Episode
Forensic Files: Chief Suspect
Overview
The wife of a respected police officer was murdered in her own home. The crime went unsolved for more than a decade, and then a newly formed Cold Case Unit took a fresh look at the evidence. A few seconds of a 911 call enabled them to determine not only who was responsible for the victim's death, but also the motive for her murder.
Details
- Series
- Forensic Files
- Season
- Season 11
- Episode
- Episode 23
- Air date
- 2006-12-20
- Runtime
- 23 min
Episode context
Chief Suspect is Episode 23 in Season 11 of Forensic Files. It aired on 2006-12-20. The runtime is 23 min.
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Episode 22: A Novel Idea
In 2001, paramedics in Durham, NC received a frantic call from Michael Peterson who said his wife Kathleen had fallen down the stairs and that she was unconscious, but still breathing. When paramedics arrived, they could do little more than pronounce the woman dead. The number and volume of bloodstains at the scene was greater than usual and it was up to forensic scientists to find out why.
Episode 24: Water Hazard
The victim had ingested a massive amount of cyanide. An unlikely clue – a flaw on a mailing envelope – exposed a murderer who was willing to kill innocent
More episodes from this season
Episode 21: Van-ished
A twelve-year-old girl claimed she had been abducted and sexually assaulted. She recounted what happened in such a flat, unemotional voice that police found it difficult to believe her. Fibers on her clothing would prove she was telling the truth, and help police to find her attacker.
Episode 25: Shell Game
They thought the fire would cover their crime. But one tiny clue, no bigger than a thumbtack, remained. It held all the information investigators needed to put a trio of cold-blooded killers behind bars.
Episode 20: Live Wire
The bomb was constructed to cause as much damage as possible..and it did, killing the victim with deadly force and flame. A painstaking search yielded tiny clues, which identified the killer as surely as if he'd signed them.
Episode 26: Ring Him Up
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.
Episode 19: No Safe Place
A wealthy man and his wife were attacked by three men outside their luxurious Louisiana home. He was shot dead and she was forced to open their hidden safe. The woman could not describe the men because they wore masks. To solve the case, police would have to find out who knew about the concealed safe, and who would benefit from the crime.
Episode 27: Killer Impression
In 1987, the death of Crystal Purcell was considered an accident. Then in 2001, Barbara Purcell called police to suggest that her estranged husband Willard had killed Crystal, who was her husband at the time of her death. Before that investigation could begin, Barbara was found dead in much the same manner as Crystal. Was this an unfortunate coincidence or the M.O. of a serial killer?
Episode 18: A Case of the Flue
In 1993, 82-year-old Kathryn Bishop was found dead in her Pennsylvania home. The evidence at the scene indicated that the perpetrator had been running out of the house, not breaking into it. Tiny clues on the victim's body would tell police what happened that night, and who was responsible.
Episode 28: If I Were You
In 1994, Paul Gruber's daughter suspected something was wrong when she received birthday cards addressed from Gruber, on which the handwriting wasn't Gruber's. When she then learned virtually everything had been removed from her father's Sandpoint, ID home, she was sure of it. Even though she lived almost a thousand miles away, she took it upon herself to find out what happened and who was responsible.
Episode 17: Internal Affair
When a woman went missing, friends and family were determined to find her. Their worst fears were confirmed weeks later when her body was discovered. Blood evidence and computer forensics helped investigators to catch the killer, and convince the jury of his guilt.
Episode 29: As the Tide Turns
The woman was dead. The man had been shot four times but he survived. When the man's version of events was at variance with the evidence, investigators turned to forensic science, hoping to determine if this was a botched robbery, or cold-blooded murder.