Forensic Files Up Close

This is a great episode because it shows the reality of the good and the bad aspects of using Science in anything. Quality Science can tell you a lot. Sometimes to beyond any doubt even, however most scientific work is far from high quality.

At one point a guy in this episode admits that in the business of Forensic Science, many people for the money will help to give you the answer you're looking for. Very dangerous stuff! Thanks to some rushed and egregious investigative work and a lot of media sensationalism; This whole town, the court, a bunch of so called fire experts, all sorts of law enforcement and legal officials were all convinced that this man deserved the death penalty. Boy did they end up looking stupid. Fortunately for this guy, his family and at least a few others did not buy into the official, nor the media's sensationalized stories.

Thankfully, after serving only 10 months during his trial, some better Scientists, mainly OTHER fire experts came along and proved that the original investigation was entirely a rushed concoction of lazy minded nonsense. I've been saying this for years now; It is so dangerous when law enforcement try to build a case around the most obvious suspect, rather than to look closely at the actual evidence, and follow it first and foremost. Far too many law enforcement investigations are under such pressure to solve, that they will overlook things that don't really add up, in order to just pin it on someone. It doesn't happen like that in this episode, but we do often see it in true crime stories, especially in murder investigations. We do however see the investigators build their case around the most convenient suspect in this one, and they try to nail him without having any real substantial proof, as they later find out. Thankfully, not nearly all investigations are done badly, but quite a few are. If you don't believe me about that, just watch a lot of Forensic Files to learn the obvious and scary truth of this. 9/10

This is actually the famous New England murder that influenced the Coen's to use the woodchipper for body disposal in Fargo (1996). I'm really not sure why this plot outline here and this episode itself both claim that the body was never found. The truth is, it was found, but it's just that they know it's in thousands of pieces and was never fully retrieved. Bone, tissue, teeth and finger nail parts were discovered as well as around 300 pieces of hair all consistent with the victim. Though little was entirely conclusive other than nearly a whole tooth that was found.

The evidence seems very convincing in this one. However it does state that to this day, the person convicted in this case maintains their innocence. 8/10

This is the kind of case where you say, well, if he had OJ's lawyers, he more than likely gets off. Zero evidence at all on the body, yet the guy admitted to seeing the woman that night. It is hard to argue that this guy was not at the actual crime scene, and really that's entirely all he was convicted on.

This is another case where the victim maintains his innocence to this day, and is trying to overturn through the appeals process. 8/10

Evidence wise, this one had very little. However it was similar to many other strangulations and molestations in the same area where all of the victims were dumped, yet all the others lived. Only one murder was pinned on the guy here and he pled guilty to another assault that is shown in this episode as well, but he had a long history of sexual assaults before these two offenses. This is another one where OJ's lawyers probably get the guy off of the murder charge.

To this day, this convicted murderer claims his innocence. At the same time he does admit to multiple sexual assaults, all in which the victims lived. 7/10

This is a sad and mind blowing episode about a forensics nightmare. A woman convicted of murdering her own baby by scientists, only to be proven wrong by different scientists later. The actual damage done here by faulty Science work is drastic to say the least. Most alarming was that when further testing was done, many labs also came back with the same false positive that put this poor Mother behind bars. The more professional scientists called most of the labs work, garbage, among other things. This is sort of like real life Minority Report type of crazy scary stuff. More still, the child may have actually been saved had the first lab been doing higher quality Science. Tragic stuff! 9/10

This guy must be one of the dumbest killers in history, and also one of the sickest. It's always ridiculous to even try to understand how a person brings themselves to kill their own family, especially their own young children. This moron still claims his innocence even though the evidence is far beyond obvious. The guy was so dumb, he may as well have written 'I killed my family' across his forehead. Mind boggling really, this whole story. 7/10

Another case that you could see OJ type lawyers perhaps getting this guy off. The DNA match in this case only narrowed the DNA signature down to one in a million. Meaning, every one in a million people would've also had the same DNA signature. All they had other than this was a few consistent comparables and he was placed in the two different cities during a couple of the crimes. Nothing about the knots seemed to even be mentioned as linked to the killer, which is actually quite odd really, since this was so unique to all of these victims. This convicted serial killer was executed, and in fact was the first ever person executed on the basis of DNA evidence, and certainly not overwhelmingly conclusive evidence either. The DNA evidence was certainly strong, but also far from airtight on this one. All the other small pieces made it seem as if they had a pretty strong case overall. At the same time, it also seems that perhaps a great defense could raise enough questions to present reasonable doubt. There certainly were no direct and/or entirely conclusive links to this person convicted here. The best they had was the 1 in a million DNA match. The fact that the FBI predicted a number of things about the suspect/convicted here, probably helped the jury decide to quite a degree it would seem. I can understand the murder conviction here, but death does seem a little harsh when you consider the overall strength of the evidence. 8/10

