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Private Notes
A body unidentified for 30 years.
A 15-year-old murder that had a suspect, but not enough evidence for trial.
A murder victim whose killer was never found.
All three of these cases have one thing in common: new technology is helping to unlock their secrets, bringing relief to worried family members and justice to the criminals.
CBS News 48 Hours shows, in three dramatic stories, how new technology is helping investigators solve old crimes, mysteries that were once thought to be unsolveable.
They include the identification of a dead woman known only as "Tent Girl," the unsolved murder of a teenager from a quiet town, and the shotgun death of a college student.
The Story of Tent Girl: How the Web helped solve a 30-year-old case.
The Telltale Shotgun Shell: Scientists try to solve a 15-year-old murder.
Who Killed Laura Long?: DNA tests may warm up a murderer's cold trail.
If you've ever caught your mate cheating, dealt with a rude salesperson, or just had a parking space swiped, you've probably fantasized about the sublime joy of getting even. Maybe you've even experienced it.
CBS News 48 Hours takes a look at this powerful emotion. Why is it so tempting? And how should you deal with the often-overwhelming desire to stick it to your fellow humans?
Is it possible to have five parents? With the latest in fertility technology, the answer is yes. But what happens when those people don't agree on who should have custody? That's exactly what happened in the case of little JayCee Buzzanca.
CBS News 48 Hours takes a look at this unbelievable case, and some of the controversies surrounding fertility treatments.
In most ways, Wenatchee is an unremarkable place, a quiet town of 30,000 nestled in central Washington state. But three years ago, Wenatchee was rocked by allegations that scores of adults there had been part of a conspiracy to sexually abuse children. The case resulted in numerous convictions.
Now, many observers are arguing that prosecutors and investigators badly overstepped their bounds, coercing children into making accusations and railroading people into prison. Many of the convictions have been overturned, and the city is being sued.
CBS News 48 Hours takes a look at one of the most compelling chapters in the Wenatchee chronicle, the story of Sam Doggett's battle to clear her parents' name.
In conjunction with the program, CBS.com examines some of the questions surrounding the issue of child sexual abuse.
It has been exactly a year since Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, were killed in a horrific car crash in a Paris tunnel. But there are still many unanswered questions about the circumstances surrounding the accident. Monday night, CBS.com, in conjunction with
CBS News 48 Hours, took a look at some of the issues.
Among the people interviewed:
Kes Wingfield, one of the two bodyguards protecting Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed the night of the crash. He tells 48 Hours that he testified to French authorities that two bodyguards were not enough that evening. On the morning of August 30th, Wingfield said he called Mohammed Al Fayed's security headquarters in London requesting more bodyguards, but the request was denied.
Rene Delorm, butler and longtime confidant of Dodi Fayed. Speaking for the first time on American television, Delorm says that around the time of the accident, Dodi was becoming increasingly angry at the intrusions of the paparazzi. Did Dodi order his driver, Henri Paul, to speed up to escape the paparazzi the night of the crash? Delorm thinks not, saying that Dodi wanted only to protect Diana.
CBS News 48 Hours examines the case of Kenneth McDuff, a man who was given an extra chance and used it to kill again.
In 1966 McDuff, then 20, brutally murdered three innocent teenagers in his hometown of Rosebud, Texas. He was caught, convicted and sentenced to death.
But McDuff got lucky, with dire consequences for others. First, in 1972, the Supreme Court declared capital punishment unconstitutional, sparing McDuff. Then, in 1989, McDuff was paroled from prison. He returned to Rosebud. After he pulled a knife on someone, he was sent back to prison.
He was paroled once more. This time he went on to kill at least two others: Between late 1991 and early 1992, he kidnapped and killed two young women, Colleen Reed and Melissa Ann Northrup. He was convicted of the latter crime in 1993 and was sentenced to death.
Authorities suspect that he may have killed as many as 14 other women as well.
In November 1998, McDuff was executed by injection in Huntsville, Texas. His last words: "I'm ready to be released. Release me."
But the question remains: Why was he ever let out?
Is seeing really believing? Eyewitness testimony can be a decisive factor in a courtroom, but what a witness sees - or more precisely, remembers seeing - is not always what really happened.
In "Eyewitness," CBS News 48 Hours examines how faded memories can jam the wheels of justice, convicting the innocent and allowing the guilty to go free.
Consider the following situations:
Dale and Ronnie Mahan: Two Alabama brothers were convicted of kidnap and rape, largely on the basis of compelling eyewitness testimony from the victim. After more than 13 years in prison, they were released when DNA evidence showed that a semen stain on the victim's clothing did not come from either of them.
