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Private Notes
Recalling the 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr., who was taken from his hotel room in Lake Tahoe, Nev. He was released by his captors three days later after his father paid the $240,000 ransom, and his three captors were caught and convicted.
A chronicle of the legal battles of publisher Larry Flynt. Included: Flynt v. Falwell, a libel suit heard by the U.S. Supreme Court; Flynt's conversion to Christianity; and the shooting that left him wheelchair-bound. Interviewed: Flynt, his brother Jimmy, his attorneys, Rev. Jerry Falwell.
The lives of the Beatles' John Lennon and his killer, Mark Chapman, are paralleled. Lennon's success is contrasted with Chapman's emotional instability. Also: the murder and trial are documented using film footage and photographs.
The circumstances surrounding the 1991 murder of a Pennsylvania teenage girl and the convoluted legal proceedings that followed. Among those interviewed are the victim's mother.
The 1920s investigation and trial of Leopold and Loeb for kidnapping and murder in Chicago is chronicled.
The story of how a serial killer and his wealthy accomplice were apprehended is chronicled using video footage, photographs and interviews.
Three murders---each involving women's remains found in railway baggage---that took place in England during the 1920s and '30s are detailed.
Serial killers Gary Heidnik and Jeffrey Dahmer are profiled. Included: comparisons of common elements of their crime sprees, such as cooking their victims.
The case of homicidal divorcée Betty Broderick is chronicled. Included: her marriage to Dan Broderick, their divorce, the murder of Dan and his second wife, and the two ensuing trials.
A look at the case of a family murdered while on vacation in France and the local farmer suspected in the mysterious crime.
A report on the 1955 disappearance of a Florida judge and his wife.
Recalling the 1975 murder of Connecticut teen Martha Moxley. Included are comments from former L.A. police detective Mark Fuhrman, who wrote a book about the crime.
Profiling John Duffy, the convicted British murderer and rapist, who earned the nickname of “Railway Killer” because he used the train to escape from the scene of the crimes. Included: how “profiling” was used to help capture him; footage of the crime scenes.
A look at the criminal activities of Ma Barker and her gangster sons. Included: reenactments of their crimes; archival footage.
Profiles the case of Henry Lee Lucas, who confessed to murdering women and whose victims may have numbered in the hundreds, giving him the notorious distinction of being America's most prolific serial killer.
The case of Ronald ("Butch") DeFeo Jr., an Amityville, New York, man convicted in 1975 of the murders of his parents and four siblings. The house in which the murders were committed later became the subject of speculation that it was "haunted."
Profiling Graham Young, the infamous British killer, who was obsessed with poison from his youth. Young was finally caught after the deaths of several colleagues at the factory where he worked, and his life was the subject of the 1995 film “The Young Poisoner's Handbook.”
Examining the case of boxer Hurricane Carter and his friend John Artis, who in 1967 were wrongly convicted of a 1966 triple homicide. Artis was eventually paroled in 1981, while Carter's conviction was finally overturned in 1985. Included: comments from Artis, Carter and their attorneys.
Examining two cases in which wrongly accused people were imprisoned because their trials were mishandled. Included: Florida farmer James Richardson, who spent 21 years in prison until his conviction was overturned in 1989; Chicago residents Perry Cobb and Darby Tillis, who were tried for the same crime for a record five times.
The 1980 murder of a Michigan woman, whose killer was caught because of her family's efforts.
Examining the 1996 murder of Delaware secretary Anne Marie Fahey. Prosecutors built up a case against prime suspect Thomas Capano, Fahey's former lover, despite the lack of a body, through physical evidence and testimony provided by two of Capano's brothers and another of Capano's mistresses.
The case of Leah Bundy, a New York woman convicted and sent to prison on drug charges, but who claimed, along with boyfriend Christopher Clemente, that the drugs belonged to Clemente's brother. Included: William Kunstler's defense of Clemente.
An investigation into the mysteries surrounding the death of Helen Brach, who disappeared in 1977 and was declared legally dead, although her body was never found.
Examining the case of Robert Diaz, a California nurse who was convicted in 1984 of killing 12 elderly patients through a lethal injection of the heart medication lidocaine.
The case of Barbara Stager, a North Carolina woman who was convicted in 1989 of the 1988 shooting death of her second husband, Russ. Stager claimed the killing was accidental, but hindering her defense were similarities in the deaths of her first and second husbands; and an incriminating tape recorded by Russ shortly before his demise.
Recalling the 1998 school shootings in Jonesboro, Ark., in which two boys opened fire, killing four students and one teacher. The boys were tried as juveniles, which inspired Arkansas to pass tougher laws regarding crimes committed by children.
The case of Edward Post, a New Orleans businessman who pled guilty in 1995 to the 1986 murder of his wife, Julie. Post had been convicted of first-degree murder twice before, but both verdicts had been reversed on appeal.
The case of Alex Kelly, a high-school athlete who fled the country for Europe just before his 1987 rape trial. Kelly surrendered to authorities in 1995, and was convicted in 1997.
The 1995 murder of Adrienne Jones, a high-school student shot to death by David Graham, with whom she'd allegedly had a fling. Graham and his girlfriend, Diane Zamora, were convicted of the murder in 1998. The pair were found out after Zamora confided the crime to classmates at the Naval Academy.
Examining criminal cases in which unusual defenses were employed. Lawyer Alan Dershowitz analyzes why the defenses succeeded and discusses the potentially dangerous precedents that were set.
The case of Ken Arrasmith, an Idaho man who, in 1995, gunned down a couple who had allegedly sexually abused Arrasmith's daughter. Arrasmith was convicted of their murders in 1996.
“The Murderous Buccaneer” chronicles the life and career of John Donald Merrett. Included: the “not proven” verdict at his matricide trial, his drug smuggling and his suicide after he was considered to be a suspect in the murders of his wife and mother-in-law.
Recalling the attempted 1996 murder of California resident Sunny Han by men hired by Sunny's identical twin sister, Gina. Gina received a 26-year sentence for the crime.
Examining the 1993 murder of Florida man Bobby Kent. The crime was planned and carried out by seven of Kent's friends, who claimed Kent was a bully. Included are comments from author Jim Schutze and Kent's former girlfriend.