Crazy and strange story, and one without a physically hurt victim. 7/10

Personally I didn't find the bullet path trajectory presented as entirely conclusive to say the least. However what was shown is who was really at fault here. Hard to fathom the place actually did stay in business afterward. I'm also surprised not more was done from a legal standpoint here. Yes, the victims parents got a settlement but why no criminal negligence here? It seems like an obvious slam dunk and rightfully so as the one very good expert here shows that the people running the gun range, knew that bullets were hitting the back of the building in which the victim was struck and killed. This is obvious negligence that resulted in death. For law enforcement to do nothing here seems so wrong to me, hence my low rating of this episode. Yet, the episode is basically still very interesting, but the story in this sense very disappointing I feel really. You can't mess around with safety in a gun club/range type of situation. There's just no room for it at all. 6.5/10

This poor guy was eventually saved by forensics after wrongly serving 10 years because a woman wrongly identified him as her rapist. 8.5/10

One of the least convincing episodes I've seen. The convicted is now paroled as of sometime in 2019, but did get 50 years for a crime I'm not so sure he did. He still to this day claims his innocence and really, I'd say the evidence is shaky at best. Terribly tragic episode, perhaps even for the convicted, who is now a registered sex offender in Virginia. 8/10

What is sometimes most shocking about these stories is that some of these convicted killers are actually let out into society again. 7/10

Crazy one. Police lied to obtain a false confession, only to have the real culprit confess years later. Disasterous consequences here too.

If there is one major criticism I have of this show in general, it's that some of the writing of the narration doesn't really lineup with the episode shown. Most episodes are not bad in this regard, however a few of them are quite terrible in this way. This episode is a prime example. At one point, the narrator here points out that the killer made a huge error by leaving a shell casing at the scene. However this really doesn't end up being an error in this story at all. The only reason they even caught the right guy here, was because he apparently had a change of heart years later about his early criminal life and decided to come clean about everything. Law enforcement never found the right guy here. The guilty party entirely gave himself up with a confession many, many years after the crime, and he even had to confess to authorities about it repeatedly until they finally pulled their heads from their butts and corrected this original investigation. An investigation that originally ruined the lives of 2 entirely innocent people. One of them in fact now has a lifelong brain injury, from getting their butt kicked while being wrongly incarcerated. 8/10

Here's one that contrasts one of the previous episodes I commented on. Here, the convicted person's DNA was a 1 in 900 million match. Far more convincing than a 1 in a million match.

One of the main reasons I found that other case not so convincing is because I believe those crimes took place in an area with at least around 13 million people. And when they say it's a 1 in a million match, of course that's only an average, and certainly not a concrete reality. So in an area such as that kind of population, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that up to maybe even 20 people or so in that very area could also have the same DNA match as the convicted. I did find that case fairly convincing overall, but not entirely. As I said before, that death penalty seemed a little harsh considering the evidence. Whereas really most of these murders we see in these episodes, the killers, even the ones who have a lot more solid evidence against them are often getting paroled in 20 years or sometimes even less. Usually I feel these killers and other kinds of very sadistic criminals deserve more punishment. 8/10

This episode was kind of frustrating I thought when the culprit only got 12 years for this crime. However thankfully most criminals are stupid as many law enforcement officials have said over the years. This guy ended up confessing to two other murders and will never get out of prison. Knowing that, I can now give this episode the rating it deserves. Only forensics ever would have led to this killer it seems. Sure, this criminal was stupid, but he was also far from entirely stupid. 8/10

This killer was profiled by John Douglas. And one of the main things he helped people to understand is also present in this case, The ability of sociopaths to allude a lie detector test, simply because they feel little to no nervous or remorseful emotions over the event. They also feel comfortable in the belief that they can beat it. 8/10

Another show where the killer is profiled by John Douglas. 7/10

Here's one from Canada that puts the wrong guy in jail, using Science essentially. Then later higher quality Science proves that it was most likely not him at all. This guy really was originally convicted with basically no real evidence. It was more like low quality Science, prejudice and nothing but circumstantial evidence that originally put the wrong guy in jail for 6 years. It also turned an accident into a far more tragic situation than it ever should've been for the entire family. 9/10

