College students take on the cases of jailed murderers who claim they are innocent; the students visit the inmates, track down key witnesses and seek DNA testing to prove their clients' innocence.
A member of the Chicago Police Department launches the Women's DNA Initiative to fund the testing of rape kits; a deputy district attorney in Sacramento County, Calif., uses a DNA grant to find a killer.
Young girls are sexually assaulted while waiting for their school buses; in 1991, a 9-year-old girl disappears from her home and is found murdered.
A brother is a suspect in the case of a 12-year-old found dead in her home in 1998; a 69-year-old woman is the victim of rape and murder in 1984.
In 1995, two women are raped in Louisville, Ky.; in 1982, a young man is found murdered in Deadwood, S.D.
Detective Danny Reyes investigates the 1990 murder of a Fort Worth, Texas woman.
In 1947, actress Elizabeth Short's corpse is found nude and bisected in an empty lot.
A banker is beaten to death in his bed; a man with a guilty conscience helps police.
After U.S. Navy sailor disappears in 68, the Navy claims he went AWOL; but his sister works for over 30 years to prove that he was really killed; DNA from a cigarette butt helps detectives to unravel a 20-year-old case of rape and murder.
Guns found dumped in a pond help police to solve the 15-year-old murder of Detroit cab company owner; the rape and murder of an Atlanta TV station receptionist goes cold for 20 years before DNA links a man to the crime.
Fingerprints lifted from two beer bottles help a California detective track down a prostitute's killer; the investigations of a woman's murder and the death of a man killed in a car crash use DNA analysis.
BTK Dennis Rader terrorizes Wichita, Kan., for decades, leaving at least 10 murder victims in his wake.
A wild hunch pays off in the capture of a serial rapist; investigators solve the murder of a 6-year-old girl; a man gives police the information they need to solve a case; a murder baffles Indiana police.
A detective tracks down a man who raped and murdered a 6-year-old girl 10 years earlier; police search for the killer of an 18-year-old hitchhiker.
Publicity of a man's mandatory release in Texas brings forth a witness to a murder after 24 years in Michigan.
A cell phone and an ATM card lead to the apprehension of a rapist.
Det. Vince Velazquez of Atlanta and Capt. Russell Popham of East Point, Ga., work to solve the 1995 rape and murder of 14-year-old Nacole Smith, one of Atlanta's most notorious unsolved crimes.
DNA evidence solves the murder of a female law student; a man confesses to the random killing of a bowhunter.
A wiretapped conversation between a suspected killer and his sister cracks a 9-year-old murder case; a geologist finds human bones, solving the murder of a Virginia woman.
A phone-sting operation helps police to nab killers; a district attorney uses a "John Doe"' warrant in the hunt for a rapist.
Business cards found at the scene reveal the killer of a New York teen; a murder suspect confesses after police take DNA samples from him.
Forensic testing helps to solve the murder of a beauty queen; two hairs help to put a double-murderer behind bars.
An ex-girlfriend helps to bring a child-murderer to justice; a mysterious set of bones puts police on the trail of a teen's killer.
A man is convicted in the gruesome murders of four black female prostitutes in Miami; detectives nail the rapist-killer of a 6-year-old girl.
DNA on a scarf helps to convict a homeless man of murder; a victim's phone call and his own writings help to convict a man who imprisoned teens in an underground bunker.
DNA evidence helps to convict the man who raped and killed an elderly woman; shell casings help to convict the killer of a security guard.
Fifteen years after a husband is convicted of murder, police discover that he may have been wrongly accused.
Bite marks help to get a child predator off the streets; after a decade, justice is finally served in the slaying of a 15-year-old girl.
Police hunt for over 15 years for a serial killer who lures women to Kansas for sadomasochistic sexual trysts at hotels; unprecedented access to surveillance photos and video from the investigation provides a glimpse inside the probe.
Detectives suspect that several violent crimes are connected; a maintenance man finds a body in a bathroom.
A 51-year-old man is shot to death near his horse stable; a rapist is sentenced to more than 1,000 years in prison.
The body of a man killed by a bullet is found in his well; detectives try to connect a man to his ex-wife's murder.
Detectives search for a man who rapes and kills women; an ex-girlfriend is the prime suspect when a man goes missing.
DNA evidence leads to the arrest of Houston's notorious "tourniquet killer"; a young woman is found shot and burned in an olive orchard.
James Allen Selby, a serial rapist who eluded police for years.
A detective vows not to shave until he solves the murder of a young woman; investigators track down a killer with the help of DNA found on duct tape used on the victim.
Rapes plague the Linden area of Columbus, Ohio; a hitchhiker's corpse is found in the California redwoods.
An unresolved murder from 1974 leads back to a high school janitor; a man confesses to killing his girlfriend.
A man gives police the information they need to solve a case; a murder baffles Indiana police.
A co-worker goes to check on a woman who failed to show up for work; a woman reports being raped in her home.
After a woman's disappearance, the Los Angeles police get an anonymous call to investigate a suspect; an eyelash is a clue in the death of a woman stabbed many times.
After 46 years, homicide detectives take a lovers-lane bandit into custody; a suspected killer has an identical twin.
The Zodiac killer provokes the police by sending clues to the media.
An undercover agent solves a 15-year-old crime; a former state trooper becomes the prime suspect in his wife's death.
A wife goes missing; a gas-station attendant is shot.
