Unusual Suspects (TV program)
| Unusual Suspects | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Narrated by | Mocean Melvin |
| Composer | Benson Taylor |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 102 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Diana Sperrazza Eric Schotz |
| Running time | 40 to 44 minutes |
| Production company | LMNO Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Investigation Discovery |
| Release | June 21, 2010 – April 10, 2016 |
Unusual Suspects is an American documentary television series on Investigation Discovery. The series debuted on June 21, 2010.[1] It showcases many of the most shocking and difficult cases in law enforcement history, and also sheds light on the investigations that led to the arrest of the culprits.[2] On June 23 2016, the show was cancelled due to notices of termination by Discovery.[3]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | June 21, 2010 | September 6, 2010 | |
| 2 | 11 | August 14, 2011 | October 23, 2011 | |
| 3 | 13 | February 26, 2012 | May 27, 2012 | |
| 4 | 13 | September 9, 2012 | December 9, 2012 | |
| 5 | 13 | March 31, 2013 | June 30, 2013 | |
| 6 | 13 | January 12, 2014 | April 27, 2014 | |
| 7 | 13 | January 4, 2015 | April 5, 2015 | |
| 8 | 13 | January 10, 2016 | April 10, 2016 | |
Season 1 (2010)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Killer Nearby" | May 31, 2010 | |
|
Note: This episode was a "sneak peek" episode. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Betrayal of Trust" | June 21, 2010 | |
| 3 | 3 | "A Mother's Conviction" | June 28, 2010 | |
|
October 13, 1997, 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick of Lawrenceville, Illinois is stabbed to death by an intruder in the middle of the night. After an investigation in which numerous seemingly common suspects are considered, his mother, Julie Rae Harper is charged with the crime as the town is in disbelief. No one imagines she is capable of murder. She is convicted and sentenced to 65 years in prison. She appeals her conviction and the Innocence Project takes up her case, believing she could not have committed the crime. Serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells, who is on death row in Texas, then hints that he committed the crime. Lawrenceville prosecutors are not convinced, but others are. Many witnesses who attempted to come forward around the time of the crime but were ignored also speak up. These include a man who saw the suspect in a restaurant two days before the murder and thought his behavior was odd, and a bus ticket saleswoman who thought he matched the description on a composite sketch. A new trial is granted, and Harper is freed. Sells is never convicted of this particular murder, though he remains the prime suspect. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Will To Murder" | July 5, 2010 | |
| 5 | 5 | "Murder in Biloxi" | July 12, 2010 | |
| 6 | 6 | "Monster in Spokane" | July 19, 2010 | |
|
A serial killer scares Spokane, WA, by taking the lives of many people. The analysis of an old lead helps investigators solve the case. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Millionaire's Murder" | July 26, 2010 | |
| 8 | 8 | "Missing Executive" | August 2, 2010 | |
| 9 | 9 | "Burned" | August 9, 2010 | |
| 10 | 10 | "Lovers and Liars" | August 16, 2010 | |
| 11 | 11 | "Overkill" | August 23, 2010 | |
| 12 | 12 | "Happy Face Killer" | August 30, 2010 | |
|
On January 22nd, 1990, Taunja Bennett, a mentally challenged young woman, is found strangled and brutally beaten to death. An intense investigation produces no suspects. Then, out of the blue, a bizarre confession is made and the case was closed even though the police found the story hard to believe but still deemed the confession convincing. Incredibly, somebody else claimed credit. People are arrested but in the Fall of 1994, someone sends two anonymous letters: one to the Portland Oregonian newspaper and one to the Washington county judges criminal court. The letters - signed with smiley faces - dispute and question the arrests. The writer says he committed the crimes and, even more disturbing, that Bennett was not his only victim. | ||||
| 13 | 13 | "Cold-Blooded" | September 6, 2010 | |
Season 2 (2011)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Never Came Home" | August 14, 2011 | |
