What are the best episodes of Cold Case Files?

The best rated episodes of Cold Case Files are: Killer on Campus/Bow Hunter - S5E8 rated 8.3, Mommie Dearest - S2E24 rated 8.3, Murder On The Menu - S2E11 rated 8.1, The Black Dahlia - S5E16 rated 8.0, The Shopping Cart Killer - S3E22 rated 8.0, The Answer in the Box/Maternal Instinct - S1E4 rated 8.0, The Boy and the Monster/Secret in the Cellar - S1E2 rated 7.9, Terror in Telluride/Signature of a Killer - S1E9 rated 7.9, Cat and Mouse/Cabbie Killer - S2E16 rated 7.9, Lady in the Box - S2E9 rated 7.9

What are the worst episodes of Cold Case Files?

The lowest rated episodes of Cold Case Files are: Murder Illustrated/Blood Relations - S1E12 rated 4.3, Family Secret/Blood Trail - S1E24 rated 5.7, Bodies In The Bay/Cold Hit - S1E25 rated 5.7, Vanished - S1E20 rated 6.0, Silent Witness/Innocence Lost - S1E22 rated 6.0, Reconstructing Murder/Fire Flicks - S1E15 rated 6.2, Left for Dead/On the Case - S5E27 rated 6.3, Evidence Kit - S5E28 rated 6.3, Deja Vu/Secret In The Well - S4E15 rated 6.4, The Missing Informant/Man's Best Friend - S1E18 rated 6.4

Cold Case Files Episode Rating Graph

Jan 1999 - Dec 2006

7.3

Cold Case Files Episode Rating Graph poster

Browse episode ratings trends for Cold Case Files. Simply click on the interactive rating graph to explore the best and worst of Cold Case Files's 128 episodes.

Best Episodes of Cold Case Files

Killer on Campus/Bow Hunter
S5 Ep8
8.3
2nd Apr 2006
Thirty-two years after the killing of University of Michigan law student Jane Mixer, police use DNA found on her pantyhose to finally track down the killer. And psychologists help solve a cold case by suggesting the lead detective take a page from the game of romance, and play hard to get with the killer.
Mommie Dearest
S2 Ep24
8.3
11th Jun 2000
A mother is suspected in the murders of two of her daughters, when her third daughter finally convinces police to reopen two cold cases.
Murder On The Menu
S2 Ep11
8.1
12th Mar 2000
A boy's toy Batmobile car provides an important clue for detectives struggling to make a case against a serial killer who stalks and kills waitresses.
The Black Dahlia
S5 Ep16
8.0
9th Sep 2006
Bill Kurtis examines one of the most infamous cold cases in Los Angeles history -- the 1947 murder of actress Elizabeth Short, who was found nude and cut in half in an empty lot. Though charges have never been filed in the case, theories abound, and Kurtis investigates some of the most prominent ones. He talks to a retired LAPD detective whose 3 year investigation led to the stunning conclusion that his own father committed the murder. Kurtis also probes the theory that the killer was a surgeon named Walter Bayley. Kurtis finally explores the possibility that there may have been a police cover-up in the case to protect the real killer.
The Shopping Cart Killer
S3 Ep22
8.0
28th May 2001
The case of serial killer and rapist Arohn Kee is recalled. Host: Bill Kurtis.
The Answer in the Box/Maternal Instinct
S1 Ep4
8.0
23rd Jan 1999
Answer in the Box Alison Parrott was a runner. Not only was she was runner she was a great runner, So much so that she had the local media interested in her, So when she got a call from a photographer to take some pictures of her running she didn't think anything wrong with it. She left to go to her photo session and wasn't seen alive again. The police had a fellow runner as the lead suspect but nothing ever happened with that lead. A cold case detective named Vic Matanovic was going through some files 10 years later and came across the case. When the detective was looking for clues to solve the case the Answer is in the Box. Usually DNA is enough to prove a case but in this case the criminal who lured Alison to her death had a plan to lure the jury to believe in the lie he was about to tell. Maternal Instinct 1981 a brother and sister fell victim to a heartless mother with no regard for life. 3 month old Seth Davis was rushed to the hospital because of insulin poisoning. He was left brain damaged. 5 months later his sister, Tenga Davis, is rushed to the hospital. There she dies of Caffeine poisoning. Even though the autopsy that was turned in by the M.E. stated cause of death was a homicide, the police treated this as an accident. Their mother Mary Beth Davis moves on with her own life by moving to a different state. She starts a new family and forgets all about what happened back in her past. That is until 10 years later when Mary Beth gets a knock on her door by the cold case detectives which brings back her past as the detectives are there to prove a case of murder.
