The 12 Best Forensic Files Episodes
The hit TV series Forensic Files released over 400 episodes from their debut in 1996 to the show’s finale in 2011. But the beloved show lives on in the Forensic Files podcast,the audio-only version of the hit TV series, which delivers bite-sized twenty minute cases with dramatic storytelling and science-based reporting. Anyone who loves true crime knows forensic evidence is key to solving tough-to-crack cases, and that’s what makes this podcast so compelling. For those who want to delve deep into the science behind how killers are caught, there are so many fascinating cases to explore. We’ve rounded up the best Forensic Files episodes in this list, based on recommendations from die-hard true crime fans.
Last Updated: Jan 14th, 2023
1) A Voice From Beyond
A steel drum in a crawl space at a New York suburban home tucked away a mystery for over thirty years. The current owner of the house makes a shocking discovery of a decomposed young female body, a phone book, and plastic flowers submerged in strange sludge in the steel drum. This best Forensic Files episode dives into the jaw-dropping case, while unveiling all the forensic techniques that investigators used to solve it. It’s a gripping episode with an equally unbelievable ending.
2) Nursery Crimes
In the quiet little retirement community of Kerrville, Texas, a young enterprising female doctor opens the second pediatric clinic in the area. Tragedy strikes when seven infants visiting her clinic stopped breathing and were rushed to the hospital for seizures leading to sudden death. The physician was cooperative and insistent that she wasn’t the culprit in the string of deaths. Hear from the doctor herself as she reveals her shocking discovery to why her young patients were dying.
3) Dirty Little Secret
In an Ocean City nightclub called Secrets laid a gruesome secret of who killed a vacationing couple who was deeply in love. The disappearance of these office mates-turned lovers was unusual. Their vacation home was untouched as if they went out for a walk and never came back. A few days later, the police were alerted about a break-in at a local Hooters, and what they discovered from the seemingly unrelated crime was way more than they had asked for.
4) Family Interrupted
In Sugar Land, Texas, a well-known construction family is interrupted by a gunman who shot four family members after a graduation celebration dinner in town. This quadruple shooting was unheard of in this suburban neighborhood, but the recent robberies around town make this case even more suspicious. At the crime scene, they found a plethora of clues including a black glove and the murder weapon. Investigators called this the “most horrible crime [they’ve] ever investigated” landing this case on the list of Forensic Files’ best episodes of all time.
5) Family Ties
A man unknowingly woke up to make breakfast and grabbed his newspaper from the mailbox before dropping dead in the living room. He had been struck 16 times in the head by a fireman’s axe. His wife was still in bed, barely alive with the axe right next to her. When the police asked the wife who killed them, she gave mixed answers. So who was the actual killer and what were their motivations? To find out, listen to this Forensic Files case that investigators call a “shocking horror”.
6) Seeing Red
Two redheaded girls go missing in the same town two years apart. They were both found stuffed in suitcases in a Texas landfill. The community was in shock demanding answers for who the monster was. There were no fingerprints or clues on the suitcases, but there was a barcode on it that led investigators to a Walmart. These brutal murders point to a serial killer with a penchant for redheads. Follow along the investigations in this top Forensic Files episode that will take you deep inside the garbage heap for clues to find the killer.
7) Water Logged
A mother and her two daughters were taking a long-due vacation in Tampa Bay. Unbeknownst to them, their bodies would be found days later floating in the bay. Despite the women being tied with yellow rope with concrete blocks, the salt water washed all the forensic evidence away. But the police didn’t let that stop their investigation, they found crumbs of evidence on a handwritten note in the victims’ vehicle, so they blew it up and put it on billboards to publicly crowdsource the suspect. Investigators say that this case wasn’t simply a murder, but a cruel execution where the killer wanted the victims see each other die.
8) Bad Medicine
It started with a woman dying after a case of medical negligence from a plastic surgeon who wasn’t actually a plastic surgeon. The horror ends with an unrelated woman and her daughter found slowly being cripled and dying from an undetermined cause. A bizarre thread connects the cases that will leave you scratching your head on the surpringing motivations. A favorite of Forensic Files fans, this is a wild episode that takes medical malpractice to a whole new level.