Anne Pope: Despite the DNA evidence used in the Mahan case, the victim continued to be totally convinced that the Mahans are guilty. When the DNA turned out instead to match that of a man with whom she was having an affair, the district attorney decided to retry the case.
Then an even more sophisticated test was performed on another piece of semen-stained evidence; the results didn't match the samples from the Mahans or the boyfriend. Late last year, a judge dismissed all charges against the Mahans, who are now seeking $1 million each from the state.
Daniel Rubin: After being wounded in a San Diego bank heist, Daniel Rubin was asked by San Diego police to try to identify his masked assailant using his split-second memories. How reliable could he be?
Think it's too late to find fame and fortune? Think again.
CBS News 48 Hours takes a look at a few people who dreamed of making it big in entertainment. They were regular Joes and Josephines, without million-dollar bank accounts to fund their projects. How did they do?
Among the extraordinary people you'll meet on this Thursday's show are:
Nicholas Sparks, a pharmaceutical salesman who dreamed of becoming a novelist - and did. He's just finished his third book, and his second book, a bestseller like the first, is being turned into a movie starring Paul Newman and Kevin Costner.
Vin Diesel , a charismatic young filmmaker/actor who dreams of breaking through at the famed Sundance Film Festival.
Darren Aronofsky , another obsessive filmmaker with dreams of cinematic stardom. Interestingly, both Vin and Darren find success, but follow very different paths.
Do you believe in life after death? A large majority of Americans do. But have you ever seen and heard what it looks like?
CBS News 48 Hours, in conjunction with CBS.com, examines the stories of people who believe they have experienced life after death. You'll also meet a psychic who claims to have contact with the afterlife, a skeptic, and a scientist who is examining these questions.
In conjunction, CBS.com has created a resource on aging and assisted care in America.
Russell Obremski was a cold-blooded killer, convicted of murdering two innocent women, one of whom who was eight months pregnant. After 24 years in an Oregon prison, he gets out on parole. The family of one of his victims is outraged, and also terrified. Find out what happens when. . .A Killer Walks Free.
CBS.com, in conjunction with CBS News 48 Hours, introduces you to Mr. Obremski, and to the children of his victims. Is he reformed? Or is he a homicidal menace, once again loosed on society?
What would you do if your neighbor built a baseball field in his backyard, and bunches of baseballs starting landing in your vegetable patch? Or insisted on videotaping your house 24 hours a day? What if your new neighbor was a dangerous convicted sex offender just out of jail? Would you welcome him or run him out of the neighborhood?
CBS News 48 Hours shows you what can happen when you've got Trouble Next Door.
Among the stories you'll see:
A Closer Look: Meet The Mediator Martin Scheinman is a well-known mediator. Find out how he came to make peace for a living, and learn his hints for smoothing troubles in your own life.
Street Fight: The Tarantos and the Amadeos live across the street from each other in Commack, Long Island. And they don't get along. For nine years the otherwise quiet street has turned into a battleground, and there's no cease-fire in sight.
Field Of Dreams: Bill Ingraham built a baseball diamond in his backyard. The kids loved it, but his next door neighbor was very unhappy with the noise, to say nothing of the baseballs in her garden. She sued him. Who won?
Trouble Next Door: For eight years, Cal State University professor Elena Zagustin has vexed her neighbors, refusing to keep her house or her yard clean. They've sued her, and she sued back. What happens with what neighbors call a "House of Horrors?"
You're piloting a plane that's out of control, hurtling toward the ground. You've been kidnapped by two jumpy, gun-wielding thugs on the run from the police. A bomb meant to kill you has just exploded in your face.
How would you react in cases like this, with death staring you square in the face? Everyone wants to think they'd stay cool under the immense pressure. But until you've gone through it, you can never know.
CBS News 48 Hours introduces you to some people who have gone through terrifying experiences - and lived. These men and women have cheated death.
Among those you'll meet on this week's show:
A pilot who crash-landed a packed passenger plane that had lost both steering and brakes.
A perky grandmother who dealt with jittery carjackers by relaxing them with light-hearted banter. The crime ended in a shootout with police, in which one of the carjackers was caught, and the other killed. The grandmother was unhurt. (See the video clip above left.)
David Gelernter, a Yale computer science professor who staggered to the hospital on his own after being, as he says, "blown up" by one of Ted Kaczynski's mail bombs. Now recovering, he talks about his ordeal.
An inexperienced skydiver who found herself aboard a plane that was nosediving toward the ground. She survived to skydive again.