A suspected killer and identity thief bears a unique tattoo.
Forensic DNA analysts help to break the case of a man who killed 49 women.
Advances in DNA technology help to convict a teen's murderer nearly 30 years after his crime; hair evidence helps to put a child's killer in prison.
Saliva seals a killer's doom; DNA from the victim's son solves a murder; an arson investigator is accused of setting fires; a neighbor rapes, robs and murders an older woman.
Testimony about the growth of larvae in dead bodies helps to convict a family's killer; the 2001 murder of a young girl remains unsolved.
A cold case is solved when the killer's attempt to murder another woman goes awry; an intrepid reporter helps to crack a case previously thought to be an accident.
A suspected killer and identity thief bears a unique tattoo; toxicology solves a woman's murder; a sheriff tries to get a woman to confess to killing her two babies.
A mysterious woman calls police to say that her boyfriend is a killer; 1988 murder of actress Myra Davis; discovery of a human scalp helps convict a murderer; teen kidnaps, tortures and kills younger boys.
Testimony about the growth of larvae in dead bodies helps to convict a family's killer; the 2001 murder of a young girl; a New Orleans police officer goes under cover on a riverboat; a man goes on trial for a murder 10 years earlier.
A killer's attempt to murder another woman goes awry; a reporter cracks a case previously thought to be an accident; a cigarette helps to solve a murder.
A man suspected of the cold case murder of his wife and son hatches a new plot to kill his mother and father; detectives solve the 20-year-old murder of a teenager by tricking her killer into licking an envelope.
A scheme to bribe a music magazine to manipulate the charts leads to murder; a man who buried evidence of murder tells the police.
A mysterious note left on a grave may prove vital in solving a 12-year-old murder; exhaustive questioning of a bereaved mother leads investigators to discover the fate of her three dead children.
The testimony of three inmates helps to convict a murderer.
DNA technology solves two stabbing cases; an anonymous call leads to a child's killer; a 3-year-old boy provides police with evidence in a murder case; a murdered housewife is buried in her own cellar.
A New Orleans police officer goes under cover on a riverboat; a Wisconsin man goes on trial for a murder 10 years earlier.
Bite marks lead to a murder conviction; a young woman is found dead in her bathtub; discovery of a human scalp helps convict a murderer; teen kidnaps and kills younger boys.
A forensic anthropologist becomes an expert on the human body's rate of decay.
A woman helps to solve her mother's murder; an officer solves the murder of a newspaper-delivery woman.
A 23-year-old teacher vanished the evening before Easter after giving confession. Her body was later found floating in a drainage canal. At the time, a key witness hinted that a member of the Catholic clergy may have been responsible.
DNA evidence on cigarettes; confession to a TV star; re-enactment; divers.
A re-enactment of a toddler's death is responsible for solving the crime; divers manage to locate a body.
After receiving a crucial clue, police solve a woman's murder more than 20 years after the fact.
Letter provides clues to a murder; firearms expert; tipster's phone call; new fingerprint technology.
A boy's toy car provides an important clue for detectives as they struggle to make a case against a serial killer.
A murder victim's niece starts an advocate group; a car preserves a victim's body.
DNA on a cigarette brings a rapist and murderer to justice; a confession made to a TV star helps police to solve a murder.
A respected Florida man's wife dies suddenly; the horrifying discovery of the remains of two newborn babies.
A fire investigator helps crack the case of an arsonist and killer; a prison inmate gives information about a murder that took place 15 years earlier.
A tool mark solves a murder; a disgruntled wife tells police that her husband is a killer.
The national DNA databank helps police hunt down a rapist; the re-enactment of a shooting death proves it was not an accident.
Investigators receive help from the internet when looking for a serial killer; a drug trafficker jumps bail.
A teenager leads police to the killer of three girls; a woman disappears from her sister's home.
Police suspect a former officer; a blow to the head of a garbage collector leaves strange markings; DNA may help to track down a stabber.
DNA connects two Michigan murders a decade apart; a single foreign hair helps police to find a killer.
A woman is suspected of murdering two of her daughters when a third convinces police to reopen the cases.
The unsolved murder of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane; an Illinois rape case.
A 3-year-old boy provides police with evidence in a murder case; a murdered housewife is buried in her own cellar.
Englishwoman shot; fingerprint matches prisoner; DNA databank helps catch stalker.
A Missouri woman is convicted of killing her stepdaughter; a skeleton leads police to a serial killer.
Alligators help to solve a murder investigation; Phoenix police solve a 20-year-old homicide.
A Florida man vanishes; crash victim is found to have been shot.
A determined cop solves the murder of a prostitute; investigators solve the murder of a socialite.
A woman kills her husband in a satanic rite; a woman tracks down the man who raped her.
Forensic clay modeling helps investigators identify a murder victim; two boys perform satanic rituals and set fires.
Woman's body hidden in a refrigerator; murder of a deputy sheriff.
Divers find a skeleton in a car at the bottom of a river; a dead dog's DNA helps to crack open a case.
Discovery of a human scalp helps convict a murderer; teen kidnaps, tortures and kills younger boys.
A serial killer keeps law enforcement working on his cases for over 20 years.
A forensic anthropologist painstakingly pieces 97 bone fragments back together to solve a woman's murder.
Police thaw a frozen body with a hair dryer and solve the case; when a child's body is found in a Chicago garden, authorities track down a strange family.