True Crime

In the late 1980s, the nation's capital became the battleground for a new kind of criminal: Vincent Hill. His sophisticated drug organization operated with brutal efficiency, ruling its territory through intimidation and murder. As Hill's power grew, so did the violence, spilling over to terrorize everyday citizens and turning neighborhoods into war zones. This is the story of how federal agents and local law enforcement mounted a massive operation to dismantle Hill's empire, using racketeering laws, wiretaps, and courageous witnesses to break the cycle of fear and bring the kingpin to justice.Become a supporter of this...

A masked gunman's brazen bank robbery in California ended in a tense standoff with police before he managed to escape into thin air. Months later, the investigation was blown wide open when a jeweler was robbed and kidnapped in a chillingly similar style. A crucial tip from the public finally linked the two crimes, revealing a criminal escalating from theft to abduction. This is the story of how the FBI's greatest law enforcers and forensic scientists pieced together the evidence from both crime scenes, using witness accounts, forensic analysis, and tactical profiling to hunt down a dual-method offender before his...

In December 1981, the cold-blooded murder of a New Jersey State Trooper on the shoulder of Interstate 80 sent shockwaves through the law enforcement community. The killer had vanished, leaving behind a seemingly perfect crime. But the investigation turned on a single, critical piece of evidence: a set of fingerprints lifted from the suspect's abandoned vehicle. That print pointed directly to a man already on the run, a dangerous fugitive wanted for a string of bank robberies. This is the story of the intense manhunt to track down the cop-killer, a pursuit that stretched across state lines as the FBI joined the...

In a daring daylight heist in Richmond, Virginia, two masked men stormed a bank, unleashing a hail of gunfire that left one teller dead, another wounded, and a security guard clinging to life after being shot four times. As the robbers escaped into the city, the FBI descended on a scene of utter carnage. Their best hope for solving the case lay with the one man who had looked the killers in the eyes and survived. This is the story of the relentless manhunt to identify the shooters, a race fueled by the testimony of a gravely wounded guard and...

In July 1997, the tranquil streets of Washington D.C.'s historic Georgetown neighborhood were shattered by an unthinkable crime: three employees of a popular coffee shop were found executed, shot to death after closing. With no clear suspect, no obvious motive, and no murder weapon, investigators were left staring into an abyss. Was it a botched robbery, a hate crime, or a meticulously planned act of vengeance? This is the story of the relentless, years-long investigation to solve the baffling triple homicide, a case that would demand new forensic technologies and dogged detective work to finally expose the shocking truth...

When prominent socialite Annie Hearin vanished from her Jackson, Mississippi home, her husband received a chilling ransom demand for one of the largest sums in history. The case immediately became a top priority for the FBI, plunging agents into a high-pressure race against time. This episode of The FBI Files profiles the gripping investigation into her ransom kidnapping, masterminded by Newton Alfred Winn. Unravel the meticulous clues alongside the Bureau's greatest law enforcers and forensic scientists as they employ cutting-edge techniques to track a phantom-like criminal. From analyzing the kidnapper's communications to a forensic breakthrough with a single piece of ev...

For Deputy Leland Chandler, it was a routine prisoner transport. For the three inmates shackled in his van, it was a moment of opportunity. On the road to a court hearing in Fort Payne, Alabama, the situation exploded into a harrowing flight from justice. This is the story of how the prisoners, despite being restrained, turned the tables, orchestrating a dangerous escape that involved a terrifying carjacking at gunpoint. Follow the intense manhunt as local and federal law enforcement scramble to track the fugitives, piecing together their bold plan and racing to apprehend the desperate men before their flight turned...

In a tight-knit community near Port Washington, Ohio, the peaceful silence is shattered first by two mysterious disappearances, and then by a gruesome discovery: an elderly couple, brutally murdered in their own basement, just a mile away. With a killer hiding in plain sight and a community paralyzed by fear, the FBI descends to untangle the connections. This is the race to profile a small-town predator, to determine if the missing persons are victims or suspects, and to expose the deadly secrets festering beneath a quiet surface before the shadow over Port Washington claims another life....

In the 1980s, Florida was the bloody epicenter of America's cocaine war, where billion-dollar empires were built on intimidation and murder. But one dealer escalated the conflict to an unprecedented level. When the FBI began closing in, he didn't just run or hide—he declared war on the government itself, targeting the agents and prosecutors building the case against him. This is the story of how the Bureau's finest faced a new kind of threat: a ruthlessly ambitious kingpin with the resources and audacity to fight back against the full force of federal law, turning the sun-drenched streets of Miami in...

