6.6/1093 votesLoading...#1 - Scout's Honor
Season 7 Episode 12 - Aired 3/19/2003
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?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.6/1074 votesLoading...#2 - The Sniffing Revenge
Season 7 Episode 31 - Aired 5/10/2003
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]
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.6/1075 votesLoading...#3 - Holy Terror
Season 13 Episode 27 - Aired 8/14/2009
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1067 votesLoading...#4 - Deadly Neighborhoods
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/21/1996
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?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1093 votesLoading...#5 - Where the Blood Drops
Season 6 Episode 21 - Aired 10/8/2001
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1086 votesLoading...#6 - A Shot in the Dark
Season 7 Episode 9 - Aired 12/7/2002
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]
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1088 votesLoading...#7 - Partners in Crime
Season 7 Episode 15 - Aired 1/18/2003
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1083 votesLoading...#8 - Scratching the Surface
Season 7 Episode 33 - Aired 5/24/2003
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]
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1089 votesLoading...#9 - Plastic Fire
Season 7 Episode 41 - Aired 7/19/2003
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]
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1092 votesLoading...#10 - When the Dust Settled
Season 8 Episode 13 - Aired 1/23/2004
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1086 votesLoading...#11 - Brotherhoods
Season 8 Episode 17 - Aired 11/29/2004
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1089 votesLoading...#12 - Smoke in Your Eyes
Season 8 Episode 29 - Aired 9/9/2005
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1085 votesLoading...#13 - Grounds for Indictment
Season 8 Episode 35 - Aired 12/2/2004
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1084 votesLoading...#14 - Deadly Curve
Season 8 Episode 40 - Aired 10/10/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1083 votesLoading...#15 - Flashover
Season 8 Episode 42 - Aired 12/21/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1091 votesLoading...#16 - In Harm's Way
Season 9 Episode 3 - Aired 6/15/2004
An Alaskan police officer found a woman's body while on routine patrol of a public park. The victim had been stabbed to death and, during the autopsy, the medical examiner preserved the portion of her rib cage which sustained the fatal wound. A knife thought to be the murder weapon turned up days later, two thousand miles away. Forensic scientists now had an opportunity, which seldom occurs, to compare the microscopic marks on the presumed murder weapon with the marks on the victim's bone.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1092 votesLoading...#17 - Burning Desire
Season 9 Episode 6 - Aired 7/28/2004
Investigators sifted through the ashes of a fire, which had killed a 40-year-old woman, the estranged wife of a police officer. At first glance, the fire appeared to have been started by an unattended cigarette, but when forensic scientists looked closely, they discovered the cause was far more complicated. [also marked as S9:E12]
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1092 votesLoading...#18 - Moss, Not Grass
Season 10 Episode 29 - Aired 12/21/2005
A young woman was found dead on a golf course in the Bahamas. The grass on that course was so distinctive, it had evidentiary value. The evidence led police to two suspects. Each blamed the other, and they had to find out who the killer was.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1073 votesLoading...#19 - Sole Searching
Season 10 Episode 35 - Aired 2/1/2006
Now it's not only a fingerprint which can link a killer to a crime; a shoe print can be just as telling. Armed with little else, police hoped the shoe impressions found at a Lansing, MI crime scene would put their investigation of Audrey Nichols' murder back on track.
Director: Michael Jordan
Writer: N/A
6.8/1081 votesLoading...#20 - Naughty or Nyce
Season 11 Episode 1 - Aired 7/19/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1078 votesLoading...#21 - Going for Broke
Season 11 Episode 2 - Aired 7/26/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1076 votesLoading...#22 - Dark Waters
Season 11 Episode 14 - Aired 10/18/2006
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1073 votesLoading...#23 - Critical Maneuver
Season 11 Episode 32 - Aired 2/21/2007
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/10154 votesLoading...#24 - The House That Roared
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/10/1996
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/10141 votesLoading...#25 - Planted Evidence
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/1996
Single mother Denise Johnson is found dead in a deserted area outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Local investigators ask a molecular geneticist to pick out a tree in a 'lineup' when unidentified seed pods are found in suspect Mark Bogan's truck. The judge rules into evidence DNA profiles linking the pods to a tree near where the body was found. This is the first U.S. case where plant DNA was used to convict a criminal.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of Forensic Files
Every episode of Forensic Files ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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...
Genres:CrimeDocumentary
Worst Episodes Summary
"Scout's Honor" is the worst rated episode of "Forensic Files". It scored 6.6/10 based on 93 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 3/19/2003. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Sniffing Revenge".