Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files shows how timing, persistence and high-tech police work combine to catch people who have slipped through the cracks for decades.
Genre: Documentary, Crime
Cast:Bill Kurtis , Dave Reichert , Kathy Mills , Melvyn Foster , Bob Keppel , Randy Mullinax , Beverly Himick , Mary Hong , Tommy LeNoir , Marvin Casey , Kevin Green , Melvin Gantman , Jackie Bissonnette , Wayne Allen , Charles Hayes , Barb Boudro , Joan Matrisciano Fiertner , Dorothy Farrar
S3.E1 ∙ Cop Killer/Evil Twin
After 46 years, LA homicide detectives take a Lover's Lane bandit who also gunned down two police officers into custody. Then, DNA testing helps lead police in Florida to a suspected killer, however the killer has an identical twin. Who is the real killer?
S3.E2 ∙ The Zodiac Killer
With access to the SFPD's work, including saliva samples taken from letters the Zodiac Killer sent, we reevaluate the case of the serial killer who began terrorizing California in the late 1960s--one of the first to send clues to the media.
S3.E3 ∙ The Accidental Killer/Little Sister Lost
On June10, 1975, Leslee Larson is hiking through Wolf Creek, Montana with her husband, Dennis Larson. A short two hours later, Dennis Larson is asking for help from other Montana locals, claiming that his wife has fallen into the creek. A search for Leslee Larson's body ensues, but the search goes unrewarded. Investigators that respond to the scene write the fall of Leslee Larson into Wolf Creek off as an accident, and the investigation is deemed closed. Those close to Leslee, including her mother, think the fall into the creek is peculiar because of Leslee's fear of water. Eyebrows are also raised when Larson cashes in on a double indemnity life insurance policy he owned on Leslee's life. Without a body, the case cannot be pursued and becomes nothing more than a Montana mystery. It's been 12 years since Leslee Larson accidentally fell from Wolf Creek while hiking with her husband Dennis. For 12 years, the family of Leslee Larson has looked tirelessly for her body, but she still has not been found. As for Dennis Larson, he has remarried and then divorced and now has recently moved to Maine where he places a lonely hearts ad looking for new love. In three weeks, Dennis marries a young woman named Kathy Frost. Ten days after their marriage, the newlyweds head to Acadia National Park to celebrate their nuptials. While hiking on the steep Otter Cliffs, Kathy falls and rescue rangers recover her body where she is transferred to the hospital.
S3.E4 ∙ The Merry Widow/The Bad Cop
The Merry Widow" describes how a woman arranges the murder of her husband to obtain insurance money. "The Bad Cop" covers an attempt by a former state trooper to disguise a murder as a suicide.
S3.E5 ∙ Daddy Knows Best/Dawn of the Dead
"Daddy Knows Best": In 1980 in Boone County, Kentucky, Marlene Major is reported missing by a boyfriend-NOT her husband Bill. A skull with the teeth knocked out is found, suspected to be hers. Bill Major was arrested in Rhode Island for sexually molesting his own children. A conversation with his father triggers a successful investigation after nearly two decades. DNA identified the skull to tie the case up. "Dawn of the Dead": A gas station robbery gone bad in San Jose, California on April 3, 1980, leaves, Steven Paul, an attendant dead; a coworker is suspected, Eighteen years later, an inmate at the Fresno County Jail (hoping to get leniency) provides detailed information that restarts the investigation. A converted Christian in the penitentiary gives crucial info to close the book on the case in 2001.
S3.E6 ∙ The Killer's Tatoo
The murder of John Dobbs, a 73-year-old man, leads police on a long chase for a man who's suspected of identity theft and bears a rose tattoo with the name "Phyllis". When caught, he ultimately agrees to a life sentence on the condition that he can watch the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl on prison TV.
S3.E7 ∙ The Green River Killer
In this special edition of Cold Case Files, we journey into the investigation of the biggest serial murder case in US history. We'll take an intimate look at the 20 year hunt for the Green River Killer. From the discovery of the first body, through the eventual arrest, one man lead the investigation - Dave Reichert.
S3.E10 ∙ Death Before 'I Do'/Hollywood Homicide
A woman calls police to say that her fiancée killed a California woman in 1993; the 1988 murder of actress Myra Davis.
S3.E11 ∙ Blood Money/Precious Doe
Testimony about larvae growth helps convict the man who murdered a family. The murder of a young girl remains unsolved. A police officer goes undercover on a riverboat to gain a confession. A man goes on trial after the victim's body is found.
S3.E12 ∙ Unholy Bible/A Daughter's Justice
The cold case of a Texas woman's murder is solved when the killer's plan to kill another woman and stuff her into a duffel bag goes awry; and an intrepid reporter doing a story on unsolved homicides helps crack a case of murder that had been ruled an accidental death.
S3.E13 ∙ Officer Down/Secret Twin
After 23 years, investigators finally track down the killers of an Atlanta policeman when the ex-wife of one of the killers phones in a tip; and a mother keeps the skeletal remains of the 3-year-old daughter she killed in a footlocker.
S3.E14 ∙ Weepy-Voiced Killer/The "Mr. Big" Sting
Minneapolis police search for a murderer who calls 911 and leaves weepy-voiced confessions.
S3.E16 ∙ The Lady Killer/A Husband's Secret
The testimony of three prison inmates helps convict a man who viciously killed a woman out for a bike ride nearly two decades prior; and a self-admitted sex addict who strangled his cat is a suspect in the 30-year-old murder of a neighbor.
S3.E18 ∙ The Missing Hunters/The Flashlight Rapist
Police suspect brothers J.R. and Coco Duvall beat two Michigan hunters to death, Brian Ognjan and David Tyll, both 27 years old. Then chopped up the bodies, and fed them to pigs near Mio Michigan. A serial rapist, who holds a mini-flashlight in his mouth to blind victims, is nabbed when he drops it during an attack and police develop a DNA profile from his saliva.
S3.E19 ∙ Cowboys on the Case/Office Politics
A rape-robbery in Lookingglass, Oregon was solved when one of the perps bragged about his involvement, but his partner disappeared--for 23 years! Four retired lawmen (nicknamed the "Cold Case Cowboys") trace a rendezvous with murder with the help of a convict. In the second segment, the police have a suspect: a jealous coworker with a motive, blood evidence in his home, but still cannot make a case until further DNA technology develops a few years later.
S3.E21 ∙ Murder Checks In/Killer in the City
"Murder Checks In": Three raped women's bodies, starting with Patricia Lange, are found in Iowa hotels. Police realize they must find a serial killer. An excessive number of seminal stains on bedspreads slows the ID by DNA; since there was no forced entry, they look for men who might have had passkeys. "Killer in the City": A 64-year-old woman, Rosemary Pascente, living in the Bronx was stabbed 39 times. There are no fingerprints or fluids from the killer in the apartment, but blood is found in the hall. The CODIS database helps officers zero in on a felon who confesses, but unsuccessfully claims that he acted in self-defense.
S3.E23 ∙ The Hitmakers/Favor for a Friend
A scheme to bribe a country music magazine to manipulate the charts leads to murder in Nashville and a 13-year hunt for the killer. A murderer's plan to hide his gun and ammunition is foiled.
S3.E24 ∙ Lil' Miss/Skeletons in the Closet
An eerie note left on a grave helps solve a 12-year-old case of murder, and an exhaustive questioning of a mother helps police unravel the mysterious deaths of three of her children.
S3.E25 ∙ Innocent Prey/The Punishment
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.