The Boy and the Monster/Secret in the Cellar
S1 Ep2
7.9
8th Jan 1999
The Boy and the Monster In Wisconsin in the winter of 1991 a young woman's body was found naked, badly beaten and to make it harder to identify her, her fingertips were cut off. After months of trying to figure out who she was they finally came up with a name. Doris McLeod. After finding out who she was the police find out a lot more about her. She had a troubled past. After being on the streets she ended up connected to a pimp. Only one month of being on the streets she is never seen again. It takes a 3 year old boy to finally tell the police about Doris and the Boy and the Monster. Secret in the Cellar The second part of this episode is about a young woman from South Portland, Maine who was in search of her mother. She contacts the police but they get nowhere. They question Bill Bruns, the missing woman's husband who told the police a story about how Pearl drank and ran off with another man. Elaine Woodward, the missing womans daughter, went to the media for help. An investigator takes the case and with the help of science and man power he finds out what happened to Pearl with the Secret in the Cellar.
Terror in Telluride/Signature of a Killer
S1 Ep9
7.9
26th Feb 1999
Shoot outside her bedroom, Eva Shoen was shot to death. Living in Telluride, on the mountain side. Eva was married to the son of the billion dollar Shoen family who owned the U-Haul empire. With lacking evidence the case runs cold. Even though the police believe that her death was related to a fued in the family business. Years later the case is solved by a secret that was finally revealed and a recorded conversation is played. DNA also helped the killer to confess to the crime. Signature of a Killer Taylor Courtney was a 20 yr old man who was brutaly murdered in his apartment. The crime scene was bloody and vicious. A single print is found but in 1974 when fingerprint technology was still in its infancy it meant nothing. 20 years would pass before a cold case detective would pick up the case and look at it again. What they found was a match in the system which leads to a friend of Taylor's who had committed this murder because of mistaken suspicions and jealousy.
Cat and Mouse/Cabbie Killer
S2 Ep16
7.9
16th Apr 2000
A police investigator discovers a letter written 16 years earlier that provides clues to a woman's murder. And a firearms expert supplies the evidence that South Carolina authorities need to put a man on trial in 2002 for a murder committed in 1961. It was the oldest murder case ever tried in the state.
Lady in the Box
S2 Ep9
7.9
26th Feb 2000
The murder of an Ohio woman in 1974 is solved more than 20 years later after police get a crucial clue--the woman's husband was seen building a coffin-shaped box about the time the woman disappeared.
The Texas Drifter/The Fingerprint File
S1 Ep3
7.8
15th Jan 1999
Texas Drifter Two women in two separate towns in Texas who where raped. The rapist uses a knife to threaten these women then rapes them and leaves his DNA behind. Back when these happened DNA was not profected yet so having the DNA was useless. Many years later when CODIS was developed which is a database for DNA a match to the rapists DNA was found. It was to a known serial rapist. Fingerprint File It was two days before Christmas a woman if found stabbed to death with the only clue left is a fingerprint left on a pop bottle. The forensic people were able to lift the print but had no success in matching it to anybody. Years later a man still working on cold cases finds a match to the fingerpprint which gives the police a lead to a killer. Rose Among Thorns Juliet Rowe was the victim who got shot in the bedroom of her English Countryside home. She was shot execution style then was shot again in the heart. The killer wanted to make sure that Juliet was dead. After thousands of endless attempts her case remained unsolved. 8 years later a stranger comes into a pub and starts talking to Mr Rowe Juliet's husband. The stranger's name was Keith Rose. He was arrested on kidnapping charges 6 weeks later. Because of his arrest he brings attention to himself to the cold case investigators who then look at him in the "Rose Among Thorns" case.
Kidnapped
S4 Ep25
7.8
A kidnapper grabs 8-year-old Chad Choice from his home in Texas, then torments his parents with two ransom demands. The case goes cold until the parents receive a chilling package in the mail that contains a letter--and a skull.
Soft Kill/Unsolved
S2 Ep20
7.8
14th May 2000
Police run down more than 11,000 leads before coming up with a suspect in the murders of three Virginia girls; and the abduction and strangulation of a California woman continues to baffle investigators more than 11 years after the crime.
A Killer's Skin / Where's Peggy?
S5 Ep11
7.7
3rd Jun 2006
Police in Albany, N.Y., get a surprise when a killer they think targets only older women is suspected in the murder of an elderly man. And the contents of a secret storage shed holds the grisly clues to a murder that has gone cold for more than 14 years.
Something Snapped/A Killer's Dream
S5 Ep9
7.7
9th Apr 2006
On a summer night in 1987 a mother worries and waits for her 19-year-old daughter to come home. But Diana never comes home and she's found raped and strangled near the Hudson River. Investigators suspect her friend, Michael because his alibi is shaky and witnesses place his truck near the crime scene. Trouble is, he passes a polygraph and his DNA is no match. Nevertheless, Michael remains the chief suspect for 17 years, until DNA fingers another man who offers a chilling story of Diana's last breath. Then, a young family's life is shattered when a San Antonio interior design shop becomes a crime scene. In 1983, a young mother is raped and murdered at work. The crime remains unsolved for two decades. Then in 2003 detectives reopen the case pegging their hopes on DNA. But when the evidence turns up missing, detectives worry this case could be over before it starts.
