Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals

Hunt through history in search of society’s most suspicious scandals, crimes, and mysteries. Deerstalker not included.

Overview

Course No. 1174

Modern history is filled with terrible crimes, baffling hoaxes, and seedy scandals. The infamous Jack the Ripper slayings. The alleged survival of Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of the murdered Tsar. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong’s public fall from grace. The Chicago Tylenol poisonings and the copycat crimes that followed.

Step into the world of forensic science and study the most fascinating crimes and mysteries from the last two centuries in the 24 lectures of Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals. Professor Murray, a forensic anthropologist with nearly 30 years of experience in the field, has crafted lectures that are a remarkable blend of storytelling and science – a whirlwind tour that takes you from the gas-lit streets of Victorian London to small-town America.

As you journey around the world and into the past, you’ll:

• Re-examine modern history’s great crimes and scandals using forensic science tools
• Learn how cutting-edge advancements are applied to investigations
• Develop skills to evaluate evidence like a forensic scientist
• Explore cases where the justice system failed

Professor Murray invites you to peer over the shoulders of investigators as they examine:
✔ Controversial cases (solved and unsolved)
✔ Historical crimes with modern forensic insights
✔ Personal experiences from her own casework

Video Lectures

01: The Infamous Jack the Ripper (31 min)

Explore the landmark case that revolutionized crime reporting: the 1880s Jack the Ripper murders. Discover how forensic advances emerged alongside societal changes in Victorian London.

02: Analyzing the Black Dahlia Murder (30 min)

Examine the 1947 lust murder of Elizabeth Short (“Black Dahlia”) and its potential links to the Lipstick Murders. Learn how investigators uncovered her identity.

03: Dissecting Hollywood Deaths (31 min)

Investigate mysterious celebrity deaths including George Reeves (Superman), Bob Crane (Hogan’s Heroes), and Bruce Lee through crime scene analysis and autopsies.

04: Decomposition and Confusing Interpretations (29 min)

Discover how taphonomy (study of decomposition) helped solve cold cases like 7-year-old Dalbert Aposhian’s death and reinterpret historical evidence.

05: Lizzie Borden and the Menendez Brothers (29 min)

Compare two infamous family murder cases separated by a century: Lizzie Borden’s 1880s axe murders and the Menendez brothers’ 1990s trial with overwhelming evidence.

06: The Tylenol Murders (30 min)

Trace the 1982 Chicago cyanide poisonings that killed seven and revolutionized product safety through forensic chemistry and rapid testing methods.

07: Copycats and Hoaxes (31 min)

Explore terrifying copycat crimes including Tylenol poisonings, syringe-in-soda scares, and the Piltdown Man “missing link” fossil hoax.

08: Frauds and Forgeries (31 min)

Uncover art forgeries from fake Matisses to literary frauds, and learn the authentication techniques that expose these sophisticated cons.

09: Blood Doping and Other Sports Scandals (31 min)

Investigate athletic controversies from Lance Armstrong’s doping to Tonya Harding’s attack on Nancy Kerrigan and baseball’s gambling scandals.

10: Bad Boys of U.S. Politics (31 min)

Examine political scandals involving Warren Harding, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Anthony Weiner, and how forensic tech like paternity testing exposed misconduct.

11: Criminals of the Wild, Wild West (31 min)

Profile legendary outlaws Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, and cannibal Alfred Packer, revealing how frontier justice shaped modern forensic science.

12: Investigating Incredible Bank Heists (30 min)

Analyze the techniques behind the 1972 United California Bank robbery (then the largest U.S. heist) and how forensic accounting cracked the case.

13: How Reliable is Eyewitness Testimony? (30 min)

Discover why mistaken identification causes most wrongful convictions and how DNA testing has exonerated hundreds, prompting legal reforms.

14: The Truth behind False Confessions (31 min)

Explore how interrogation tactics, mental handicaps, and coercion led innocent people – including teenagers – to confess to family murders they didn’t commit.

15: Crooked Cops and Bad Convictions (31 min)

Examine police corruption cases from New Zealand evidence-planting to Puerto Rico cover-ups, and the forensic work that ultimately brought justice.

16: Guilty until Proven Innocent (32 min)

Learn how forensic failures occur, from an Oklahoma City lab technician’s perjury to the FBI’s mistaken Madrid bombing identification.

17: Political Assassinations (31 min)

Study forensic evidence in high-profile killings including Georgi Markov’s ricin poisoning and Yasser Arafat’s mysterious 2004 death.

18: Mysteries of the Romanov Family (30 min)

Follow anthropologists as they use DNA and skeletal analysis to solve the 1918 Romanov massacre and debunk Anastasia survival theories.

19: Forensics of Genocide (30 min)

Understand how human rights groups document atrocities, with firsthand accounts from Professor Murray’s work with Guatemalan genocide victims.

20: The Nazis and the Witch of Buchenwald (31 min)

Examine forensic evidence from Buchenwald concentration camp, including medical experiments and allegations against the notorious “Witch.”

21: The Spies Have It (31 min)

Profile infamous spies like WWII double agent William Sebold, seductress Mata Hari, and FBI mole Robert Hanssen – and how they were caught.

22: Motive and Kidnapping (31 min)

Analyze kidnapping cases from the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre to modern infant abductions thwarted by technology.

23: Identification Matters (30 min)

Walk through six of Professor Murray’s cold cases from Ohio, showing how forensic advancements help identify unknown remains.

24: The Past, Present, and Future of Forensics (33 min)

Conclude by exploring three revolutionary forensic tools that transformed crime-solving, and what emerging technologies may reveal next.