American Justice

- Season 6

(1997)

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.

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 (who is interviewed).

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

The Jeanine Nicarico murder case of 1983 which led to the false imprisonment and conviction of Rolando Cruz for the murder until Brian Dugan confesses to the crime.

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.

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.

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.

Chronicles the sensational crime dubbed the Preppie Murder Case by the media due to the upper-class backgrounds of victim Jennifer Levin and the accused, Robert Chambers.

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.

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.