The Original Night Stalker
S2 Ep22
7.7
28th May 2000
In the 1980s, a serial killer prowled the posh streets of Orange County. Police were unaware of the serial attacks until 1996, when DNA revealed the killer's secret and they linked four murders to a single DNA profile. Detectives uncovered three more crimes attributed to the man dubbed "The Original Night Stalker" before learning he had an earlier career as a serial rapist! Watch as cold case detectives compare the attacker's DNA with nearly every convicted violent offender in California.
Operation Jambalaya/Footprints in the Snow
S2 Ep1
7.7
1st Jan 2000
A New Orleans police officer goes undercover on a Baton Rouge riverboat to gain a confession from one of the ship's maintenance workers who is suspected of murder. And a Wisconsin man, suspected of committing murder using a nunchukus, a weapon consisting of handles connected by a chain, goes on trial nearly 10 years after the victim's body was found on Christmas Eve 1987.
The Burning Secret/Justice Delayed
S1 Ep13
7.7
26th Mar 1999
A rapist is captured seven years after the crime, but when he is released on a technicality his victim is determined to fight back. Fifteen years after a fire claimed the lives of a father and son, detectives interview the grown surviving son and learn a tragic tale of a mother who burned her family.
One Night on the Bayou / Buckeye Misdemeanor
S1 Ep7
7.6
12th Feb 1999
Alligators feasting on a human corpse help police to crack a murder investigation. Phoenix police discover that a preacher is the culprit in a 20-year-old murder.
Cop Killer/Evil Twin
S3 Ep1
7.6
1st Jan 2001
Included: Los Angeles detectives solve a 46-year-old murder case; and DNA leads to a suspected killer who has a twin brother. Host: Bill Kurtis.
The Merry Widow/The Bad Cop
S3 Ep4
7.6
22nd Jan 2001
Included: the case of Douglas J. Wright, a former state trooper whose 1993 murder of his wife brought a conviction in 2003. Also: the murder of a Navy seaman. Host: Bill Kurtis.
Diary Of A Serial Arsonist/The Lost Clue
S1 Ep10
7.6
5th Mar 1999
Every 2 years, a group of fire investigators meet for a conference. While attending the conference in 1987 in Fresno, California, 3 suspicious fires break out near the conference. They were in 3 different fabric stores nearby each other. The only clue being left behind is one latent pint. Two years later when the conference is held again in Monterey, California another group of fires break out. The firefighters at the conference begin to think that it's one of themselves. With fingerprinting in it's more advanced stage they were able to tie the arsons to one of the investigators. While searching through his things they find a manscript called DIARY OF A SERIAL ARSONIST which contained not only information on arson but instructions on murder. In the second story line an elderly woman from San Antonio, Texas lay in her room naked from the waist down with her throat slashed. In the next room was her 80 year old husband who had just suffered his 3rd stroke. But there was no evidence to charge him. With pressure from a Texas Ranger the case is re-looked at where in they find the LOST CLUE in solving the case.
The Killer's Tattoo
S3 Ep6
7.6
5th Feb 2001
The search for a killer with a distinctive tattoo is recalled. Host: Bill Kurtis.
The Widow and the Wolf/Unicorns and Alligators
S2 Ep12
7.6
19th Mar 2000
After the murder of her aunt goes cold, a woman helps launch Citizens Against Homicide, an advocate group that brings awareness to cases that have gone unsolved. And police solve a young girl's rape and murder when the car where her body was discovered acts like a refrigerator, preserving half of her body and allowing authorities to recover incriminating DNA from semen in her body.
The Mark of Cain / Death on the Freeway
S1 Ep8
7.6
19th Feb 1999
A man in Florida is reported missing and his roommate is the main suspect. Then, at first it looks like L.A.P.D. Sgt. George Arthur died in a car crash. But two days later, four bullets are found in his skull.
A Deadly Pattern/A Desperate Housewife
S5 Ep24
7.5
When a woman is found murdered in her mobile home, police make two shocking discoveries--her husband may not only have been the killer, but he may have also killed his first wife 31 years before. And after an Oregon man is shot dead, the case takes an unusual twist when one of the investigating detectives has an affair with the chief suspect--the dead man's wife.

Worst Episodes of Cold Case Files

Murder Illustrated/Blood Relations
S1 Ep12
4.3
19th Mar 1999
Nine years after police had to release the teenage suspect in a woman's murder due to lack of evidence, they find a new lead in the case. Twenty years after a young woman is murdered while babysitting her nephew, police are able to find DNA evidence that points to her killer.
