Forensic Files

Between the years of 1967 and 1972 over 300 commercial airplanes were hijacked worldwide, with over 130 of those happening in the United States alone. This period would become known as "The Golden Age of Hijacking." American Skyjacker is the tale of a small-time crook named Martin 'Mac' McNally, who dreamed of the ultimate mile-high score: hijacking a plane and getting away with $500,000 in cash;...

A behavioral profile is helpful in a murder investigation, but it's not a road map to the killer. One such profile caused the Baton Rouge Police Department to search for the wrong man. They might not have made an arrest, had it not been for a DNA picture of the suspect, painted by a molecular biologist. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about y...

An Arizona surgeon is found stabbed to death. All signs point to a random attack until investigators uncover an unlikely suspect. Police work to unravel the mystery in a case of jealousy, rage and the almighty dollar. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

The medical examiner ruled the death an accident, but the detectives investigating the case thought the evidence at the scene indicated otherwise. It would take three years, an exhumation and a second autopsy to determine who was right. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast....

The autopsy on the badly burned body of Charles "Jack" Lynch led investigators to search for a couple of killers. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A couple embarks on a holiday but never return. Police suspect drugs are the reason behind their disappearance. Days later a random burglary breaks the case wide open. Police use ballistics and DNA to capture two unusual suspects. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See ac...

A family interrupts a burglary in their suburban home. The gunman kills two and wounds two more. Police suspect the crime is related to a string of thefts in the area, but a closer look at the crime scene reveals the real motive and killer. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Aca...

Denise Johnson was found dead in an Arizona forest with little forensic evidence around her. Could history be made in a courtroom with the utilization of plant DNA as evidence? To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A woman is murdered on a jogging trail in the middle of the day. The leads from cell phone records and search dogs go nowhere. Nine days later, a witness tells police about a chance encounter, and cigarette butts which may contain the killer’s DNA. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hoste...

Twenty-four hours after her face-to-face meeting with a man she met online, the woman and her soon-to-be ex-husband were shot to death. Only the computer had been taken from her home, and with it, the means to identify the killer. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See ac...

Police discover a decomposed body had been stuffed in a barrel 30 years earlier. An address book was found with the body. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of how a routine missing-person case became a murder inquiry involving a love triangle. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forensic scientists provide authorities with evidence that a death deemed accidental 20 years ago was actually murder. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A mother was convicted for the death of her four-month-old. An explanation for his death would come from his newborn brother.  To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visi...

The investigation of an exotic dancer’s disappearance led police to an isolated 75-acre site where someone had been shot and cremated. The destruction of the remains was almost complete... almost, but not quite. Soft tissue attached to a piece of a foot provided enough DNA for a genetic profile, and positive identification of the victim.  To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visi...

A man kills two people with bombs in an effort to get investors off his back and is sentenced to life with no chance of parole. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a real estate developer is shot to death, his wife becomes the prime suspect. Police have a wealth of evidence against her, but it’s circumstantial. The case will turn on a .25 caliber bullet fired 20 years ago from the now-missing murder weapon. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Ho...

A woman dies suddenly at home. Investigators are unable to determine the cause of death until they receive a call from the ex-wife of the dead woman’s husband. The sensitive nose of a toxicologist ends up sniffing out murder. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

The victim had been stabbed more than a hundred times and her bedroom was soaked with blood. While her body was positioned in a suggestive way, she hadn't been sexually assaulted. Was this a sex crime, or the random act of a man with an intense hatred of women? To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...

A 12 year-old is the only witness to her mother's death and is unable to provide many details. Little did they know 12 years later, forensic evidence would lead the investigation right back to where it started. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

An investigation into threatening letters sent to a popular elementary school teacher. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was no apparent reason for the young, healthy college student to be dead. But when the medical examiner found the tiniest of clues during the autopsy, investigators were able to unravel the mystery of betrayal and revenge. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acas...

The victim was a self-made man who never minced words. Perhaps he was murdered by a disgruntled client or employee. Perhaps the racy photos in his safe held the clue to solving the crime. Or perhaps with the help of the IRS, investigators could follow the money and find the killer. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

The victim was brutally murdered. Police learn her fiancé was having affairs with other women, and he becomes the prime suspect... that is until a man comes forward who not only believes he owns the murder weapon, he also knows who used it.  To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Ac...