Smithsonian Channel Presents Forensic Firsts

Identifying all of the skeletons found under Gacy's house will take years, but by reading the clues in the bones, forensic anthropologists can tell what kind of person the Killer Clown targeted.

In 1935, when decomposing body parts were found under a bridge, maggots were used to determine time-of-death and bugs became evidence for the first time.

Join executive producer Annie Paterno and director Jay Dahl on the set of Catching Killers to see how recreating an investigation is all about the details - right down to the clunky computers and office supplies.

From cradle to grave, no matter how much fingers grow, everyone's fingerprints are unique and unchanging.

In 1983, police in Leicestershire, England struggle to make their case - until they join forces with scientists, who are just discovering the potential of DNA profiling.

In the first case using ballistic evidence, the validity of ballistics as a forensic science was called into question when an "expert witness" lied on the stand and sent an innocent man to death row.

With only tiny insect fragments from the radiator in Vincent Brothers' car, bug experts can prove his alibi is a lie.

In 1840, a murder case hinges on whether a man died of cholera or arsenic-poisoning, and for the first time ever, scientists are called in to test his remains.