7.7/1053 votes#1 - Gangs of Little Havana/Execution in Coconut Grove
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 6/3/2004
A wall of silence from a frightened community hampers efforts to solve a brutal murder; and a mother of two is shot execution-style in her kitchen in an affluent neighborhood. In a visual style more like drama than reality show, we tail Miami homicide investigators as they race time to solve these murders. Who're the suspects? Are the detectives right? With cliffhangers at each break, both cases in this gritty episode will keep viewers guessing until the end.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1030 votes#2 - Overkill/Left for Dead
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 6/10/2004
Miami homicide detectives race against time in the critical first hours of investigation to find the evidence necessary to charge two suspects in a brutal murder case; & police find a man who's been shot and left for dead, but with no evidence, witnesses, or even a name for their victim, the detectives have got their work cut out for them. Find out if these driven detectives can make their cases.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1039 votes#3 - Blood in the Snow/Swope Park Killing
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 6/17/2004
In Kansas City, an ambitious captain and two veteran detectives face their first homicide of the year and must make deals with wanted drug kingpins to find the killer of a young woman; and a female homicide sergeant and her all-male team get a tip that leads their murder investigation into a dark subculture of drugs, guns, and buried safes.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1036 votes#4 - Double Shooting on Haskell; Back Alley Revenge
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 6/24/2004
In Kansas City, detectives investigate a shooting death and must convince a son to give up his father; and investigate a murder in an area known for its drug problems.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1041 votes#5 - Body in the Park / Ruby Street Shooting
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 7/1/2004
Sergeant Irma Labrice and Detectives Leon Lubiejewski and Michael Gross don't have much time to find a murder suspect and they don't have much to go on either, as the victim's body was burned beyond recognition; witnesses to the murder refuse to talk to police.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1035 votes#6 - Killing Spree
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 7/29/2004
Police try to convince the frightened residents of a housing project known as the "Pork and Beans" to help them track down the man who's been terrorizing the community, but after the third murder in a month, no one even calls 911.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1025 votes#7 - On Ice/Body in the Canal
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 8/5/2004
Employees of an ice rink arrives at work only to find the door ajar and blood all over the floor. When the police arrive the overnight employee is found beaten beyond recognition and the facility robbed. Since who ever did this seemed to have knowledge detectives turn to former employees to start the investigation. In another case a woman walking by a river in Phoenix she's what she believes in a body wrapped in plastic in the water. Detectives don't have an identity, or crime scene making this a difficult investigation.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1031 votes#8 - Fire in the Rain/Family Feud
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 8/12/2004
A motorist discovers a man's body alongside the highway with his genitals on fire. The investigation propels detectives on an odyssey through a rowdy world of Texas prostitutes and drugs; when a hard working Mexican migrant supporting his young family is found dead in a parking lot, detectives can't find a motive. As their investigation deepens, they must navigate a complex web of family ties and loyalties to identify the killer and catch him before he flees the country.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1036 votes#9 - Desert Bones/Party's Over
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 8/19/2004
Detectives Sallie Dillian and Cliff Jewell investigate a female skeleton found in the desert. Along with forensic anthropologist Laura Fulginiti, they work to determine who the mystery woman is. At first, they don't even know if she was murdered. But they use the scattered forensic and physical evidence to determine her identity and crack the case; an 18-year-old is shot in the head as a party of hundreds of high school students is breaking up. Because the teen is not expected to survive, homicide detectives Sandy Rodriguez and Tom Kulesa are called to the scene. Witnesses describe the shooter as a black male in a ski mask. In an intriguing development, there is a report of another non-fatal shooting that took place nearby, where the victim also described the shooter as a black male in a ski mask. Rodriguez and Kulesa must determine if the two events are related, who would have been after the victim and why.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1033 votes#10 - Wrong Side of the Tracks / At Death's Door
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 8/26/2004
Homicide detective Mayree Morin and her team of investigators are on their way to work on a sunny morning when they are called to a brutal murder scene. A man, shot at least a dozen times assassination-style, straddles a doorway in one of the city's roughest areas. No one in the vicinity saw anything, but detectives quickly learn that an ongoing war over drug turf has recently paralyzed the neighborhood. With just hours to work with, Morin's team must move fast to land a suspect before the killer slips away; the son of a celebrated neurosurgeon is discovered near dawn, shot to death along the railroad tracks in the Overtown neighborhood. The investigation leads straight-talking veteran detective Ervens Ford and his wise-ass rookie partner Kevin Ruggiero down a shady path of halfway houses, strip clubs, and misguided wealth. The pressure is on as the detectives meticulously backtrack the victim's last steps, trying to nail down a solid lead before their trail runs cold.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/1034 votes#11 - Stripper's Revenge/Dead on Arrival
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 9/2/2004
Hours after a jealous stripper vows revenge, her two-timing boyfriend is shot and killed. But the girlfriend is not the shooter, and it's up to Detective Tom Kulesa of Phoenix PD to unravel the mystery. And when a young father is dragged screaming from his bed in the middle of the night and gunned down in his doorway, Detective Mike Polk must figure out fact from fiction in witnesses' stories before the killers' trail grows cold.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1033 votes#12 - At Close Range/Murder in Motor City
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 9/16/2004
When Phoenix homicide Detective Tom Kulesa realizes a potential witness to a double murder has gone missing, he must race against time to stop another vicious killing; and in Detroit, Sergeant Jo Ann Kinney must turn to forensics to solve the murder of a man found dead in a brand new Cadillac Escalade.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1025 votes#13 - Silent Witness/Halley Street Slayings
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 11/18/2004
When a hard-working store worker is cut down in a hail of gunfire, veteran Sergeant Pepi Granado and his team must turn to a silent witness-- the store's video surveillance system, which caught the entire murder on tape; Sergeant Jo Ann Kinney and Detective Ed Williams tackle the case of a young couple found brutally killed in their house and learn that the victims knew their killer. They must track down reluctant witnesses deep in the narcotics game before their killer has a chance to get away.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The First 48 Season 1
Every episode of The First 48 Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The First 48 Season 1!
The First 48 follows detectives from around the country during these first critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect. Gritty and...
Genres:DocumentaryDramaCrime
Network:A&E
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Gangs of Little Havana/Execution in Coconut Grove" is the best rated episode of "The First 48" season 1. It scored 7.7/10 based on 53 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 6/3/2004. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Overkill/Left for Dead".