|
In 1996, teenager Joey Martin leaves home through a bedroom window to join friends for beers and to catch a glimpse of a rare comet that was due to pass through the Northern sky, but he disappears. Police do not find any concrete leads up until 2008, when a new detective uncovers a shocking story. | ||||
| 15 | 2 | "Getting Even" | August 21, 2011 | |
| 16 | 3 | "Little Girl Lost" | August 28, 2011 | |
| 17 | 4 | "Who Wanted Them Dead?" | September 4, 2011 | |
| 18 | 5 | "Hiding in Plain Sight" | September 11, 2011 | |
| 19 | 6 | "Terror in Gulfport" | September 18, 2011 | |
| 20 | 7 | "Where's Becky" | September 25, 2011 | |
| 21 | 8 | "Blood on the Badge" | October 2, 2011 | |
| 22 | 9 | "Cop Killer" | October 9, 2011 | |
|
On February 20, 1983, policeman Kirk Johnson from the San Diego PD is found dead inside his own police car. Initial evidence points to another policeman from the same department. Detectives investigate their own workmates until they get to the unusual suspect. | ||||
| 23 | 10 | "Death of a Freshman" | October 16, 2011 | |
| 24 | 11 | "Murder in the Mansion" | October 23, 2011 | |
Season 3 (2012)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "The Perfect Family" | February 26, 2012 |
| 26 | 2 | "A Monstrous Act" | March 4, 2012 |
| 27 | 3 | "Murder on Miguel Lane" | March 11, 2012 |
| 28 | 4 | "Innocent Bystander" | March 25, 2012 |
| 29 | 5 | "Clairemont Killer" | April 1, 2012 |
| 30 | 6 | "Left For Dead" | April 8, 2012 |
| 31 | 7 | "Murderous Intentions" | April 15, 2012 |
| 32 | 8 | "Death of an Angel" | April 22, 2012 |
| 33 | 9 | "Hotel Homicides" | April 29, 2012 |
| 34 | 10 | "Elemental Murder" | May 6, 2012 |
| 35 | 11 | "Deadly Denial" | May 13, 2012 |
| 36 | 12 | "Random Act of Madness" | May 20, 2012 |
| 37 | 13 | "Bathtub Killer" | May 27, 2012 |
Season 4 (2012)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 1 | "Pure Evil" | September 9, 2012 | |
| 39 | 2 | "The Perfect Suspect" | September 16, 2012 | |
| 40 | 3 | "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" | September 23, 2012 | |
| 41 | 4 | "Blood Trail" | September 30, 2012 | |
| 42 | 5 | "Mother's Day Murders" | October 7, 2012 | |
| 43 | 6 | "Gruesome Discovery" | October 14, 2012 | |
|
In 1994, the brutalized body of a young mother is found in a 55-gallon trash barrel. Initial leads point to a possible love triangle, and the possibility that the obsession of one of her coworkers just went too far. When the shocking truth is untangled, a vicious killer faces final justice. | ||||
| 44 | 7 | "A Bike Ride to Murder" | October 21, 2012 | |
| 45 | 8 | "Murder on the Menu" | October 28, 2012 | |
| 46 | 9 | "Triple Threat" | November 11, 2012 | |
| 47 | 10 | "City Under Siege" | November 18, 2012 | |
| 48 | 11 | "Killings in Kentucky" | November 25, 2012 | |
| 49 | 12 | "No Mercy" | December 2, 2012 | |
| 50 | 13 | "Maritime Murder" | December 9, 2012 | |
Season 5 (2013)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | 1 | "Deadly Forest" | March 31, 2013 |
| 52 | 2 | "Christmas Mourning" | April 7, 2013 |
| 53 | 3 | "Burning Fury" | April 14, 2013 |
| 54 | 4 | "Driven to Murder" | April 21, 2013 |
| 55 | 5 | "Phantom Predator" | April 28, 2013 |
| 56 | 6 | "Deathbed" | May 12, 2013 |
| 57 | 7 | "The Deacon's Undoing" | May 19, 2013 |
| 58 | 8 | "Sin City Slaying" | May 26, 2013 |
| 59 | 9 | "Manufacturing Murder" | June 2, 2013 |
| 60 | 10 | "Little Boy Lost" | June 9, 2013 |
| 61 | 11 | "When Evil Strikes" | June 16, 2013 |
| 62 | 12 | "The Last Resort" | June 23, 2013 |
| 63 | 13 | "Dangerous Fortune" | June 30, 2013 |
Season 6 (2014)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 1 | "Vanished in Reno" | January 12, 2014 | |
| 65 | 2 | "High School Homicide" | January 19, 2014 | |
| 66 | 3 | "Brute Force" | January 26, 2014 | |
| 67 | 4 | "Murder in Room 348" | February 9, 2014 | |
| 68 | 5 | "Wicked Impulse" | February 16, 2014 | |
| 69 | 6 | "Death of Innocence" | February 23, 2014 | |
| 70 | 7 | "Hometown Homicide" | March 2, 2014 | |
| 71 | 8 | "Stone Cold Killer" | March 9, 2014 | |
| 72 | 9 | "Blood in the Water" | March 16, 2014 | |
| 73 | 10 | "Sinister Secret" | March 23, 2014 | |
|
