A common-law couple were found guilty of the 1990 rape and murder near Portland of Taunja Bennett. But a letter signed with a happy face sent to a Portland newspaper claimed responsibility for Taunja's murder, and others. The Happy Face Letter remains a mystery until Keith Jesperson is arrested on an unrelated murder. Investigators unravel the truth, convict Jesperson of Taunja's murder and free the wrongly convicted couple.

In the early 1990s, the tourist hotspot of New South Wales, Australia became a place of fear when backpackers started going missing. Over the course of a year, the bodies of seven missing backpackers were found in Belanglo State Forest, 150 km from Sydney. After an intense police investigation, local construction worker Ivan Milat was found guilty of these crimes.

In 2002, San Antonio police find Susan McFarland's abandoned vehicle. Soon after, her husband, Richard, files a missing persons report. Police find a stolen SUV across from the McFarland home with blood on the back bumper. The SUV leads police to Rick Clemmer, who has a shady past and a link to Susan. But evidence is found that also links Richard to the SUV - did Clemmer frame Richard? After 53 days of searching, police find Susan's body and tie it to Richard based on circumstantial evidence.

In 1983 the ex-wife of Cabinet Minister Colin Thatcher is found brutally murdered in her garage. Police have their suspect, but pointing the finger at powerful politician Colin Thatcher is dangerous business. Through intense interrogations and a brilliant sting operation, police gather the evidence they need to shake the halls of power and bring the killer to justice.

For three weeks in May of 1994, a brutal killer had a nation on edge. A bloody spree of rapes, kidnappings, and murders resulted in the deaths of six Oklahoma residents, including a local radio personality and an elderly widower. Gary Alan Walker, an emotionally disturbed ex-convict, was eventually captured and executed for these crimes.

Two people are sadistically murdered and two more are missing at the hands of a reclusive loner.