Forensic Files

After he got into the home, the assailant used an axe to kill the husband and critically injure his wife. Nothing was taken, so this wasn't a robbery. A DNA profile from skin cells collected hundreds of miles away would reveal the killer's identity and his motive for murder. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast...

A chemist suddenly starts to suffer from foot pain, partial numbness, and hair loss, and eventually dies. Could he have been poisoned? 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 woman in the back of the truck was flailing her arms, screaming. They thought she was doing something dangerous for the fun of it. But when they found a jacket near a pool of blood, they knew what they'd seen wasn't a joy ride; it was an abduction. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices H...

Doctors don't know why the young scientist is gravely ill. When test finally reveal the cause, it's too late to save him. Police hope that lab analysis of his hair - showing when attempts were made on his life and what was used - will lead to 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...

When an 11-year old girl disappeared from a small town in a remote area of Alaska, investigators wondered if she'd been attacked by a bear or become lost int he dense woods. It turned out neither was true. Her body was discovered 10 days later; she'd been shot twice at close range, and sexually assaulted. A tip from an eyewitness led police to a suspect, and trace evidence found at the crime scene...

A nurse experienced flu-like symptoms. She visited the doctor for a check-up and learned she was HIV-positive. In the end, science was able to determine not only how she had been infected, but also by whom. The worst part: It wasn't an accident. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted o...

A security guard disappeared from his post without a trace; his remains were found a year later in a remote camp site. More than a decade would pass before a phone call breathed life into the cold case, a paint smear on the bottom of the victim's boot helped scientists determine what happened during the last hour of his life. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/pri...

For years, a woman suffered from what appeared to be the unpleasant side effects of lithium, a drug prescribed to treat bipolar disorder. When she died, investigators had to determine if her death was due to natural causes, suicide or 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 A...

Time of death becomes pivotal after a pregnant woman is found murdered in her air-conditioned bedroom. A similarity between her death and an HBO movie gives forensic examiners the clues they need to thaw out the alibi of a cold-blooded 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...

In 1984, hundreds of people in The Dalles, Oregon became ill with food poisoning. Local, state, and federal disease detectives slowly unraveled the medical mystery. Along with a unique strain of bacteria, they discovered a religious cult's bizarre plot to overthrow the government...using germ warfare. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about you...

The man suffered a slow, agonizing death over a period of days. His wife maintained he killed himself, but police were skeptical... especially when they learned her first husband died when he was only 38-years old, and she refused to consent to an autopsy. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoic...

When a dedicated, well-respected teacher disappeared, police had to determine if she'd gone on vacation without telling anyone or if she was the victim of foul play. Investigators turned to forensic science, hoping to find the answers they needed. To learn more about how HLN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted...

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 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 your ad...

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/priv...

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 to 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 aca...

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.

Early one morning, a woman went missing on her way to work. A strand of hair in her hairbrush led investigators to unravel the mystery. 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.