9) The List Murders
Forensics is part art and science, and this episode investigating an 18-year-old murder shows how. A religious father murders his entire family in the affluent neighborhood of Westfield, New Jersey, and disappears, leaving investigators stumped as he's gone. For almost two deceased, the FBI kept the manhunt story alive in the media, including enlisting an unusual partner to help solve the mystery. This public chase for a mild-mannered-accountant-turned-brutal-murderer truly highlights the creativity in forensic investigations.
10) Penchant For Poison
Cremation typically erases any forensic evidence, but for this case, a scientist was able to test cremated remains, making forensic history in the process. A bickering elderly couple ran the local air conditioner business in San Angelo, Texas, and were known to “argue like cats and dogs”. After the death of the husband, the newly widowed wife checked herself in the hospital after a severe bout of vomiting and nausea. This episode is an unbelievable story where the dead spoke through forensics.
11) Innocence Lost
In 1989, five-year-old Melissa Brannen disappeared from her apartment complex’s Christmas party. About 200 of the complex’s residents were present at the party, meaning that there were many potential suspects. The police searched the area and questioned everyone who attended the party. It was a very cold night, and Melissa was only wearing a dress and coat, so finding her quickly was imperative, but police could find no trace of her despite an intense search. This is a powerful Forensic Files episode that shows how forensic science can be used to solve a case that traditional police work cannot.
12) Once Bitten
When a woman is found stabbed to death in the men’s bathroom of a bar, police find a bite mark on her upper chest. A photograph of the bite mark shows that the killer had a distinctive bite pattern. One of the prime suspects in the case was a postal worker, and police noticed that his teeth seemed to share the same quirk as whoever left the bite mark on the body, even though he had an alibi for the night of the murder. He was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death, but maintained his innocence. Did he really do it? Or was the internationally-known forensic odontologist wrong?
13) The Footpath Murders
For any Forensic Files fans who are interested in the history of DNA analysis, this episode covering the 1980s Footpath Murders is a must-listen as it’s the first time DNA was ever used as evidence in a court of law. The case started on a cold November evening in a small village in England, when teenager Linda Mann disappeared while walking to her friend’s house. Her semi-nude body was found along the side of a footpath; she had been strangled and sexually assaulted, and crucially a semen sample was taken. With no eye witnesses or concrete leads, the investigation hit a dead end. Then another teenage girl, Dawn Ashforth, went missing and was discovered less than a mile from where Linda Mann was murdered. In this best episode you’ll hear how genetic profiling was used in this case to find who was responsible.
14) Van-ished
In this fascinating Forensic Files case, a 12-year-old girl claimed she was abducted in plain sight at her church parking lot and sexually assaulted, but the police were skeptical. For one, the girl was incredibly calm as she recounted the abduction, which the police felt was strange. She also remembered the abduction and assault in minute detail, another unusual reaction. The detectives thought she made up the abduction or that it was a prank, but the next day when they interviewed the girl again, police could see that she had red marks around her wrists, eyes, and mouth, as if she had been bound — they started to believe her. Luckily, multiple carpet fibers were found on her clothing, which corroborated her story. This best Forensic Files episode is a great example of how fiber evidence can be used to solve a case like this, and how victims can behave vastly differently when confronted with a traumatic situation.
15) Badge Of Deceit
If you’re interested in criminology and profiling, you’re sure to find this Forensic Files episode especially interesting. It takes place against the backdrop of the small college town of Lafayette Louisiana, where a meticulous serial rapist was terrorizing women. He would break into single women’s homes at night, blind them with a flashlight, and assault them. One by one, the cases stacked up, until there were 12 unsolved rape cases with little to go on. But this is where geographic profiling came in. A new technique at the time in the 90s, geographic profiling helps investigators understand the behavior of the offender and can focus the investigation to a smaller area. Find out more about geographic profiling and how it was used to catch the perpetrator in this best Forensic Files episode.