Cold Case Files
Season 5
TV-MA
Unsolved crimes locked away in dusty file cabinets. Time is an ineffectual balm. Painful memories are left to a victim's loved ones. What happens when a killer gets away with murder? Thanks to the efforts of a special breed of modern detective, no one escapes the laws of justice - no matter how old the case.
Where to Watch Season 5
28 Episodes
- Obsession: Dave Reichert and the Green River Killer
E1Obsession: Dave Reichert and the Green River KillerOne of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history, dubbed "The Green River Killer," confessed to murdering 71 women in the Seattle area. Dave Reichert had reopened the case after being elected sheriff and succeeded in solving the case (thanks to scientific advances). To escape the death penalty, Gary Ridgway also agreed to reveal burial places of many victims not known to police. Bill Kurtis accompanies search teams which include Ridgway. - Finding BTK
E2Finding BTKThe story of the hunt for one of the most notorious serial killers in recent American history--the BTK killer, who terrorized the Wichita, Kansas, area for years. After committing at least seven brutal murders, BTK (for Bind, Torture, Kill) vanished for over 25 years before sending clues of his crimes to the media in 2004. He continued to avoid capture until a forensic computer expert traced a computer disc that led investigators to a surprising suspect--a church president. - Death of a Deacon/A Wife's Mission
E3Death of a Deacon/A Wife's MissionWhen an adulterous church deacon is found shot to death in the back seat of his car, it looks like police may have stumbled upon a multi-party murder plot. And, a wife remains a key suspect in her husband's murder case for six years, until she takes the matter into her own hands to prove her innocence. - Snatched/A Detective's Promise
E4Snatched/A Detective's PromiseThe dogged work of an Alberta, Canada, detective finally pays off when he tracks down the man who raped and murdered a 6-year-old girl 10 years earlier. And when police search for the killer of an 18-year-old hitchhiker, they find that the victim's diary is one of their best clues. - On the Case: Nacole's Killer
E7On the Case: Nacole's KillerThis special edition of Cold Case Files offers an inside look, rarely seen, at an active cold case investigation. We follow Det. Vince Velazquez of Atlanta and Capt. Russell Popham of East Point, Ga., as they work to solve the 1995 rape and murder of 14-year-old Nacole Smith, one of Atlanta's most notorious unsolved crimes. - Killer on Campus/Bow Hunter
E8Killer on Campus/Bow HunterThirty-two years after the killing of University of Michigan law student Jane Mixer, police use DNA found on her pantyhose to finally track down the killer. And psychologists help solve a cold case by suggesting the lead detective take a page from the game of romance, and play hard to get with the killer. - Something Snapped/A Killer's Dream
E9Something Snapped/A Killer's DreamOn a summer night in 1987 a mother worries and waits for her 19-year-old daughter to come home. But Diana never comes home and she's found raped and strangled near the Hudson River. Investigators suspect her friend, Michael because his alibi is shaky and witnesses place his truck near the crime scene. Trouble is, he passes a polygraph and his DNA is no match. - Daddy Dearest/A Pastor's Wife
E10Daddy Dearest/A Pastor's WifeThe day after Thanksgiving in 1994, 38-year-old Luz Mucino and her teenage daughters Edith and Gabriela are reported missing by a friend. And since Luz Mucino and her daughters were undocumented aliens, detectives cannot locate any family members who might be able to provide information. On May 15, 1999, 38-year-old Patty Jo Pulley is reported missing by her husband. - A Killer's Skin / Where's Peggy?
E11A Killer's Skin / Where's Peggy?Police in Albany, N.Y., get a surprise when a killer they think targets only older women is suspected in the murder of an elderly man. And the contents of a secret storage shed holds the grisly clues to a murder that has gone cold for more than 14 years. - Innocence Stolen/Danger at the Door
E12Innocence Stolen/Danger at the DoorA district attorney uses a clever technique--a "John Doe indictment"--to give law enforcement officials the time they need to track down the Schoolgirl Rapist from Rochester, N. Y. And prosecutors reluctantly decide not to prosecute their lead suspect in the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl because they have only circumstantial evidence. But 12 years later, the cold case squad reopens the case, hoping DNA evidence will prove the supect's guilt. - The Interrogation/The Slide
E13The Interrogation/The SlideA 14-year-old boy is charged with the murder of his sister, but his public defender believes the police coerced the boy's confession and that the real killer is still on the loose. And two deteriorated medical examiner's slides, made in a murder investigation 16 years earlier, give police the evidence they need to reopen the cold case and bring the lead suspect to trial. - The Taunt / Death in Deadwood
E14The Taunt / Death in DeadwoodA serial rapist seals his own fate when he sends a taunting letter to police, who use the DNA extracted from the saliva in the envelope's seal to track him down. And when a man is found dead in South Dakota, his head bashed in by a 50-pound rock, investigators go on a 20-year search for the killers--a man and woman who were part of a free-loving hippie group and are known only by the names "Outlaw" and "Inlaw." - A Child Remembers
