American Justice Season 2000

Mark Seen

Blueprint for a Murder Jan 5, 2000 Examining how the 1993 murders of a Maryland boy, his mother and nurse sparked a lawsuit against the publishers of “Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors,” an instruction book used by the killer. The lawsuit has also inspired intense debates about the First Amendment rights of the publisher.

Mark Seen

Roy Fontaine: Deadly Butler Jan 16, 2000 Examining the crimes of convicted murderer Roy Fontaine, and the trail of death he left behind in the late '70s as he posed as a sophisticated butler in households throughout Britain.

Mark Seen

A Parent's Nightmare Feb 2, 2000 Examining the 1988 disappearance and murder of 7-year-old Jaclyn Dowaliby. The case became a cause celebre when her parents, David and Cynthia, became suspects. David was convicted, but the verdict was overturned in 1991 and the case remains unsolved.

Mark Seen

Dr. John Bodkin Adams Feb 20, 2000 The case of John Bodkin Adams (1899-1983), a British physician suspected of killing patients after they wrote wills naming him as their beneficiary. Adams was tried for murder in 1957, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Mark Seen

Death Row Radical: Mumia Abu-Jamal Feb 23, 2000 The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a radio journalist and former member of the Black Panthers who was convicted in 1982 of the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Mark Seen

Gainesville Murderer Feb 23, 2000 Chronicling the hunt for the killer of five college students at the University of Florida in Gainesville. After one suspect was cleared, the police captured Danny Rolling, who was convicted of the August 1990 murders in 1994.

Mark Seen

Getting Away with Murder Mar 15, 2000 Examining the 1988 murder of a Kentucky woman named Brenda Schaefer. The prime suspect, her fiancé, was tried but acquitted of the crime in 1991, despite the testimony of a former girlfriend who led police to the body.

Mark Seen

Murder in a College Town Mar 22, 2000 Recalling the 1990 killings of five students at the University of Florida in Gainesville. All five were murdered within a 48-hour period, and their killer, Danny Rolling, was convicted in 1994.

Mark Seen

The Life and Death of Teena Brandon Mar 29, 2000 Recalling the 1993 rape and murder of Teena Brandon, a Nebraska teen who, it was revealed, had been posing as a male named Brandon Teena. Teena's story was told in the 1999 film “Boys Don't Cry.”

Mark Seen

Dancing, Drugs and Murder Apr 12, 2000 The case of Michael Alig, the infamous Manhattan party promoter who in 1997 was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Angel Melendez, one of Alig's “club kids.” The documentary recalls how Alig kept the body in his apartment for a week, then dismembered it and threw it into the Hudson River.

Mark Seen

The Trial of Louise Woodward Apr 19, 2000 A recap of the 1997 trial of Louise Woodward, the British au pair accused of causing the death of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen. Woodward was initially convicted of second-degree murder, but the verdict was later changed to involuntary manslaughter.

Mark Seen

Deadly Magnolia May 10, 2000 A look at the crimes of Patricia Allanson, whose desire to lead an upscale life led to the murders of her husband Tom's parents (a crime for which he was wrongly convicted) and the attempted poisonings of his grandparents.

Mark Seen

Oil, Money and Murder May 24, 2000 The case of Cullen Davis, a wealthy Texan acquitted of two murders after an alleged 1976 shooting spree. He was later found innocent on a separate murder-for-hire charge. Included are comments from Davis, his former wife, Priscilla, and his defense attorney, Richard Haynes.

Mark Seen

The Killer Within Jun 7, 2000 The case of Kathy Bonney, a Virginia woman murdered at the hands of her father, Tom Bonney. Bonney was found guilty in 1988, but his conviction was overturned in 1992 on appeal, pending a competency hearing.

Mark Seen

Donald Hume Jun 11, 2000 The case of Donald Hume, notorious British double murderer. After serving a sentence for being an accessory in a 1949 killing, Hume committed a murder in Switzerland that earned him a life sentence.

Mark Seen

Kill Thy Neighbor Jun 21, 2000 Recalling the case of a Florida man convicted in 1991 of the poisoning death of a neighbor, with whom he'd been feuding. George Trepal, an amateur chemist, had injected the family's soft drinks with a lethal substance.

Mark Seen

The Wife Who Knew Too Much Jul 5, 2000 Recalling the 1992 murder of Sara Tokars, a young mother whose husband, Fred, hired a hit man to kill her, allegedly to prevent her from testifying against him regarding a money-laundering scheme.

Mark Seen

When a Child Kills Aug 9, 2000 “When a Child Kills.” A report on Nathaniel Abraham, who at age 13 became the youngest American to be tried as an adult for first-degree murder, a crime he committed at age 11. Included: an interview with Abraham's mother.

Mark Seen

Free to Murder Again Aug 16, 2000 A look at convicted Texas killer Kenneth Allen McDuff, who was sentenced to death for murdering three people, later paroled, then sent back to death row and executed for killing again.

Mark Seen

The California Killing Field Sep 20, 2000 The prosecution of California serial killer Charles Ng is recalled. Ng avoided prosecution through legal loopholes for over a dozen years, but was later convicted of murdering 11 people.

Mark Seen

DeFeo and Benson: Inheritance Killers Oct 1, 2000 Two cases in which money was the motive for the murders of family members: the DeFeo case in Amityville, N.Y., and the Benson case in Florida.

Mark Seen

Murder on a Reservation Oct 17, 2000 The case of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who is serving two consecutive life sentences for the 1975 murder of two FBI agents on the Oglala Lakota Indian reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D.

Mark Seen

Dangerous Medicine Nov 28, 2000 The case of Dr. Bruce Rowan, who killed his wife in 1998 but was found innocent by reason of insanity.

Mark Seen

Dr. Buck Ruxton Dec 10, 2000 An examination of a 1935 murder case in Scotland involving Dr. Buck Ruxton, who killed and dismembered his wife and maid and was executed for the crime.

Mark Seen

A Family Secret: The Death of Lisa Steinberg Dec 19, 2000 A look at the 1987 case of Lisa Steinberg, a 6-year-old who died as a result of abuse from her adoptive father, Joel Steinberg, who is serving a prison sentence for the crime.