Family Secret/Blood Trail
S1 Ep24
5.7
4th Jun 1999
Forty-one years after the crime, a woman implicates her brother and cousin in the murder of a New Jersey policeman. And members of the Vidocq Society, a group of law enforcement professionals who volunteer their expertise to crack difficult cases, find blood-spatter evidence that helps solve a Texas murder.
Bodies In The Bay/Cold Hit
S1 Ep25
5.7
11th Jun 1999
A sunset boat ride in Florida leads to death for a vacationing woman and her two daughters, and police investigate a Texas man whose three wives all died in mysterious fashions.
Vanished
S1 Ep20
6.0
7th May 1999
The story of serial killer James Rodney Hicks, who left a trail of bodies and kept police, prosecutors, and the FBI quite busy working on his cases for over 20 years. Hicks murdered his wife, his children's babysitter, and a girlfriend.
Silent Witness/Innocence Lost
S1 Ep22
6.0
21st May 1999
The murder of scientist Helena Greenwood, who was helping to develop DNA forensic technology when she died, is solved 12 years later with the help of DNA evidence. And a Los Angeles County prosecutor uses criminal profiling to nab the notorious South Bay Rapist, who abducted and raped six young girls.
Reconstructing Murder/Fire Flicks
S1 Ep15
6.2
9th Apr 1999
In Wisconsin, advances in forensic clay modeling help investigators identify a murder victim whose skin was stripped from her head, neck, and legs. And in California, police track down two boys who enjoy satanic rituals and setting fires.
Left for Dead/On the Case
S5 Ep27
6.3
31st Dec 2006
A detective in California tracks down a prostitute's killer with the help of a key piece of evidence--fingerprints lifted off two beer bottles found at the murder scene. And two persistent cold case detectives in Kansas City, Mo., use DNA analyses to investigate the 1990 murder of a woman and the death of a man killed in a car crash in 1988.
Evidence Kit
S5 Ep28
6.3
31st Dec 2006
The Chicago Police Department launches the Women's DNA initiative to fund the testing of backlogged rape evidence kits and help rape victims find justice. Meanwhile in Sacramento County, California, the deputy district attorney hunts for the killer of a man who was brutally stabbed to death in his home 16 years earlier, using a new grant for DNA testing.
Deja Vu/Secret In The Well
S4 Ep15
6.4
A new fingerprint identification system known as I-AFIS helps Texas detectives track down a killer after three years of searching. And a Georgia investigator gets to the bottom of a 16-year-old murder case when he discovers where the victim's body had been hidden -- in the bottom of a well.
The Missing Informant/Man's Best Friend
S1 Ep18
6.4
30th Apr 1999
Police solve a murder when divers find a skeleton in a car at the bottom of a river, and a dead dog's DNA helps crack open a 6-year-old case.
Cold Case Files
S5 Ep26
6.4
Looks at how law enforcers stick with cases for many years, using fresh evidence to win convictions or to free prisoners who were wrongfully jailed.
The Closers/Caught by an Eyelash
S4 Ep24
6.5
A bloody dagger and a phone tap help detectives solve a 20-year-old murder case. And DNA taken from an eyelash found on a dead prostitute's body brings a killer to justice.
The Taunt / Death in Deadwood
S5 Ep14
6.5
29th Jul 2006
A serial rapist seals his own fate when he sends a taunting letter to police, who use the DNA extracted from the saliva in the envelope's seal to track him down. And when a man is found dead in South Dakota, his head bashed in by a 50-pound rock, investigators go on a 20-year search for the killers--a man and woman who were part of a free-loving hippie group and are known only by the names "Outlaw" and "Inlaw."
Presumed Dead/The Tow Truck Killer
S1 Ep17
6.6
23rd Apr 1999
One will take 10 years and one will take 17 years to solve but they do get solved. Dedication, science, luck, and even hypnosis is used to make sure justice is done for the dead. Presumed Dead Tracy Jo Shine is in trouble with the law, She is being prosecuted on drug charges. Her only chance for freedom is to testify against her boyfriend Michaekl Neal. Satisfied with her testimony she is released. Shortly after she went missing. All leads pointed to her boyfriend. An informant on the case told police that Michael was keeping her body in a rerfigerator. Police inspected it but found nothing. The case went cold. For more then 10 years Tracy was missing, then presumed dead. Science will finally fine justice for Tracy with a clue found hidden her tomb, that refrigerator.And justice is finally served for Tracy the woman Presumed Dead. Tow Truck Killer On a desolate roadway sits an abandoned car. Deputy Bill Simmons was on the scene and called for a tow truck to pick up the car. The next thing that happened was a "Mayday" call to the Sangamon County,Illinois Sherrifs department that there was an officer down, shot in the head twice. After following hundreds of leads the case runs cold. It would be 17 years before a Cold Case Detective decides to use forensic hypnosis on the only eye witness to bring back the memories in the case to catch the killer.