She came to America with a textbook and a dream of becoming a doctor, a beacon of hope for her family. But her future was stolen when she became an innocent pawn in the ruthless world of drug trafficking, leading to her terrifying kidnapping. This is the story of how federal agents, investigating her disappearance, uncovered a labyrinthine trail of narcotics, hired hitmen, and cold-blooded murder. Follow the investigation as they race against time, piecing together a web of criminal connections to find the hopeful young woman whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

It began with a brazen, videotaped shoot-out with police in Wilmington, Ohio, that announced the Kehoe brothers as a new kind of criminal. But their escape was only the beginning. The subsequent discovery of a murdered family in Arkansas revealed a far more terrifying truth: Chevie Kehoe and his brother were not just fugitives; they were heavily armed ideologues on a violent crusade, their crimes part of an ever-widening circle of robbery and murder that defined a new age of homegrown terrorism. This is the story of the massive FBI manhunt that tracked them across state lines, unraveling their militant...

In 1997, Jamie McMahan and Christopher Kauffman embarked on a violent crime spree that left a trail of robbery, kidnapping, and murder in their wake. Then, they seemingly vanished. Their disappearance triggered one of the most extensive manhunts of the decade, pulling the FBI into a desperate chase that would span six states. This is the story of that relentless pursuit, as agents pieced together the fugitives' path, tracked their movements, and worked to anticipate their next move in a high-stakes race to capture two unpredictable and dangerous killers before they could add another state—and another victim—to their grim itin...

The 1992 murder of a young mother, gunned down in a seemingly random attack in front of her terrified children, left a community in shock and police with no clear motive. But behind the facade of a perfect life—married to a prominent attorney—lay a dark and secret world. As the FBI joined the investigation, agents began to untangle an intricate web stretching from the upper echelons of society into the shadows of drug trafficking and financial crime. This is the story of how they pieced together the victim's hidden life, revealing that her death was not a random act of v...

A routine class field trip in a quiet Illinois town turned into every parent's worst nightmare when an 11-year-old girl vanished without a trace. As her desperate family and friends searched in vain, the FBI was called in to lead the urgent investigation. Faced with a clock that was ticking down a life, agents had to navigate a maze of conflicting witness statements and dead-end leads. This is the story of their relentless pursuit of the truth, a race against time to piece together the final moments of the field trip and uncover the fate of the missing girl, revealing...

In the early 1980s, a wave of terror swept through New York state. Six Black men were murdered in a series of brutal, execution-style attacks. The only links were the victims' race and the .22 caliber bullets that killed them. But the horror deepened when two victims were found with their hearts surgically removed. The FBI launched a massive investigation to find the man the media dubbed "The .22 Caliber Killer" and "The Mid-Town Sniper." This is the story of the hunt for Joseph Christopher, a deeply disturbed white man whose racist ideology fueled a solo campaign of violence. Unravel the mystery...

When a highly organized crew began hitting banks across seven states, the FBI recognized this was no ordinary crime wave. The precision of the robberies and the discipline of the teams pointed to a larger, more dangerous purpose. Agents soon discovered the heists were a means to an end—funding a violent organization with a hidden agenda that threatened national stability. This is the story of the elite task force that worked to connect the dots between each city, unravel the criminal hierarchy, and race against the clock to capture the masterminds before their vast new enterprise grew too powerful to...

When Anita Wooldridge vanished from her Indiana home, detectives pieced together a chilling lead that pointed to a man she knew from her local fitness center. The investigation turned into a frantic, multi-state race against time when they identified him as a convicted rapist who had fled to Wisconsin. This is the story of the desperate pursuit to track the suspect across state lines, as law enforcement followed a trail of evidence with one critical goal: to locate the hidden captive and bring Anita Wooldridge home alive, defying the odds in a case where every passing moment was critical.<...

The brazen abduction of a wealthy young woman from her in-laws' driveway presented investigators with an overwhelming puzzle: too many suspects with compelling motives. Was it her tumultuous current husband, a jealous ex, or one of several spurned lovers? With the victim's life hanging in the balance, the FBI faced a race against time not just to find her, but to first decipher the true motive behind the crime. This is the story of how agents untangled a complex web of personal vendettas and financial temptations, separating heartbreaking lies from damning truths to uncover which person in her life was...

In the heart of Arizona, an armored truck carrying a fortune simply vanished, along with the two guards entrusted to protect it. The vehicle was eventually found, emptied of its millions, but the men were gone. With no clear signs of a struggle, the FBI faced a critical mystery: were the guards the victims of a sophisticated ambush, or the architects of a brazen inside job? This is the story of how agents pieced together the final hours of the shipment, using forensic analysis of the truck, financial records, and witness testimony to unravel a complex web of deception. The...

In 1995, the call that a fellow officer was down sent shockwaves through the Prince George's County Police and the FBI. The scene revealed a devastating truth: Officer John Novabilski and FBI Special Agent William H. Christian Jr. were dead, shot in what appeared to be a brutal ambush. The initial story pointed to an unknown assailant, but the investigation would take a sinister turn. This is the story of how the FBI's greatest law enforcers and forensic scientists turned their scrutiny inward, meticulously piecing together ballistic evidence and dissecting a web of lies to uncover an unthinkable betrayal from within...