FilmRise True Crime

A trained doctor and property developer, Hassan Al Shatanawi brutally murdered his wife and hid her body. To this day, her remains have never been found, and he has never shown remorse.
Laura May Al-Shatanawi vanished from her Hartlepool home in June 1993. Her husband waited three weeks before reporting her missing, claiming she had taken a last-minute holiday. Police discovered he had recently bought an allotment shed, where forensic experts found Laura's blood and hair. A workman he paid £10 to burn the shed instead sold it, leading police to the crucial evidence. He was convicted of murder in 1994 and s...

"A 1966 hit single about a cheater eerily foreshadowed the lead singer's murder. The case remained unsolved for years until an autopsy on a woman who died in a strange car accident finally cracked it open."
Walter Scott, lead singer of Bob Kuban and the In-Men, disappeared in 1983. His band's most famous song was "The Cheater." The case went cold until investigators re-examined the death of Sharon Williams, whose car had been forced off a road. James H. Williams Sr. was eventually convicted of both murders. The song had foretold it all.

🕵️ "A mother and her baby vanish in a parking lot in broad daylight. A terrified husband waits for answers. Then a farmer walking his dog finds a body in a field—and a miracle."
In 2001, Ginger Hayes and her infant son Nicholas were carjacked in Greenville, North Carolina. Within minutes, a witness reported the crime. Surveillance footage captured Ginger with an unidentified man at a supermarket, but her baby was nowhere to be seen. Police tracked the car to a suspect's home and arrested Andre Edwards, a career criminal. But Edwards refused to talk. Hours later, a farmer found Ginger...

"Five men were ambushed in a company parking lot. One was killed, two critically injured. The gunman left behind spent shells, but little else. The case went cold until a telephone tip and a forensic examiner's sensitive nose uncovered the truth."
In 1993, Miguel Roque was shot and killed, and two co-workers were wounded outside their Miami factory. Police found a sawed-off shotgun with the serial number filed off. Forensic experts restored the number using acid, tracing the gun to a disgruntled employee. The shooter's accomplice, a night shift supervisor, eventually led detectives to the killer. The "sniffing revenge" refers...

"In 1996, a suburban Seattle couple was found murdered in their home. Investigators initially believed it was a drug deal gone wrong, but no drugs were found at the scene, and the victims' blood wasn't on the suspects' clothes. The key to the case came from an unlikely source: the couple's dog, Chief."
DNA evidence from Chief, a Chow-Chow mix, linked one of the killers to the scene in one of the first cases where dog DNA was used to secure a conviction. Kenneth Leuluaialii and George Tuilefano were both sentenced to life in prison without parole.

"A man was stabbed to death in his Des Moines home. Five years later, a strange confession in a drug bust led police to an exotic dancer who listened to voices in her head. The key to the case? A single drop of blood on a bedspread."
In 1999, Patrick McRae was found dead, and the crime scene was awash in blood from two people. DNA analysis revealed a female killer. Leads dried up until a suspect arrested for drug possession offered police a deal, telling a bizarre tale about exotic dancer Andrea Morris, who heard voices. A drop of...

"A mother of two was slowly poisoned by the one person she trusted most. One doctor's mistake killed a patient—and then he tried to kill his own wife." [citation:2]
A fatal anesthesia error in a cosmetic surgery office led to the death of 26-year-old Sarah Smith. [citation:10] The doctor, Anthony Pignataro, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and lost his medical license. [citation:2] Then, his wife Debbie began suffering mysterious symptoms—numbness, memory loss, and paralysis. [citation:2] A bone marrow test revealed arsenic poisoning at levels so high that her survival was called a miracle. [citation:5] Hair analysis proved the...

In 1988, the body of a young woman was discovered in an Ohio river under ice. Most of the evidence found at the crime scene—hairs, fibers, and fingerprints—had been washed away. But the victim's six-year-old son unwittingly told investigators all they needed to know about the killer, and he did it without saying a word. The clue was in his genes [citation:10].
Margie Coffey, a 32-year-old single mother of two, had been reported missing ten days earlier. Her past, including relationships with two Mansfield police officers, complicated the investigation [citation:1][citation:10]. DNA evidence later revealed that Lieutenant Charles Oswa...

"A security guard vanished from his post without a trace. His remains were found a year later. For fourteen years, the case went cold. Then a single phone call—and a microscopic paint smear on the victim's boot—broke the case wide open."
Brian Roof disappeared from his post at a Utah copper mine in 1991. His wife reported him missing, but there were no signs of foul play. The investigation stalled until his body was discovered months later. A paint chip on his boot eventually led cold-case investigators to Dale Bradley, a co-worker who had been involved in a love...