The Cuff Link/Graveyard Shift
S2 Ep17
6.6
23rd Apr 2000
Police solve an old murder case with a painstaking examination of the tool mark on the plastic flex cuff that bound the victim's hands, and a 15-year-old murder case is finally cracked open when a disgruntled wife tells police that her husband committed the crime.
Abandoned Houses / A Son's Memory
S5 Ep21
6.6
28th Oct 2006
Detectives are baffled when two young girls are raped, murdered, and dumped in an abandoned house in Akron, Ohio. And a 26-year-old mother of three disappears on Christmas Eve in 1995, but the missing persons case goes cold when police can find few clues to her whereabouts.
The South Side Rapist
S2 Ep2
6.7
8th Jan 2000
A series of brutal rapes in St. Louis goes unsolved for many years until a fluke audit of a license plate number leads police to the culprit.
Cross Country Connection / Eyes at the Window
S5 Ep20
6.8
21st Oct 2006
DNA found on a marijuana joint in Florida in 2005 helps to solve the 1988 rape and murder of a California woman. And a cold case of murder in Illinois heats up when a jailhouse lawyer turns jailhouse snitch.
Rear Window / The Peeper
S4 Ep23
6.8
4th Jun 2002
Included: the 1998 murder of waitress Corey Parker in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., by Robert Erik Denney. Host: Bill Kurtis.
The Missing and the Dead
S1 Ep21
7.0
14th May 1999
When a passing motorist spots a fire along a country road in South Carolina and calls it in, police arrive to discover the badly burned and battered remains of a woman, her skull smashed in to 97 fragments. After a forensic anthropologist at the University of South Carolina painstakingly pieces the bones back together, investigators use the skull to solve the murder.
Mark of a Killer/Dead Ends
S2 Ep3
7.0
15th Jan 2000
A killer's bite marks and a jailhouse snitch lead to a murder conviction in a case gone cold for eight years, and Bill Kurtis joins a group of super sleuths trying to solve the slaying of 18-year-old Jamie Weiss, found dead in her bathtub in 1996.
The Perfect Murder/Death of Innocents
S2 Ep14
7.0
2nd Apr 2000
It takes nine years and the work of cutting-edge forensic toxicologists to solve the murder of a medical examiner's wife. Then, a determined Alabama sheriff reopens the case of the deaths of two babies, hoping to get their mother to confess.
Cold Hit/Silent Kill
S2 Ep23
7.0
4th Jun 2000
A thumbprint connects two separate murders and it is later discovered that the suspect had a strange fetish for women's lingerie. Then, an elderly woman is found murdered in her bed and the only evidence is a single strand of hair.
Innocent Prey/The Punishment
S3 Ep25
7.0
25th Jun 2001
Police play a wild hunch that pays off in the capture of a serial rapist. And after 26 years, investigators finally solve the murder of a 6-year-old girl who had been forced to take a cold-water bath as punishment for painting her nails with pink polish without permission.
On the Case: Nacole's Killer
S5 Ep7
7.0
11th Mar 2006
This special edition of Cold Case Files offers an inside look, rarely seen, at an active cold case investigation. We follow Det. Vince Velazquez of Atlanta and Capt. Russell Popham of East Point, Ga., as they work to solve the 1995 rape and murder of 14-year-old Nacole Smith, one of Atlanta's most notorious unsolved crimes. We see Velazquez and Popham hit the streets to question people who might recognize the man in their composite sketch, and obtain DNA samples from potential suspects. "It's almost like the carrot's dangling in front of us, but we just can't catch it," Velazquez says of his painstaking, frustrating search for the killer.
NCIS / Exhuming the Truth
S5 Ep19
7.0
7th Oct 2006
After U.S. Navy sailor Andrew Muns disappears in 1968, the Navy claims that Muns went AWOL from his ship. But his sister works tirelessly for over 30 years to prove that Muns was really killed. And DNA surreptitiously gathered from a cigarette butt helps detectives to unravel a 20-year-old case of rape and murder.