In this one I didn't find any of the Scientific evidence presented here to be overly convincing. However it was the other things aside from Science that made this one very obvious. The persons stupid moves mostly. To me, this story doesn't really even belong on Forensic Files because the Science seems overly contrived. A couple people who worked this case made it sound as if the Science was important in this episode, but I really don't feel it was. It helped a tiny amount perhaps, but it really was all the other things that pointed to the killer here most of all. On appeal this episode even tells at the end how this person was granted a retrial, and was offered a deal to confess, for a lesser 2nd degree murder charge. Which was agreed to. So of course this killer now walks free once again. This one is certainly nothing to be overly proud of from the investigation or law point of view. To me it seems there was so much circumstantial and motivational evidence here to show without much doubt who the guilty person was. To me, this definitely should've been a 1st degree murder charge without question, but both the investigators and prosecutors here let the public down I'd say. Sadly, this seems to be far more common than most people would prefer it to be. 6/10

16 years and 3 months this guy did until DNA evidence and a confession finally set him free. Crazy sad story. 7.5/10

This episode is somewhat alarming, because it states that forensic science can't be wrong, but other episodes clearly show otherwise. It's exactly this kind of thinking that in fact can make forensic science a very dangerous thing. 7/10

I found this episode somewhat sad, since at least one of the sisters of the woman who died in this case, still blames the husband for her death. It's sad because it clearly seems that all the tangible evidence shows otherwise, and that the woman did truly love her husband. Anyway, I also found this episode to be quite interesting. 8/10

There is some speculation of a motive in this episode, though I'm not sure any motive really adds up to this kind of crazy. 8/10

I guess this guy is guilty, but I certainly can't say for certain. I can say this, from what I saw of this episode, it wasn't overwhelmingly convincing to say the least in terms of the murder. It's highly likely, sure. Though I'm not sure highly likely is suppose to end in a 15 years to life sentence. From my perspective, the Science in this episode is really not so impressive, nor convincing. The only thing that really points to the guy strongly is the daughter's testimony. I suppose we should believe her, but how many investigative shows have you seen where the witnesses end up being far from accurate in their recollection? I know I've seen tons of them. Maybe I need to watch this episode a little closer, perhaps I missed something in this one, I do know I was distracted a couple times while trying to watch this episode. 7/10

There are some good points about different types of investigative Science in this episode. Including a Forensic Anthropologist who states that he believes that when you have a victim with stab wounds, and a possible knife with no DNA on it. In most such cases, he goes on to say that Scientists who try to say exactly if that was the weapon or not, are venturing from sanity. It's apparent he believes that you can only conclusively say if it was the possible weapon or not in most cases. Just another episode that shows that there are many different levels to the quality of Science that labs are doing, Also showing that there are many disagreements among Scientists. 7.5/10

Kind of a weird one. I guess he did it, but this episode is really not overwhelmingly convincing. There actually seems to be a lot of suspicious unexplained things here. 8/10

Pretty crazy and eventful episode. Have to say I don't really agree with some of the sentences in this one. I really feel law enforcement/prosecutor etc were reaching a bit here. I feel the 1st degree murder charge was somewhat harsh in the first case for sure. I don't see how they proved that a murder was even the intent. I can't really agree with it. 6/10

This is probably the most unreal episode I've seen yet. To think that in modern times mistakes like this could be made by both the court and the investigators is crazy. I don't even understand how they convicted these people to begin with. There was zero evidence on them. They even only had one person claim to find something that indicated a homicide. So they just went with it? This one is so weird really, and certainly not in a good way. Here a very low quality autopsy basically alone, gets the wrong people nearly 5 years in prison until the truth is finally found. 7.5/10

The ATF here again as I've seen in other shows, comes up with the conclusion of arson when there wasn't an arson at all. The State investigators charged another parent here with killing their own child, without any substantial proof. This Mother however didn't rely on the justice system alone, she went and found her own fire investigator on the internet and got him to prove the State investigators and ATF were out to lunch. The more professional scientific fire expert here went on to show that the Government investigation was based purely on what he called 'junk science'. Soon after his report was given to the prosecutor, the charges were dropped. Nonetheless the woman here while in prison lost her home and basically everything she had, not to mention of course the child originally. Just another show on a truly brutal investigation and a very devastating charge on an entirely innocent person. 7.5/10

This one I think is well worth watching for a number of reasons, especially the message at the end from the Mother. Bravo to her. 7.5/10

Science really nails this guy for his crazy crime spree. 8/10

It's not everyday you hear about a nicotine addicted dog. 7.5/10

Pretty crazy story. 7.5/10

What's in Room 237?