In Collingwood, Ontario, a mother's 911 call reported an attack, but she died before help arrived. The only evidence? A squashed tomato with a footprint and a pair of bloodied eyeglasses [citation:4][citation:8].
Investigators focused on her former neighbor, a convicted criminal. A forensic optometrist matched the glasses to a mugshot, and an expert compared the shoe print on the tomato to prison-issued footwear [citation:11]. James Brown was convicted of first-degree murder in 1992. The episode is a classic example of how tiny clues can solve a big crime.

"One man. Three murders. Just seven days. A friend. His mother. A pregnant woman. All brutalized by a killer who showed no mercy."
Anthony Russell's 2020 killing spree began after he wrongly believed his friend David Williams was involved with his girlfriend. He strangled Williams with a lanyard, leaving his body under a bed [citation:1][citation:5]. Days later, he murdered David's mother, Julie, to stop her from speaking to police [citation:1][citation:7]. Hours after that, he raped and strangled 31-year-old Nicole McGregor in woodland, leaving wood and twigs in her mouth [citation:1][citation:5]. Russell was given a whole-life order [citation:1...

A convicted rapist and kidnapper moved to Florida after prison. Then two women were strangled—and the killer was already known to police.
James Randall was convicted of murdering Wendy Evans and Cynthia Pugh in 1995–1996. A high-speed chase led to his capture, and he was initially sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court reduced his sentence to life, ruling he choked the victims for pleasure, not to kill. He's also a suspect in other unsolved strangulations. When told he'd be charged, he reportedly replied, "Is that all?".

"She stabbed her love rival 17 times so brutally that police first thought it was a hit-and-run. Now, after 39 years, Britain's longest-serving female prisoner is set to walk free."
In 1986, Maria Pearson, 31, stalked Janet Newton, 23, through Hartlepool after Janet became engaged to Pearson's ex-husband. She stabbed Janet 17 times, twice through the heart, leaving her body in a pool of blood. Pearson was convicted of murder in 1987 and served over three decades, becoming the UK's longest-serving female prisoner [citation:2][citation:3][citation:5]. Despite repeated parole denials for poor behavior and lack of remorse [citation:5][citation:12], a Parole Board panel approved her release...

"On a windy October night in 1995, a mysterious fire swept through the palatial home of a doctor and his family. Two of the children did not survive."
Dr. Debora Green lost two children in a fire that destroyed her Kansas mansion [citation:1]. Suspicions grew when she refused to cooperate during questioning. Her ex-husband, Michael Farrar, revealed she had poisoned him during their separation and said he would only get custody "over the children's dead bodies" [citation:1][citation:3]. Her singed hair and the fire's origin proved she was the arsonist. Green pleaded no contest to murder and attempted murder, receiving...

"An intruder entered this home and attacked two young children, along with their mother. My babies are dying! They're dead! Oh, my god!" A mother's 911 call seemed genuine, but blood spatter analysis and behavioral profiling told a different story.
On June 6, 1996, police in Rowlett, Texas received a call from Darlie Routier, claiming an intruder had murdered her two sons, 6-year-old Devon and 5-year-old Damon. Investigators doubted her story after analyzing blood spatter, profiling her behavior, and examining her 911 call. The evidence proved she killed both children with a kitchen knife, inflicted wounds on herself, cleaned the scene, and fabricated...

"He killed 11 women in eight months. He left them in abandoned buildings, strangled and assaulted. Then he was caught by a survivor who refused to be silent."
Benjamin Atkins, also known as the Woodward Corridor Killer, terrorized Detroit between December 1991 and August 1992. He targeted vulnerable women, often sex workers, and lured them into vacant buildings where he raped and strangled them [citation:3][citation:6]. One survivor, Darlene Saunders, identified him after an attack, leading to his arrest [citation:15]. After a 12-hour interrogation, Atkins confessed to 11 murders, claiming his motive was hatred of prostitution [citation:3][citation:10]. He was convicted of 11 counts...

"Forty-seven injuries. A body left in a bus depot. A killer who had been released just 19 days earlier."
Gavin McGuire was a convicted rapist who murdered 16-year-old Mhairi Julyan in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in December 1995 . He strangled and sexually assaulted her, leaving her body in a deserted bus station with 47 injuries [citation:15]. He had been released from custody 19 days before the murder . In 1977, he received a 10-year sentence for rape and sexual assault. In 1986, he was sentenced to another 10 years for attempted rape and serious assault [citation:2][citation:5]. His case led to calls for a public inquiry into Scotland's justice...

"When a Pennsylvania man is hospitalized with excruciating leg pain, hallucinations, and hair loss, doctors are baffled. The cause is not a disease—it's a rare and deadly poison."
This episode of *Forensic Files* examines the investigation into the death of 32-year-old electrician Bobby Curley, who fell mysteriously ill in 1991. Initial symptoms were misdiagnosed, but a perceptive doctor suspected thallium poisoning—a substance once used in rat poison. As authorities investigated, they found thallium in his thermoses and in his wife Joann's system. A detailed investigation revealed a financial motive: Joann stood to collect life insurance and was also in l...

