Wednesday

A woman never expected such extreme reprisals from a man she once called her partner, but her daughter is caught in the crosshairs.

Serial killers are often twisted geniuses; so cunning that catching them seems almost impossible. But from jack the ripper to those who terrify us today, their bizarre behaviour is as specific as a signature. Sophisticated crime fighters map the psychological and physical terrain of multiple murderers.

Florida v. Euri Jenkins. Makeva Jenkins seemed to have it all. A successful businesswoman and mother of three, she boasted on Facebook that she had grown her business to six figures. But just hours later, she was shot dead with a bullet to the head. Her husband, Euri Jenkins, told police a masked intruder had shot and killed his wife. Her close-knit family held a press conference, pleading for information about her killer. But the tale of the happy family fell apart when police arrested her husband in a murder-for-hire plot. Detectives also arrested 19-year-old Joevan Joseph, who told investigators Jenkins had hired him to kill his wife for the life insurance money.

Ohio v. Gail Eastwood-Ritchey. In the spring of 1993, two newspaper carriers driving down a rural road spotted what they thought was a doll but which turned out to be, in fact, a newborn baby's body. The coroner would determine that the baby had been born alive; but his origin was a mystery. The community called the baby Geauga's Child, after the name of the county; they made clothes for his funeral and paid for his burial. Despite dozens of leads and even a hidden camera placed at the cemetery in hopes that the child's mother would show up, no arrests were made for 25 years. Then, with modern DNA and familial genealogy techniques, the cold case was solved, identifying the boy's mother as the now middle-aged Gail Eastwood-Ritchey. Years before, as a young unmarried woman, she had delivered the baby, stillborn, and placed his body in a trash bag in a wooded area. After a four-day trial, Eastwood-Richey was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

When teenagers are driven to kill, their victims are but the first to fall. In three such cases, the families of the killers, as well as their communities, become the victims of violent crime.

Philadelphia’s vidocq society, named after an 18th century french detective, is one of the world’s most unusual crime-solving organizations. These prominent sleuths solve a murder case from a missing shoe, and successfully prove homicide without a body.

For some killers, murder can be a profitable business. And the scene of the crime can be both a source for clues, and puzzling questions. When a victim has been targeted for death, investigators must look beyond the obvious to uncover a murder for hire.

When a man claims to have found his young wife stabbed to death in their new home, it takes 23 years of investigative work and new DNA evidence to uncover the killer is related to the purchase of their starter house.

One quiet afternoon, two women are brutally murdered while two small children watch and hide. The case goes unsolved for years until investigators wonder if the murders match another killing on the other side of the country.

Wildest arrests in the Sunshine State.

Eighteen-year-old Taylor Van Diest is on her way to meet friends and go trick-or-treating when she is assaulted and left for dead. She is discovered by her mother and friends and succumbs to her injuries the following day. Now investigators in Armstrong, B.C. must work tirelessly to bring her killer to justice and restore a sense of peace to the fractured community.

In the winter of 1968, the prairie city of Saskatoon is ravaged by a string of savage rapes. A few months later, fears are bolstered when a young nurse is found raped and murdered in an alley near her home. Police attention is brought to a young man named David Milgaard - the evidence on him is thin, but the court finds him guilty. After spending nearly 20 years in prison, David continues to plead his innocence. Through the undying faith of his mother, the real killer is slowly discovered to be a man named Larry Fisher. Approaching the turn of the century new DNA technologies finally exonerate David and plant the real killer, Larry Fisher, behind bars for life.

Sometimes, the cause of death does not match the scene of the crime. When an untraceable poison is used to commit murder, homicide detectives turn to forensic toxicologists to follow a killer’s tracks and expose a toxic death.

In Georgia, a series of bizarre shootings terrorized a small town. Two people were killed. Two others were critically wounded. At first, the shootings seemed targeted. Then they seemed random.

When questionable abuse allegations are proven false, Greg and Diana divorce. Shortly after, one of them is contacted by a private investigator and lured out to a dirt road. Is the sniper in the bushes there to commit a murder, or not?

69-year-old Ernesto Vasquez dies next to a gun, a knife and pill bottles. Now, Dr. G must figure out how these clues played a roll in his death./ 28-year-old Rebecca Davis’ parents are devastated after losing their only child and Dr. G is the only person that can give them answers.

A beloved teacher is found murdered in handcuffs. The case goes cold for 30 years until new forensic techniques and dogged investigators finally expose the unlikely killer hiding in plain sight.

A retired fireman on a morning bike ride notices a burning bundle in a farmer’s field…and recognizes the smell of burning human flesh. Investigators at the scene find an unrecognizable body, a distinctive lighter, 2 pairs of latex gloves and the box they came in, paper towels and torn scraps of an office memo. State of the art forensics, dogged police work, and some extraordinary turns of events lead police to the murder scene - the medical room of a ball bearings factory, and the arrest of a former armenian mafia thug turned english family man for the brutal murder of his cruel ex-boss.

Law student Adrienne Hickson fatally stabs her boyfriend Shawn Washington with the knife for her birthday cake when he helps his friends move instead of spending the day with her.

Applebee's waitress Rachel Wade, 19, stabs 18-year-old Sarah Ludemann to death in a vicious teen-girl cat fight over shared bad boy boyfriend Josh Camacho.

Teenager Adrianne Reynolds dreams of a fresh start, but instead becomes the victim of a chilling plot orchestrated by classmates she believed were friends. Detectives uncover a shocking murder that exposes jealousy, manipulation and betrayal at the heart of a close-knit community.

When hardware store clerk Sydney Loofe vanishes after an online date, the entire state of Nebraska finds themselves on high alert. Investigators race against the clock to find her as her family clutches onto the hope that Sydney is unharmed. But as the days wear on, a horrible truth emerges from the darkness – one that shakes a small town to its very core, and leaves an innocent life shattered.

The murder trial of prominent lawyer Tex McIver transfixed Atlanta. McIver claimed his gun accidentally went off, unintentionally shooting his wife in the back as they drove home. But, did McIver have a secret motive to want his wife dead?

Nancy, David and Susan Spangler are found shot to death in their home - the brutal slaughter is deemed a murder suicide. Over the next fifteen years, two more Spangler spouses, Sharon and Donna die in similarly suspicious circumstances. After an exhaustive investigation by numerous agencies, authorities finally get a confession from psychopath Robert Spangler as he reveals his role as a serial spousal killer.

When a sniper in Utah started targeting African-American men for death, authorities launched a massive investigation. With scant clues and no witnesses they found the odds stacked against them, and they had no idea where the killer would strike next.