American Justice

The 1966 murders of three British police officers---Harry Roberts, John Duddy, John Witney---at the hands of three thugs are recalled.

Chronicling the case of the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer who preyed upon young women (some of them prostitutes) in the 1970s. A manhunt led to the arrest of Peter Sutcliffe, who was convicted of 13 murders in 1981.

Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration battle those who grow, process and distribute illegal drugs both inside and outside the U.S.

Cases in which misidentification by eyewitnesses resulted in wrongful convictions.

"The Amy Fisher Story" recounts the 1992 case of the Long Island teenager who allegedly had an affair with a married man and then was convicted of trying to kill his wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco (Mrs Buttafuoco is interviewee).

A report on the 1983 abduction, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico, a case in which two men were convicted and sentenced to death but were later cleared 12 years after they were placed on death row.

A look at profiling as a criminal-investigation tool and how it is increasingly used by law-enforcement agencies.

Recalling such Jewish crime figures as Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Arthur Flegenheimer (a k a Dutch Schultz). Interviewees include lawyers who defended and prosecuted Lansky, and authors Albert Fried, Sidney Zion and Robert Rockaway.

The infamous 1963 “Great Train Robbery” of a mail train in England is recalled.

A look at the Genovese clan of New York City, reputed to be one of the most powerful crime families in America. Included: interviews with a godson of patriarch Vito Genovese, reporters, defense attorneys, prosecutors and other law-enforcement officials.

"The Scarsdale Diet Doctor Murder" examines the 1980 trial of Jean Harris for the shooting death of her lover, Dr. Herman Tarnower. Included: interviews with Harris, her defense attorney and other trial participants.

Examining the two trials plus one successful appeal of Claus von Bulow, accused of attempting to murder his wife, Sunny, with insulin injections. Interviewed: von Bulow, his children, Alan Dershowitz, and other attorneys.

"The Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot" examines the conspiracy by Wanda Holloway, the mother of a high-school cheerleader, to have another cheerleader's mother murdered. Interviewed: the intended victim; trial attorneys; and a forensic psychologist.

"The Preppie Murder" examines the trial of Robert Chambers for the Central Park slaying of a young woman, Jennifer Levin, in 1986. Included: Chambers' videotape statement, plus interviews with the victim's mother and friends, jurors, attorneys and reporters.

An account of how FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone, a.k.a. Donnie Brasco, infiltrated the New York mob in the late 1970s. The undercover operation became the subject of a 1997 feature film starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. Pistone discusses the operation, various mobsters and the strain on his family.

"Murder In Cold Blood" examines the 1959 slaughter of the Clutters, a Kansas farming family memorialized in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." Included: comments from family friends; graphic crime-scene photos.