Nothing! There ain't nothing in Room 237.

Some pretty interesting Science in this one. 8/10

It seems impossible to distinguish for certain what really happened in this one. Mainly because the original investigators didn't seem to properly secure a lot of evidence. And why wasn't the wife tested for gun powder residue the night of the death? I thought that was already pretty standard on a case like this by 87. 8/10

Have to say I don't really buy the official story here. Seems much more like a setup. 9/10

This guy still claims his innocence, but I think they made a strong case here. It seems clear to me, he's guilty. 8/10

Police dog sniffed this guy out a of crowd watching the police go over the crime scene. Apparently this dog worked over 700 cases and had a success rate of over 99%. I guess they barely needed officers in this area, lol. 8/10

Quite a story this one, especially the unkillable woman. 9/10

Here a cop for 25 years is caught in a couple of crimes, including murder. 7.5/10

Quite amazing the way the forensics were able to link this hit and run to the actual truck and driver. 8/10

Really, I can't believe this guy served nearly 3 years for this. To me I think even 6 months would be a little long, considering the fact that they had no proof whatsoever that the guy was even driving his boat impaired. To me, this was clearly an accident as everyone agrees here, but it was also an accident in which the person who died was for certain to all the evidence, clearly the main reason for the accident, his own death and the injury to the girl. Having as much experience as I do have, I know what boating in the dark on a lake can be like, and I just can't agree with the finding of the court here at all. Years later, the passenger in the one boat admits that they would've definitely been called impaired if tested that night, and then he says "probably, definitely". Well years later and he's speaking as to another guy driving definitely probably being impaired is not nearly enough. Even if you take this into account years after, I still don't agree with the punishment here. Way too harsh considering what happened and what they really do know for certain here. 6/10

Another very crazy story here. 6.5/10

Wow, this episode was really shocking in how bad the storytelling is here, and mostly how undetailed it really was about the actual known culprits. Ma Anand Sheela was really the leader of a very small faction of the Rajneeshee religious commune. The way the episode makes it sound, it's as if most of these people in this 'cult' were bad or something. It's beyond ridiculous if you really know much about this true story at all. This whole crime really only came from one very psychotic and power drunk woman and a small well trusted inner circle she had, which was only a few other people in total. All who basically just did as she said out of both loyalty and fear. Considering the blatant ignorance toward the reality of many things within this episode, and the way the one investigator sensationalizes the entire religious group easily makes this by far the worst Forensic Files episode I've seen yet. I've also long found it hard to understand how you could ever let a psychotic person like Sheela go. The justice system is a joke, and for the most part, this episode is also a sad joke. 2.5/10

Hour long serial killer episode. 7.5/10

Wow, the Phoenix police use to really be crazy. Another hour long episode. 8/10

What a nightmare. Another one where witnesses and a jury pin the wrong guy. 8/10

Pretty interesting episode. 8/10

Another bungled investigation. This time where the culprit was a serial killer. 7.5/10

Well worth watching. 8/10

Sad case here where the wrong guy does over 12 years after being wrongly convicted. This episode highlights the unbelievably slow processing times of the government, among other painful things. 8/10

If you want to laugh at a dumb criminal, this is the perfect episode. Here they really didn't even need any other proof than the 911 call alone.

Crazy stuff. 8/10

Interesting episode. 8/10

Another pretty crazy story. 8/10

The original lawyer for the defendant and the investigators in this case originally did such a terrible job, and somehow the guy originally got 20 years to life. Which seems entirely ridiculous based on the known evidence. A fairly interesting episode about another person who was treated unfairly by authorities. 8/10

Well worth watching for those interested in True Crime. 8/10

Another episode with a mind boggling conviction partly based on a lab error. Better Science work eventually goes on to prove what really happened. 7/10

A strange and crazy story. I believe that hypnosis is rarely used in criminal cases anymore in the US. However in this episode, hypnosis is the main thing that helps them find their extremely illusive arsonist. 7.5/10

Quite an episode. 8/10

Some good police work in this episode. 8/10

Some interesting Science in this one about secondhand DNA transfers. 7.5/10

The case of the infamous arsonist John Orr. 7.5/10

Interesting one about a false confession. 7.5/10

A pretty well told and interesting episode. Sad how little years the killer actually ends up doing here, considering the crime and other history. 7/10

Another episode showcasing a couple of terribly executed investigations/convictions. 8/10

Here a woman perhaps almost gets away with killing her husband. 8/10

Another victim of a wrong conviction in this one. 8/10