In 1980, teenager Nanine Grimes is brutally murdered in Colorado. The killer stabbed her more than 80 times. However the killer's blood is also found at the crime scene. Twenty five years later, investigators finally figure out the killer's identity. Starring Jordan Lawson and Summer Kailani. | ||||
| 74 | 11 | "Dead End Trail" | March 30, 2014 | |
| 75 | 12 | "Nightclub Nightmare" | April 20, 2014 | |
| 76 | 13 | "Death Comes Calling" | April 27, 2014 | |
Season 7 (2015)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | 1 | "Deadly Desire" | January 4, 2015 | |
| 78 | 2 | "Last Dance" | January 11, 2015 | |
| 79 | 3 | "No Good Deed" | January 18, 2015 | |
| 80 | 4 | "Deadly Accusation" | January 25, 2015 | |
| 81 | 5 | "Death And Taxes" | February 8, 2015 | |
| 82 | 6 | "Murder In The Mirror" | February 15, 2015 | |
| 83 | 7 | "An Eye For Murder" | February 22, 2015 | |
|
The close-knit community of Navy town Mayport, FL is rocked by the brutal rape and murder of 21-year-old Dina Kichler on December 1st, 1990. She was happily chatting with her mother, who lived in Alabama, on the phone when someone knocked on the front door. Although advised by her mom to not answer the front door, Kichler said it was okay because she knew the man at the door. Her mom never heard any of what happened and just assumed her daughter would call back later because she might have gotten caught with her friend. But on the following Monday everyone - from family members to coworkers - worry about Kichler's absence and that leads to the police finding her body back at her home. An arrest did take place but the alleged killer walked free on December 22nd of the same year. But in 1997, detectives from New Hampshire state attending a national law enforcement conference were presented with Kichler's case, and noticed remarkable similarities between her murder and a cold case they had in 1987 - the murder of Michele LaFond. With the advances of DNA technology and some other evidences the cold blooded killer, who always acted motivated by uncontrollable lust and rage, was finally arrested in 1998. | ||||
| 84 | 8 | "Absent Teacher" | March 1, 2015 | |
|
In the Chicago suburb of Westmomt, 29-year-old school teacher Rachel Rachlin had her friends and family in a panic. She had been missing for days along all her furniture and possessions. Two weeks after her disappearance, her car was found in a remote long term parking lot at Chicago O'Hare Airport. Records showed it had been there since August 20, 1993, the day after Rachel was last seen. Police noticed a liquid dripping from the bottom of the trunk. When they opened it, inside they found Rachel's body completely covered with about a quarter ton of dirt. Finding her killer leads to discovering the evil and mundane reasons for her murder. | ||||
| 85 | 9 | "Left Alone" | March 8, 2015 | |
| 86 | 10 | "Flames In Paradise" | March 15, 2015 | |
| 87 | 11 | "Nightmare Field" | March 22, 2015 | |
| 88 | 12 | "Little Girl Gone" | March 29, 2015 | |
| 89 | 13 | "Barefoot Homicide" | April 5, 2015 | |
|
On November 30, 1984, at Drexel University in Philadelphia, 20 year-old math major Deborah Wilson was viciously strangled to death. Some of her classmates and individuals trusted to protect her are suspects. Even though there was no evidence of sexual assault, it's later revealed that this was a crime of sexual nature. | ||||
Season 8 (2016)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 1 | "New Years Evil" | January 10, 2016 | |
|
After 23-year-old Ashley Kline is found murdered in a Pennsylvania wildlife preserve, investigators must piece together the last few moments of her life to determine who killed her. | ||||
| 91 | 2 | "Silent Night" | January 17, 2016 | |
|
On Christmas evening, 33-year-old Jaime Larson is mercilessly murdered. Her boyfriend, who found her body in the bathtub, and some of her neighborhood friends are all suspects. But the killer turns out to be a much creepier person than any of the investigators could ever anticipate. | ||||
| 92 | 3 | "Ashes to Ashes" | January 24, 2016 | |
|
Two weeks after the eruption of Mount St. Helens, 8-year-old Kristine Zimmerman was found fatally strangled in an isolated forrest outside Ocean Shores, Washington. Several people come forward and help police put together a timeline of Kristine's disappearance. But a few wrong testimonies almost let the murderer get away with his crime. | ||||
| 93 | 4 | "Vicious Voyeur" | January 31, 2016 | |