E15A Child RemembersOur cameras follow Detective Manny Reyes as he investigates the 1990 murder of a Fort Worth, Texas woman. Reyes talks to the woman's two sons, who believe that her husband, Bobby, was the murderer. We then watch as one of the husband's relatives tells Reyes that Bobby has confessed the crime to him. To make the case even stronger, Reyes collects physical evidence that connects him to the crime. Finally, Reyes meets Bobby for a dramatic interrogation. Will he crack and admit the crime--or will he hang tough and deny it all? - The Black Dahlia
E16The Black DahliaBill Kurtis reviews the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, popularly known as the "Black Dahlia" because of her black bouffant hairstyle. Her dismembered body was found near a sidewalk in L.A., and is the oldest unsolved case in LAPD files. Several suspects are named, including the father of a retired cop, who has written several books on the subject. - The Deadly Stroll / Unholy Secret
E17The Deadly Stroll / Unholy SecretIn Rhode Island, policewomen go undercover in as street walkers to nab the man suspected of murdering three prostitutes. And a dagger-shaped letter opener is the key piece of evidence that links a priest to the grisly 1980 murder of a nun in Toledo, Ohio. - A Deadly Affair / The Sting Operation
E18A Deadly Affair / The Sting OperationAfter 19 years, Kansas detectives reopen the case of a banker found beaten to death in his bed--and the chief suspect is his cheating wife. And a man with a guilty conscience helps Arkansas police to crack a cold case of murder when he tells them that his ex-wife knows who the killer is. - NCIS / Exhuming the Truth
E19NCIS / Exhuming the TruthAfter U.S. Navy sailor Andrew Muns disappears in 1968, the Navy claims that Muns went AWOL from his ship. But his sister works tirelessly for over 30 years to prove that Muns was really killed. And DNA surreptitiously gathered from a cigarette butt helps detectives to unravel a 20-year-old case of rape and murder. - Cross Country Connection / Eyes at the Window
E20Cross Country Connection / Eyes at the WindowDNA found on a marijuana joint in Florida in 2005 helps to solve the 1988 rape and murder of a California woman. And a cold case of murder in Illinois heats up when a jailhouse lawyer turns jailhouse snitch. - Abandoned Houses / A Son's Memory
E21Abandoned Houses / A Son's MemoryDetectives are baffled when two young girls are raped, murdered, and dumped in an abandoned house in Akron, Ohio. And a 26-year-old mother of three disappears on Christmas Eve in 1995, but the missing persons case goes cold when police can find few clues to her whereabouts. - A Knock at the Door / Shattered
E22A Knock at the Door / ShatteredThe killing of a woman in a Virginia hotel room goes unsolved for a quarter of a century before investigators are finally able to zero in on the likely killer. And, when a 25-year -old women is shot to death during a jewelry store robbery in 1980, investigators collect fingerprints and blood from the crime scene. There are few leads and the case goes cold until 1999, when detectives test the blood evidence and develop a DNA profile. For two years more, that profile sits without a match, until 2001 when a convicted burglar is entered into the DNA databank. - A Deadly Pattern/A Desperate Housewife
E23A Deadly Pattern/A Desperate HousewifeWhen a woman is found murdered in her mobile home, police make two shocking discoveries--her husband may not only have been the killer, but he may have also killed his first wife 31 years before. And after an Oregon man is shot dead, the case takes an unusual twist when one of the investigating detectives has an affair with the chief suspect--the dead man's wife. - Murder He Wrote/Caught By the Past
E24Murder He Wrote/Caught By the PastGuns found dumped in a pond outside of Atlantic City, N.J., help police to solve the 15-year-old murder of Detroit cab company owner. And the rape and murder of an Atlanta TV station receptionist goes cold for 20 years before the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) links a man with three prior burglary convictions to the crime. - Left for Dead/On the Case
E25Left for Dead/On the CaseA Californian detective tracks down a prostitute's killer with the help of a key piece of evidence. While two persistent cold case detectives wait many years for science and technology to evolve, so they can use the DNA results to investigate the 1990 murder of a woman and the death of a man killed in a car crash in 1988. - The Execution of Michael Johnson
E26The Execution of Michael JohnsonMichael Johnson was convicted of the senseless killing of Jeff Wetterman, 11 years earlier. While being interviewed in his last days, cameras capture how Michael's family fights to save him from being executed, and the rising tension leading up to the execution date. In a shocking twist, the story ends in a way no one could have foreseen. - Innocence Files
E27Innocence FilesA look at the work of college students who take on the cases of jailed murderers who claim they're innocent. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to Innocence Projects at the University of Cincinnati and Texas Tech University, viewers watch as the students visit the inmates, track down key witnesses, and seek DNA testing that could prove their clients' innocence. We focus on the cases of Anthony Graves, a Texas death row prisoner, and Glen Tinney, a mentally ill Ohio inmate who pleaded guilty but now says he didn't do the crime. - Evidence Kit
E28Evidence KitThe Chicago Police Department launches the Women's DNA initiative to fund the testing of backlogged rape evidence kits and help rape victims find justice. Meanwhile in Sacramento County, California, the deputy district attorney hunts for the killer of a man who was brutally stabbed to death in his home 16 years earlier, using a new grant for DNA testing.
