Forensic Files Ranked

Which Episodes Keep You Up at Night?

This past spring, producers asked viewers to tell them which of the 400 Forensic Files episodes amused, haunted, enlightened, and otherwise seared themselves into their cerebrums.

The survey results determined which clips made it into a 45-minute program celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary. I was glad to see a lot of my own favorites turn up in the responses — and surprised at a few greats I’d almost forgotten.

At the end of Forensic Files: A Special Tribute, you can see some of the survey responses flicker by during the credits.

Just for fun, please witness the full results, below. I’ve put in links to relevant recaps from this blog.

Most Memorable Episode
1. The List Murders
2. The Disappearance of Helle Crafts
3. Kill’igraphy

Scariest Criminal or Criminal Pair
1. Erika and B.J. Sifrit (Dirty Little Secret)
2. Jason Massey (Pure Evil)
3. John Schneeberger, M.D. (Bad Blood)

Dumbest Criminal or Criminal Pair
1. Molly and Clay Daniels (Grave Danger)
2. Jason Funk (Muffled Cries)
3. George Hansen (Frozen Assets)

Most Memorable Exoneration
1. Ray Krone (Once Bitten)
2. Patricia Stallings (Deadly Formula)
3. Clayton Johnson (Accident or Murder)

Most Groundbreaking Forensic Science
1. DNA Profiling
2. Polymerase chain reaction
3. AFIS

Best Reenactment
1. Murder of the List Family (The List Murders)
2. Drowning of Joan Rogers and her two daughters (Water Logged)
3. Drugs sneaked into pregnant fiancée’s drinks by Maynard Muntzing, M.D. (Bitter Pill to Swallow)

Best Interview
1. Skip Palenik
2. Trey Gowdy
3. Candy Fonagy

Creepiest Crime Scene
1. B.J. Sifrit in bathtub with victims’ heads (Dirty Little Secret)
2. Entire family shot to death by John List (The List Murders)
3. Christopher Porco’s ax attack on his parents (Family Ties)

Favorite Forensic Tool or Technique
1. Luminol
2. Forensic genealogy
3. Mass spectrometry

Favorite Phrase or Quote
1. “Is it common for a bomber to blow himself up?” “Not common enough.” (Postal Mortem)
2. “It’s from the book of Who Cares” (Slippery Motives)
3. “Those goddamn black shoes!” (Hell’s Kitchen)

Most Surprising Clue
1. Blood vial implanted in arm of John Schneeberger, M.D. (Bad Blood)
2. Hamburger bun with killer’s print (Purebread Murder)
3. Cat hair (Purr-Fect Match)

Most Difficult-to-Solve Murder(s)
1. Zodiac Killer’s victims (Sign of the Zodiac)
2. Reyna Marroquin (A Voice from Beyond)
3. Helle Crafts (The Disappearance of Helle Crafts)

Most Creative Alibi
1. Kevin Dowling’s fishing video (Shadow of a Doubt)
2. Dana Ewell’s being with FBI agent John Zent at the time of the Ewell family murders (Two in a Million)
3. Thomas Jabin Berry’s claim that he frequently had consensual sex with strangers he just met at the beach (A Cinderella Story)

Best Takeaway from Series
1. Technology and investigative techniques are constantly improving.
2. The odds of getting away with crimes are slim.
3. Criminals are dumb.

One-Off Favorite Forensic Files Quotes
• “We will NOT reveal the name of the poison on this program.”
• “He stopped at an ice cream store and got a dessert known as a ‘blizzard.’”
• “Let’s go after that bitch.”

Random Comments From Survey Takers
• “This was such a hard survey to answer! It was like asking me who my favorite child is — and I only have 4 kids, not 400.”
• “Antifree made Stacey Castor Anti-free.”
• “Never trust anyone with trilobal carpet fibers”
• “I only wish that Peter Thomas can see this event or episode.”
• “Best time to watch Forensic Files: midnight after the meds kick in.”

In addition to YouTube, you can watch Forensic Files: A Special Tribute on Pluto or Tubi as well as on Discover+ and Fox Nation.

That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR