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Private Notes
An interview with Shawn Hornbeck, who was kidnapped in 2002 at age 11 and held captive for more than four years in Missouri before being rescued.
When Jean Zapata vanished from her home in Madison, Wis., in 1976, she left behind her daughter Linda, two other children, a lot of friends, and a mystery that would take more than 30 years to solve.
A doctor is suspected of murdering another physician.
In August 2005, Renee Ohlemacher says she awoke to the screams of her mother. Both her parents had been shot and murdered inside the family's home. Following the murders, police initially focused their investigation on Renee, and even her own relatives cast a suspicious eye on her.
A teen is hunted for murder for over a decade. Now, some of the cops who helped put him away want to set him free. Susan Spencer reports.
Mark and Donnah Winger seemed to have it all - successful careers, a new adopted child, and a nice home in Springfield, Ill. But their seemingly peaceful and happy family life was shattered in August 1995 when Mark says he came upon a man beating his wife with a hammer. Mark shot the man, and investigators soon determined that he had acted in self-defense.
Update to a 48 Hours story originally aired on January 15, 2003.
As correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports, while the case seemed open and shut, after several years, it turned out to be anything but.
Kathy Augustine was an ambitious and sometimes controversial politician who worked her way up the rankings of Nevada's government. And with a reputation of being ruthless, she developed a lot of enemies along the way. But were these enemies deadly?
In 2004, Augustine became the first state official in Nevada's history to be impeached, when she was found guilty of violating state ethics laws during her 2002 re-election campaign. In 2006, unable to seek a third term as state controller, she ran for state treasurer. But on July 8 Augustine was found unconscious in her home. She died four days later.
While a preliminary autopsy found no evidence of a heart attack or other obvious cause of death, the medical examiner did find a suspicious puncture mark. Subsequent toxicology reports confirmed the presence of a powerful drug that paralyzes the body's organs and muscles while leaving the mind conscious. Proof, detectives say, that Augustine had been murdered.
Despite many political enemies, Augustine's family was convinced her fourth husband, Chaz Higgs, was responsible. Claiming that the couple's marriage was rocky, they assert that Higgs, eight years her junior, was cheating on his wife. And as a critical care nurse Higgs had the knowledge and access to the same drug found in Augustine's system. Authorities charged him with first degree murder.
Is Chaz Higgs capable of murder? Or, was Kathy Augustine the victim of her corrupt political opponents?
Correspondent Troy Roberts reports dramatic new developments in 48 HOURS MYSTERY: "Power, Passion and Poison,".
An investigation of the 2000 stabbing death of Toni Heartsong, on her farm in Jupiter Farms, Florida.
On Sept. 13, 2006, police in the upscale community of Newport Beach, Calif., were called to the Newport Harbor Yacht Club after a report of a body in the water. The victim, a woman, had been brutally murdered, stabbed 52 times.
Larry Risken was a Navy officer. Earl Bourdeau was a Marine.
Nineteen years apart, they married the same woman: Sonia Rios.
And both military men met the same fate - ambushed and gunned down in the Philippines, in the presence of Sonia's family.
Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer, 23, seemed to be in peak physical condition before he suddenly collapsed and died in February of 2002. The official cause of death was listed as cardiac arrhythmia, but to one NCIS agent, something about the case seemed a little too familiar.
In January of 2007, Cynthia Sommer was convicted of Todd's murder. But did she actually poison her husband, or was she being judged for her scandalous behavior? Usually a verdict means the end of a case, but for Cynthia Sommer, the biggest surprise was yet to come.
Correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports the dramatic new developments on 48 HOURS MYSTERY: "An Invisible Enemy". Updated from and episode that aired on 2007-12-08.
A camera captures a forbidden romance and murder. Will it expose a killer? "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Maureen Maher reports.
A brilliant scientist turns up dead. Medical mystery or murder? Troy Roberts reports.
In the spring of 2005, Air Force Colonel Philip Michael Shue was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Shue was 54 when a violent car crash took his life two years earlier. His vehicle struck some trees alongside a Texas interstate highway, not far from San Antonio.
But even as his widow, Tracy, accepted the traditional tri-folded American flag in his honor and even as she left a single white rose on his casket in his memory, she and those closest to him spoke of one final mission for truth.
A 16-month investigation by "48 Hours Mystery" raises questions about the case against an American girl on trial for murder in Italy.
A double life, a privileged life. Obsession and sexual fantasy. Who knew his secret? Was there no one to stop him?
48 Hours Mystery examines the double life of Boston University medical student Philip Markoff, as well as the life of his alleged victim.
With the help of private investigator Joe Moura, we learn more about the investigation and the charges against Markoff. Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner and a forensic computer expert add their insight in the case.
We look at the dark side of the digital world, and the expanding world of Craigslist. Has it become the new portal of prostitution? Our shocking investigation exposes a Web of complicated relationships.
And we take a look at the life of Julissa Brisman, 25, whose young life was cut short as she worked to get it back on track.
A former child actor-turned cold-blooded killer commits a crime that horrifies even the toughest of cops. "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Maureen Maher reports.
In her exclusive first interview, con artist Esther Reed reveals how she scammed her way into the Ivy League, outsmarted the feds and spent nearly nine years on the run. "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Peter Van Sant has her story.
It was Thursday, July 19, 2007, around 12:30 p.m. when San Diego, Calif., homicide investigators J.C. Smith and Brett Burkett arrived at Tim MacNeil's home on Marraco Drive.
Tim MacNeil had come home at noon to have lunch with his stepdaughter, Brae.
"Dispatchers received a phone call, from Brae Hansen… she and her father had been tied up and she described witnessing this masked intruder shoot and kill her father right in front of her," says Detective J.C. Smith. "…the victim was face down in a pool of blood. He was wearing a dress shirt and no pants. There was a zip tie near one of his hands."
Authorities try to determine if a missing teen was murdered.
In his first exclusive network interview with 48 HOURS MYSTERY, Dr. Timothy Stryker addressed the accusations of murder that have dogged him for 15 years. Now, dramatic new details have emerged in the death of his former girlfriend, Dr. Linda Goudey.
In 1993, Goudey's body was found in the back seat of her car in the parking lot of the Boston-area hospital where she worked. The beloved OB/GYN had been strangled in an attack so brutal it left injuries at 24 separate places on her body. Immediately, authorities turned to her then boyfriend, Dr. Stryker, whose attempts to help their investigation further fueled their suspicions of his involvement. But with only circumstantial evidence, the case went cold.
While authorities did not have enough for a criminal case, Goudey's family pressed on and filed a civil suit against Stryker, who was now married with a successful practice. With his wife Micael standing by him throughout the trial, Stryker was found responsible of Goudey's death and her family was awarded $15 million.
Soon after the civil case verdict, a new witness emerged. This was just the break Stryker needed, but to some this new development seemed a little too convenient. The criminal case would take a turn that no one could've imagined. Is Dr. Timothy Stryker a calculating murderer or is he an innocent man fighting to clear his name?
Correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports the stunning new developments on 48 HOURS MYSTERY: "Did The Doctor Kill The Doctor?"