|
On May 21st, 2002, in Raleigh, NC, 23-year-old Stephanie Bennett was found naked, bound, gagged and murdered. No one of her roommates or neighbors could really help the Police with concrete information. But what no one would expect was that the killer - who was arrested three years later - was someone who lived among them. | ||||
| 94 | 5 | "Drive With Danger" | February 13, 2016 | |
|
Janean Brown spent her last night on Earth at the Copper Lantern in Whitehouse, OH - a friendly neighborhood bar. Two days later, on November 19, 1983, her nearly decapitated naked body was found buried under a pile of dirt. Twenty-eight years slipped by with no leads until the DNA lab reported on a piece of investigation that would lead to the trial of the rapist murderer 3 years later. | ||||
| 95 | 6 | "Knives And Lies" | February 21, 2016 | |
|
On December 30, 1993, in an apart complex in South Lake City, UT, fourteen-year-old Chirtopher Mosier was at home babysitting a neighbor's eleven-month-old son. An hour later, the woman in the unit bellow was jolted awake by noise. 45 minutes after that, at 9:00PM, Christopher's mother - Silvia - came home after working the dinner shift at a nearby restaurant. She then found her son brutally stabbed and no sign of the baby anywhere. Eight years later, the investigation focused on a suspect that had skipped town not so long after the murder. The information acquired during this last interrogation in addition to state of the art DNA analysis helped police to finally solve the case. | ||||
| 96 | 7 | "Last Curtain Call" | February 28, 2016 | |
|
In the hot desert town of Yuma, AZ, Hollywood actor turned businessman Jimmy Ferrara was shot dead in his home on September 29, 1985. He was last seen driving near his house with a blond stranger at 7:45PM - 30 minutes before police believed he was gunned down. The hunt for the killer lead to surprising suspects but still the case went cold for lacking evidence. Nearly 20 years later, there was a new twist no one saw coming. | ||||
| 97 | 8 | "Murder Down Memory Lane" | March 6, 2016 | |
|
On September 18, 2008, in Santa Ana, CA, Darlene Saddler is found dead, lying on the floor in a pool of blood, with a large kitchen knife sticking right out of the base of her neck. It is soon discovered that her little daughter was in the house while everything happened. A five-year-old now holds the key to her own mother's murder. | ||||
| 98 | 9 | "Housebound Homicide" | March 13, 2016 | |
|
Housebound in her Denver, CO apartment, 36-year-old Renee Ealy relied on support visits from family, friends and neighbors. On the night of June 22, 2000, one of those trusted visitors stabbed her to death 21 times. | ||||
| 99 | 10 | "Kill Now, Pay Later" | March 20, 2016 | |
|
On March 21st, 1980, in Santa Clara, CA, 32-year-old businessman Howard Witkin was shot and killed in his own home in what seemed a carefully planned ambush. Investigation quickly revealed the motive wasn't love or hate but one just as timeless: money. Arrests took place and the case was closed just two years after the event. But ten years after the killing, a revelation comes to light and the person who had been sentenced to life in prison for Witkin's death, manages to get the judge to dismiss the original conviction for a lighter sentence in return for exposing the real mastermind behind this murder. | ||||
| 100 | 11 | "End of the Line" | March 27, 2016 | |
|
Just after 2:30 A.M. on March 5th 1994, 18-year-old college freshman Stephanie Hummer was headed to a party near the Ohio State University campus. She never made it. Instead, she was found naked and bludgeoned to death four miles away in a desolate field. A change in the law is what will help police to arrest the killer 12 years later. | ||||
| 101 | 12 | "Final Lesson" | April 3, 2016 | |
| 102 | 13 | "Stone Cold Fusion" | April 10, 2016 | |
References
- ^ "The Unlikely Criminal Is Exposed in Investigation Discovery's New Summer Series, Unusual Suspects". Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Sharks Meet Their Murderous Match: ID's "Shock Week" Begins August 8". Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ Garner, Eriq. "Discovery Accused of Taking Advantage of Financial Crimes to Steal TLC's 'The Little Couple'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 June 2016.