Episode
Forensic Files: Stranger in the Night
Overview
In 1991, Dorothy Donovan was murdered in her Dover, DE home and police are skeptical when her son Charles Holden stated that she was murdered by a hitchhiker he had picked up. Their suspicions were heightened when he refused to take a polygraph test and they turned to forensic science. Would the blood and fingerprint evidence at the crime scene support Charles' story or prove his guilt?
Details
- Series
- Forensic Files
- Season
- Season 13
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 2008-12-19
- Runtime
- 23 min
Episode context
Stranger in the Night is Episode 11 in Season 13 of Forensic Files. It aired on 2008-12-19. The runtime is 23 min.
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Episode 10: Window Watcher
In 1986, Gary Dale Larson was stabbed to death in his Edmond, OK, home and then the killer sexually assaulted Larson's girlfriend Janet Haynes. Hayne's story seemed farfetched: The perpetrator was wearing only underwear and gloves broke into the house, stabbed Larson to death, then raped and terrorized her for hours afterwards. But, the evidence at the scene supported her story, and investigators turned for help to the FBI and their criminal profilers.
Episode 12: Kidnapping
In 2001, Ginger Hayes and her infant son Nicholas were abducted during a carjacking and the crime had been reported by a witness within minutes of occurrence. 45 minutes after the kidnapping, When Ginger and Nicholas were found 50 miles away, Ginger had been beaten to death, but Nicholas was still alive. Further analysis of Ginger's car and evidence at the scene where Ginger was found both led to her killer.
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: Home Evasion
In 2000, Judy Southern arrived home from work and was shot by a gunman waiting within. Her husband Allen arrived shortly afterwards, called 911 to report his wife had been shot and drove her to the hospital. She died on arrival and the investigation focused on her husband Allen, but forensic analysis and a suicide note found at the scene pointed to the killer.
Episode 13: Sands of Crime
In the early hours of a morning just before Christmas, a college co-ed was abducted from the parking lot of her apartment. Her body was found later that day; she'd been sexually assaulted and then shot at point blank range. Eight long years passed and then a pair of running shoes and a cell phone breathed new life into a very cold case.
Episode 8: Constructive Criticism
In 2000, construction manager Darrell North was found dead in his work trailer in Ft. Worth, Texas. When investigators arrived, they found that he had been stabbed 46 times, described as overkill and indicating a personal relationship between the victim and the attacker. Police hoped that, during the struggle, the killer had left some of his own blood and his DNA behind. Their challenge was to find it. Forensic science points to an unlikely suspect.
Episode 14: Calculated Coincidence
A young woman is found dead in her apartment. There's little evidence at the scene, leads don't pan out and the case turns cold... until police discover a link between their prime suspect and an unsolved murder committed six years earlier in different state.
Episode 7: Last Dance
In 2000, the body of exotic dancer Rachel Siani was found beneath a New Jersey bridge and investigators wondered if she had committed suicide. Evidence at the scene proved not only that she'd been carried to the bridge and thrown over the side, but also that she was alive when she fell. Police look at customers at the gentlemen's club and co-workers who had vendettas against the victim.
Episode 15: Sworded Scheme
When a college student is reported missing, police believe their investigation will be like countless others, and she'd turn-up a few days later. But when they discover blood spatter in her boyfriend's bedroom, blood spatter someone had gone to great lengths to conceal, they know this case is going to be different.
Episode 6: Dancing with the Devil
In 1999, Patrick McRae was found dead in his Des Moines home and the crime scene was awash with blood. Analysis showed it had come from two people, one of whom was female. The male DNA was McRae's, which meant the killer was a woman. Leads dried up and the case went cold until a suspect arrested for drug possession offered police a deal, and told a bizarre tale of an exotic dancer named Andrea Morris who listened to the voices in her head.
Episode 16: Unmasked
A serial rapist is on the loose in a Texas town. No one knew where he'd strike next, but the audacity of his attacks and the escalation of violence against his victims made finding him imperative.
Episode 5: Double Cross
In 1996, Virginia Beach police arrive at the Makdessi apartment to find Elise Makdessi and her lover Quincy Brown dead. Elise's husband Eddie had reported that he killed Quincy Brown in self defense after Brown had murdered Elise. Eddie gave the police a videotape Elise had made a week before, alleging that she had been the victim of sexual harassment and assault while in the Navy. Investigators found evidence that her allegations may have been part of an elaborate scheme for financial gain. Hoping to separate fact from fiction, they turned to forensic science.
Episode 17: Fashion Police
The victim has been stabbed more than thirty times, and the crime scene is awash with her blood. Near her head, police discover a distinctive button with strands of thread still attached. If they can find the owner of the shirt the button came from, they'll also find the killer.