This week, CBS News 48 Hours introduces you to some amazing new medical techniques that are keeping patients alive longer and increasing their quality of life. Witness firsthand some of these life-changing medical breakthroughs.
Cindy Walentiny appears to be a typical suburban mom. But ask her to cut a sandwich and you'll see she's not. She suffers from a debilitating disease called, "essential tremor," which causes her hand to shake uncontrollably. After almost 20 years of taking medications that don't help, Walentiny tries a revolutionary brain operation. This risky procedure will implant into her brain electrodes that will keep her tremors under control. Even the smallest mistake during surgery could cause paralysis. What happens?
And you'll meet 81-year-old Frances Whitton, who suffers a paralyzing stroke. Luckily, she is put under the care of Drs. Marilyn Rymer and Graham Lee, pioneers in stroke treatment. Whitton undergoes an experimental treatment to push a clot-busting drug, urokinase, through a catheter that will reach the blood clot deep inside her brain. Three weeks later, 48 Hours checks in with Whitton on the astounding results of her surgery.
Beth and Jim Williams of Richmond, Virginia, were thrilled when they found out they were having a child. But soon Beth learns she has breast cancer. Until recently, pregnant women with breast cancer were advised to have abortions and begin chemotherapy treatments immediately. But the couple decides to continue Beth's pregnancy. See how the tense story unfolds.
For the Whites, bedtime is anything but restful. Like 40 million other Americans, Tim White is a chronic snorer. His snoring is so loud that his wife and kids can't sleep. Tim decides to undergo a new procedure known as somnoplasty, which uses radio frequencies to shrink the snore-causing tissues in his throat. Will it work?
It's a tragedy that can strike anyone, even a highly trained athlete: Spinal cord injury and paralysis. This summer Chinese gymnast Sang Lang fell while practicing for the Goodwill Games. She was paralyzed from the waist down, and doctors say she will probably not walk again.
But researchers have made enormous strides in the area of spinal cord injury, and a cure no longer seems impossible. CBS News 48 Hours introduces you to some brave paralysis victims, including Christopher Reeve, and shows you the science that just may help them walk again.
Among the people you'll meet:
Christopher Reeve, the brave actor who three years ago was paralyzed after a horseback riding mishap. Reeve tells 48 Hours he still cries when he wakes up, mourning his lost mobility.
Charley Hince, a charming, funny 26-year-old who two years ago broke his neck in a swimming accident. How does he deal with the enormous changes his condition has brought? And how will he pay for his enormously expensive care?
Wise Young, a spinal cord researcher who thinks he may be very close to finding a way for people like Reeve and Hince to walk again.
Tonight, CBS News 48 Hours introduces you to an information age world where your deepest secrets, even your own identity, are public property. This isn't science fiction. It's the reality of contemporary America.
48 Hours takes a look at one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation: identity theft -- stealing personal information such as a driver's license number or social security number. You'll meet Californian Cynthia Morgan, who recently found out that someone else has been using her name and social security number to get a driver's license, and to charge thousands of dollars worth of furniture and other goods.
To make matters worse, neither the police nor the DMV seem to care about the fraud. When the California DMV finally investigates and tracks down the alleged culprit, she turns out to be an experienced stealer of identities.
And you'll find out how easy it is to get personal information about anyone. You'll meet Al Schweitzer, a successful information broker, who, for the right price, can get you the data you need -- including salary, medical records and phone bills. Schweitzer struts his stuff for 48 Hours, getting mountains of private information about California couple Mike and Marty Koontz, who know that someone is trying to dig up their personal information and are curious to find out what could be discovered.
Then it's on to Baltimore, where video surveillance cameras can be found on many of the streets. Is this an invasion of privacy or an effective way to keep streets safe? Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke thinks the cameras are a good idea, and says that crime dropped 50% in the area after the cameras were installed.
Ironically, while Dan Rather was talking to the mayor -- just 30 feet from the police video kiosk -- someone smashed a window on the 48 Hours camera truck! Although the suspect was caught on tape, police haven't yet caught him.
In December, 1991, four normal, suburban teenage girls were executed in a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas. The four girls -- 17-year-old Jennifer Suraci, her 15-year-old sister Sarah, 13-year-old Amy Ayers, who was Sarah's best friend, and 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, who was also working that night - were totally innocent victims, and the small, relatively crime-free city of Austin was shocked by the murders.
And in another Monday Night Mystery: what would you do for your best friend? If he begged you to shoot him so that his family could collect a life insurance policy, would you do it?