"The tape ended. She said nothing. But DNA doesn't need a confession."
A suspect claimed ignorance, hoping silence would protect her. Then forensic evidence painted a picture her words couldn't deny. Investigators challenged her story with phone records, physical proof, and timelines that contradicted every word. Her silence didn't save her. The evidence ensured she could not escape.

"She laughed. She joked. She asked for a soda. Then the detective slid a photo across the table—and her world collapsed."
A teenage suspect sat through her police interrogation treating it like a game, convinced her age would protect her. Then the evidence was placed in front of her, and her smile faded. Her confident facade cracked when she learned her co-defendant had already confessed. The reality of a life behind bars hit harder than she ever expected.

"He wore a gray wig, a surgical mask, and carried a box with a UPS sticker. Inside that box was a loaded rifle." Robert Bonang disguised himself as a UPS driver to murder his former neighbor, Laurie Melchionda, in Braintree, Massachusetts. A teenage babysitter saw him "shooting from the box" and called 911. Bonang's past mental health history and paranoid behavior surfaced, revealing the depth of a meticulously planned, yet delusional, scheme. The interrogation uncovered how the act of wearing a delivery driver's uniform allowed a killer to approach his target's doorstep, hidden in plain sight.

📱 "She filmed her final moments. That video became the evidence that convicted him."
When a woman's death was ruled an accident, her family knew something was wrong. Then investigators found an Instagram video—recorded minutes before she died—that revealed the killer's lies. Forensic analysis of the footage, audio, and metadata exposed the truth no one wanted to see. The interrogation transcript shows the suspect's story collapsing the moment detectives played the clip. Some recordings aren't memories—they're confessions.

"He didn't ask for a lawyer. He didn't demand a phone call. He just started talking—and never stopped."
When the door closed behind him, he didn't play games. No denials, no deflections, no rehearsed performance. He sat down, met the detective's eyes, and told them exactly what he did—in chilling, clinical detail. Confessions like this are rare. The tone is calm, the details are damning, and the detectives barely have to ask questions. This is the story of a killer who knew it was over the moment they said his name. He walked in free. He walked out...

🎄 "Melissa, will you go get the coats?" Those were the last words 5-year-old Melissa Brannen ever heard from her mother before she vanished from a Lorton, Virginia Christmas party in 1989 [citation:1].
A massive search turned up nothing. The only hope: a single fiber from her sweater. When suspect Caleb Hughes was caught washing his clothes at 1 AM, forensic analysts matched the fiber to his car [citation:5]. Melissa was never found, but Hughes was convicted of abduction with intent to defile [citation:8].

A two-year-old boy is rushed to the hospital with seizures and breathing difficulties. Doctors are baffled. Then his deceased sister provides a clue that changes everything.
Michael Reid suffered over 20 hospitalizations in two years. When he was removed from his mother's care, his symptoms vanished. His sister Morgan had died under similar circumstances. An x-ray revealed she had been shaken violently. Tanya Reid was convicted of felony child endangerment and the murder of her daughter, exposing a pattern of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

🔎 "He vanished after a party. His apartment told a different story." Scott Dunn disappeared in 1991. When police sprayed his bedroom with Luminol, a scene of horrific violence emerged [citation:2][citation:3]. No body. No weapon. No witnesses. Investigators had to prove murder without a corpse. His girlfriend and a neighbor were convicted years later.

He stabbed his pregnant first wife to death in 1991. After 16 years in prison, he married again—and killed his second wife's four children in 2016.
Gregory Green murdered his first wife Tonya, who was 30 weeks pregnant, by stabbing her 10 times and then called police to confess [citation:5][citation:6]. Released on parole in 2008, he married Faith Harris and had two daughters [citation:6]. In September 2016, he bound his wife in the basement, shot his stepchildren execution-style, and asphyxiated his two young daughters with carbon monoxide in the family car [citation:2][citation:5]. He called 911 again to confess [citation:13]. Sentenced to 47–102 years, he will be 9...

"The night started with an argument at a bar. It ended with a wife's brutal murder." Shirley Andronowich was found beaten and mutilated in a schoolyard in 1990 [citation:1][citation:3]. Her husband Ed confessed but was exonerated by forensic evidence including bite marks and saliva [citation:4][citation:7]. A year later, Mark Jarman was convicted based on concrete particles and bite mark analysis [citation:1][citation:3]. He received a life sentence [citation:4].

"He was a man who had nothing to lose. And in seven days, he proved exactly how dangerous that made him."
Anthony Russell murdered three people in a week—strangling his friend David Williams with a lanyard, killing his friend's mother to silence her, and raping and murdering a pregnant woman who had no link to him . His victims suffered 87, 113, and countless other injuries. A judge called him "exceptionally dangerous." He was sentenced to a whole-life order. In 2026, he allegedly killed child killer Ian Huntley in prison.