross Station in London, killing 31 people and injuring dozens more. Investigators pinpointed the cause of the fire, but it took state-of-the-art technology and fluid dynamics experts to explain why it became a deadly inferno.

When two women from the same town were murdered in the same way, police feared a serial killer was on the loose. At first they thought the victims had nothing in common until they found tiny clues linking them to the same man.

The crime scene was awash with blood. The victim had been brutally murdered as he slept in his own bed. There were no foreign fingerprints in his home, but investigators did find a shoe impression in the mud outside physical evidence they hoped would lead them to the killer.

The woman could have lost control of her SUV on the icy road, and plunged down an embankment into a shallow creek. But there were footprints in the snow leading away.

A successful stockbroker told his wife he'd be working late, and when he didn't come home, she reported him missing. Investigators found his car a few blocks from his office and, two days later, proof that he had been murdered.

When a hit-and-run boating accident caused the death of a popular young man, investigators faced the daunting task of searching for one boat among 1200 others. They asked anyone who had seen the accident to come forward. The man who responded did much more than witness the crash; he was a passenger in that other boat.

When a hit-and-run accident claimed the life of a high school athlete, everyone in town mourned his passing. Finding the killer was a long shot at best, but investigators hoped tiny paint chips and pieces of plastic found at the scene would lead them to the person who was behind the wheel.

Caren Campano disappeared and her husband, Chris became the prime suspect -- especially after police found a huge bloodstain on the Campano's bedroom carpet. When they sprayed the bedroom with Luminol, they discovered it was awash with blood spatter. Complex DNA testing - 'reverse paternity' tests - proved it was Caren's blood. Now all they had to do was find her body.

On the night of May 22, 1992, Betty Wilson returned home after a meeting. She walked up the stairs to the bedroom and discovered her husband, Eye doctor Jack Wilson, beaten and stabbed to death, lying in a pool of blood with a baseball bat nearby. Jack Wilson had obviously been murdered... but how? And by whom? Even the experts couldn’t agree.

A man is found dead in his home, and his ex-wife has a perfect alibi. To determine time of death, investigators need to know when the victim ate his last meal. An endocrinologist, a forensic botanist, and a short-order cook answer their question.

With no forensic evidence inside a murder scene, investigators were baffled. But they suspected that the victim's dog had witnessed the crime. If she had, forensic scientists would have to find a way to find out what the dog had seen.

A drive-by shooting leaves one man dead and another seriously wounded. Cell phone calls and shell casings point to a suspect, but authorities are unable to place him at the crime scene. When a forensic geologist compared soil from the crime scene with soil found in the wheel wells of the suspect's car, he proved that dirt is anything but dumb.