Episode Details

A man hires a killer to murder his wife. The hitman brings two accomplices. The victim is beaten, stabbed, and shot multiple times in her own kitchen. The crime scene is so brutal that veteran detectives cannot look at it without flinching. And the man who paid for it all sat in the courtroom pretending to grieve.

In this episode of The New Detectives, the groundbreaking Discovery Channel series that aired from 1996 to 2004 and inspired CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, forensic experts examine the most violent contract killing ever investigated [citation:4]. Season 4 Episode 7, titled Deadly Dealings, explores how investigators use trace evidence, ballistics, and financial records to track hired killers who believe they can commit murder without getting their hands dirty [citation:4]. In this case, the victim was attacked in her home by multiple assailants. The level of overkill suggested personal rage, but the evidence pointed to a cold, calculated transaction. The shooter had never met the victim before that night. The husband had taken out a life insurance policy weeks earlier. Forensic scientists matched a single boot print to one of the hitmen. A cell phone ping placed the husband miles away from the crime scene—exactly where he wanted to be. But the trail of lies led straight back to him. Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the man who ordered the murder thought he was untouchable. The forensic evidence said otherwise.