Cold Case Files Episode Guide

Hour 1 - Cold Case Files
S1 Ep1
7.5
1st Jan 1999
In the first case in this episode Felicia Prechtl is found raped and murdered in Dallas, Texas/ The only thing the killer left behind was a fingerprint which was smudged. The fingerprint was left on a piece of duct tape that the killer used to tie up Felicia. It would take many years before Felicia would get justice. It would take the work of a dedicated detective to runs the prints through the system and find not only a match to the print but also finds the killer. And he wants to confess. The second story in this episode is about a little girl, Surrette Clark, who lived in the Arizona desert. She disappeared with nobody to even recognize that she was gone. After Surrette went missing at the age of 3 it would take more then 20 years to solve this mystery. Her parents took off across the Canadian border right after her disappearance. Finally a woman comes forward to tell of the families secret. With this information cold case detectives find out about a story of child abuse and how deadly some people will go to hide them. The third story in this episode is about a known man. One who has passed through our live via television either from watching the show or somebody talking about it. Its Bob Crane. Best known for his role on Hogan's Heroes as Colonel Hogan. Crane was strangled and beaten to death in his own bed in 1978. The story goes that Bob and a friend of his had a fight one night. With the small evidence that the police did have the police suspected his friend of his murder but could not prove it. It would be 12 years before anybody takes a second look at this case. On the second try police do find the evidence they need but will it be enough? In the fourth installment to this episode is about Ronnie Bullock. He was a man who had served 10 years of his sentence for raping an 11 year old girl. Through the entire time of his imprisionment he stayed stedfast to his claim of innocence. It would not be until DNA was founded that someone would listen to him and prove him innocent.
The Boy and the Monster/Secret in the Cellar
S1 Ep2
7.9
8th Jan 1999
The Boy and the Monster In Wisconsin in the winter of 1991 a young woman's body was found naked, badly beaten and to make it harder to identify her, her fingertips were cut off. After months of trying to figure out who she was they finally came up with a name. Doris McLeod. After finding out who she was the police find out a lot more about her. She had a troubled past. After being on the streets she ended up connected to a pimp. Only one month of being on the streets she is never seen again. It takes a 3 year old boy to finally tell the police about Doris and the Boy and the Monster. Secret in the Cellar The second part of this episode is about a young woman from South Portland, Maine who was in search of her mother. She contacts the police but they get nowhere. They question Bill Bruns, the missing woman's husband who told the police a story about how Pearl drank and ran off with another man. Elaine Woodward, the missing womans daughter, went to the media for help. An investigator takes the case and with the help of science and man power he finds out what happened to Pearl with the Secret in the Cellar.
The Texas Drifter/The Fingerprint File
S1 Ep3
7.8
15th Jan 1999
Texas Drifter Two women in two separate towns in Texas who where raped. The rapist uses a knife to threaten these women then rapes them and leaves his DNA behind. Back when these happened DNA was not profected yet so having the DNA was useless. Many years later when CODIS was developed which is a database for DNA a match to the rapists DNA was found. It was to a known serial rapist. Fingerprint File It was two days before Christmas a woman if found stabbed to death with the only clue left is a fingerprint left on a pop bottle. The forensic people were able to lift the print but had no success in matching it to anybody. Years later a man still working on cold cases finds a match to the fingerpprint which gives the police a lead to a killer. Rose Among Thorns Juliet Rowe was the victim who got shot in the bedroom of her English Countryside home. She was shot execution style then was shot again in the heart. The killer wanted to make sure that Juliet was dead. After thousands of endless attempts her case remained unsolved. 8 years later a stranger comes into a pub and starts talking to Mr Rowe Juliet's husband. The stranger's name was Keith Rose. He was arrested on kidnapping charges 6 weeks later. Because of his arrest he brings attention to himself to the cold case investigators who then look at him in the "Rose Among Thorns" case.
The Answer in the Box/Maternal Instinct
S1 Ep4
8.0
23rd Jan 1999
Answer in the Box Alison Parrott was a runner. Not only was she was runner she was a great runner, So much so that she had the local media interested in her, So when she got a call from a photographer to take some pictures of her running she didn't think anything wrong with it. She left to go to her photo session and wasn't seen alive again. The police had a fellow runner as the lead suspect but nothing ever happened with that lead. A cold case detective named Vic Matanovic was going through some files 10 years later and came across the case. When the detective was looking for clues to solve the case the Answer is in the Box. Usually DNA is enough to prove a case but in this case the criminal who lured Alison to her death had a plan to lure the jury to believe in the lie he was about to tell. Maternal Instinct 1981 a brother and sister fell victim to a heartless mother with no regard for life. 3 month old Seth Davis was rushed to the hospital because of insulin poisoning. He was left brain damaged. 5 months later his sister, Tenga Davis, is rushed to the hospital. There she dies of Caffeine poisoning. Even though the autopsy that was turned in by the M.E. stated cause of death was a homicide, the police treated this as an accident. Their mother Mary Beth Davis moves on with her own life by moving to a different state. She starts a new family and forgets all about what happened back in her past. That is until 10 years later when Mary Beth gets a knock on her door by the cold case detectives which brings back her past as the detectives are there to prove a case of murder.
The Hunter Homicides / Skulls in Stanley Park
S1 Ep5
7.4
29th Jan 1999
DNA tests identify a skull of a 14-year-old boy who went missing 6 years earlier. When a second skull is found, investigators fear they have a serial killer in the area. In Florida, detectives trace a gun used in a 4-year-old murder.
Through the Eyes of a Child / Killer Next Door
S1 Ep6
7.4
6th Feb 1999
In Missouri, a part-time missionary is convicted, 38 years later, of killing her 5-year-old stepdaughter, and the skeleton of a Michigan boy, dead for 10 years, leads police to a serial killer.
One Night on the Bayou / Buckeye Misdemeanor
S1 Ep7
7.6
12th Feb 1999
Alligators feasting on a human corpse help police to crack a murder investigation. Phoenix police discover that a preacher is the culprit in a 20-year-old murder.
The Mark of Cain / Death on the Freeway
S1 Ep8
7.6
19th Feb 1999
A man in Florida is reported missing and his roommate is the main suspect. Then, at first it looks like L.A.P.D. Sgt. George Arthur died in a car crash. But two days later, four bullets are found in his skull.
Terror in Telluride/Signature of a Killer
S1 Ep9
7.9
26th Feb 1999
Shoot outside her bedroom, Eva Shoen was shot to death. Living in Telluride, on the mountain side. Eva was married to the son of the billion dollar Shoen family who owned the U-Haul empire. With lacking evidence the case runs cold. Even though the police believe that her death was related to a fued in the family business. Years later the case is solved by a secret that was finally revealed and a recorded conversation is played. DNA also helped the killer to confess to the crime. Signature of a Killer Taylor Courtney was a 20 yr old man who was brutaly murdered in his apartment. The crime scene was bloody and vicious. A single print is found but in 1974 when fingerprint technology was still in its infancy it meant nothing. 20 years would pass before a cold case detective would pick up the case and look at it again. What they found was a match in the system which leads to a friend of Taylor's who had committed this murder because of mistaken suspicions and jealousy.
Diary Of A Serial Arsonist/The Lost Clue
S1 Ep10
7.6
5th Mar 1999
Every 2 years, a group of fire investigators meet for a conference. While attending the conference in 1987 in Fresno, California, 3 suspicious fires break out near the conference. They were in 3 different fabric stores nearby each other. The only clue being left behind is one latent pint. Two years later when the conference is held again in Monterey, California another group of fires break out. The firefighters at the conference begin to think that it's one of themselves. With fingerprinting in it's more advanced stage they were able to tie the arsons to one of the investigators. While searching through his things they find a manscript called DIARY OF A SERIAL ARSONIST which contained not only information on arson but instructions on murder. In the second story line an elderly woman from San Antonio, Texas lay in her room naked from the waist down with her throat slashed. In the next room was her 80 year old husband who had just suffered his 3rd stroke. But there was no evidence to charge him. With pressure from a Texas Ranger the case is re-looked at where in they find the LOST CLUE in solving the case.
Killer on the Strip/The Doll Murder
S1 Ep11
7.1
12th Mar 1999
In the beautiful byways of West Palm Beach, along the canals a woman was fond dead in the canal. After some research they found that the woman was a prostitute. Even with all the evidence and DNA collected at the scene The detecives still had nothing to go on so the case went cold. Four yeas would pass before her case got looked at again. One of the Cold Case detective's who was reviewing some cases where crimes were committed in the area in which he worked his beat. With some new perspective on the case he finds signs that this womans killer has all the signs of a serial attacker and a kille. His trickery is to pose as a police officer to the local prostitutes and lures them into hidden places where he has privacy and assults them and rapes them. And at least 1 case he murders them. Doll Murder A woman from For Collins, Colorado thought she was safe in her own home, but one night in 1989 that myth was shattered. She was found murdered in her own home. The only things that were missing from her home were all her underwear. Semen and fingerprints were collected bt since there was no testing of DNA back then the case went cold. It would be 6 years when across town the womans underwear was found in a furnace. With this new discovery the case was re-opened to be looked at to finally settle the case
Murder Illustrated/Blood Relations
S1 Ep12
4.3
19th Mar 1999
Nine years after police had to release the teenage suspect in a woman's murder due to lack of evidence, they find a new lead in the case. Twenty years after a young woman is murdered while babysitting her nephew, police are able to find DNA evidence that points to her killer.
The Burning Secret/Justice Delayed
S1 Ep13
7.7
26th Mar 1999
A rapist is captured seven years after the crime, but when he is released on a technicality his victim is determined to fight back. Fifteen years after a fire claimed the lives of a father and son, detectives interview the grown surviving son and learn a tragic tale of a mother who burned her family.
Reconstructing Murder/Fire Flicks
S1 Ep15
6.2
9th Apr 1999
In Wisconsin, advances in forensic clay modeling help investigators identify a murder victim whose skin was stripped from her head, neck, and legs. And in California, police track down two boys who enjoy satanic rituals and setting fires.
Killer in the County
S1 Ep16
7.3
16th Apr 1999
Time is not always on the killer's side. He never knows where or when. Bt somebody is inevitably going to find something out and find out who committed the crime. Even if you have changed for the better since then. As taken from the Baretta TV series. "Don't do the crime if you can't pay the time." Terror struck Wichita Falls, Texas when three women, Terry Sims, Toni Gibbs and Ellen Blau were murdered and raped. Ten years would pass before a task force was assembled to compare the three murders. They found that the three semen samples all matched. That was the easy part. Finding who those samples were linked to was another story. John Little, an investigator, revisited the files and after careful and time consuming work he found a name in one of the files of a man who was a suspect but was never investigated. Faryion Wardip was the suspect and after some research on him it was found that he was already convicted of killing a woman named Tina Kimbrew in 1986. He was however paroled because of a very publicized meeting in which Wardip begged for forgiveness from Kimbrew's father. Little thought that Wardrip was still a major player in his cases so he found out where he was living and watched him. One lucky night, Little obtained a discarded coffee cup of Wardrip and brought it back for DNA analysis. Much to his satisfaction, the DNA from the saliva on the cup and the DNA from the semen matched. When detectives finally approached Wardrip with all their overwhelming evidence, Wardrip, without a struggle, turned himself in and also during this time confessed to a fifth murder, one he was not even a suspect in.
Presumed Dead/The Tow Truck Killer
S1 Ep17
6.6
23rd Apr 1999
One will take 10 years and one will take 17 years to solve but they do get solved. Dedication, science, luck, and even hypnosis is used to make sure justice is done for the dead. Presumed Dead Tracy Jo Shine is in trouble with the law, She is being prosecuted on drug charges. Her only chance for freedom is to testify against her boyfriend Michaekl Neal. Satisfied with her testimony she is released. Shortly after she went missing. All leads pointed to her boyfriend. An informant on the case told police that Michael was keeping her body in a rerfigerator. Police inspected it but found nothing. The case went cold. For more then 10 years Tracy was missing, then presumed dead. Science will finally fine justice for Tracy with a clue found hidden her tomb, that refrigerator.And justice is finally served for Tracy the woman Presumed Dead. Tow Truck Killer On a desolate roadway sits an abandoned car. Deputy Bill Simmons was on the scene and called for a tow truck to pick up the car. The next thing that happened was a "Mayday" call to the Sangamon County,Illinois Sherrifs department that there was an officer down, shot in the head twice. After following hundreds of leads the case runs cold. It would be 17 years before a Cold Case Detective decides to use forensic hypnosis on the only eye witness to bring back the memories in the case to catch the killer.
The Missing Informant/Man's Best Friend
S1 Ep18
6.4
30th Apr 1999
Police solve a murder when divers find a skeleton in a car at the bottom of a river, and a dead dog's DNA helps crack open a 6-year-old case.
The Tortured Truth/Portrait Of A Killer
S1 Ep19
7.3
30th Apr 1999
The accidental discovery of a human scalp leads to the conviction of a man for murder 18 years after the killing. And a teenager who likes to kidnap younger boys and break their bones, kills one and tortures another.
Vanished
S1 Ep20
6.0
7th May 1999
The story of serial killer James Rodney Hicks, who left a trail of bodies and kept police, prosecutors, and the FBI quite busy working on his cases for over 20 years. Hicks murdered his wife, his children's babysitter, and a girlfriend.
The Missing and the Dead
S1 Ep21
7.0
14th May 1999
When a passing motorist spots a fire along a country road in South Carolina and calls it in, police arrive to discover the badly burned and battered remains of a woman, her skull smashed in to 97 fragments. After a forensic anthropologist at the University of South Carolina painstakingly pieces the bones back together, investigators use the skull to solve the murder.
Silent Witness/Innocence Lost
S1 Ep22
6.0
21st May 1999
The murder of scientist Helena Greenwood, who was helping to develop DNA forensic technology when she died, is solved 12 years later with the help of DNA evidence. And a Los Angeles County prosecutor uses criminal profiling to nab the notorious South Bay Rapist, who abducted and raped six young girls.
Frozen in Time/Little Girl Lost
S1 Ep23
7.2
28th May 1999
Using a hair dryer to thaw a frozen corpse, detectives get to the bottom of a grisly murder. And the discovery of a child's skeleton in a Chicago garden puts police on the trail of an "oddball" family.
Family Secret/Blood Trail
S1 Ep24
5.7
4th Jun 1999
Forty-one years after the crime, a woman implicates her brother and cousin in the murder of a New Jersey policeman. And members of the Vidocq Society, a group of law enforcement professionals who volunteer their expertise to crack difficult cases, find blood-spatter evidence that helps solve a Texas murder.
Bodies In The Bay/Cold Hit
S1 Ep25
5.7
11th Jun 1999
A sunset boat ride in Florida leads to death for a vacationing woman and her two daughters, and police investigate a Texas man whose three wives all died in mysterious fashions.