Two people have no idea that their lives will intersect with a murder. Fatal Encounters is a true crime show that counts down the lives of two individuals up to the point of a murder, detailing the events that preceded and caused it. For many of the episodes, the victim and killer’s lives only intersect through homicide. Other victims and killers were well known to each other.
The show is about the big reveal: not who the killer is, as many true crime shows emphasize, but which person is the victim and which is the killer, or what incited the murder.
Episodes are not always about cases involving only two people, but the focus is on two individuals, so the show leaves out some details about other victims and killers involved in some of the homicides, devoting less time to their stories or backgrounds. And because the focus is on the countdown to the murder itself, the subsequent investigations are deprioritized.
If you’re looking for a true crime show that is more drama than documentary, check out Betrayed. Betrayed relies heavily on dramatizations of murder cases, with each episode telling these stories through fictionalized re-creations that follow the events before the crime, to the murder and investigation. Interspersed between these dramatizations are interviews with detectives and victims’ family and friends, but the focus of the show is on the re-creations, which parallel crime dramas by following the story in a linear fashion, complete with narrative techniques like tension, conflict, and foreshadowing.
The show focuses on murders perpetrated by someone the victim knew, who ultimately betrayed them by killing them. Episodes begin with a roundup of all the possible suspects, then detail events before the crime that may have contributed to the killer’s motive, then follow the murder and its investigation.
Adding to that crime drama feel are voice-over narrations by the actors playing the victims, who describe each event leading up to and after the murder from their point of view.
The Show Elements
Seasons: 4 (2016-2020)
Where to stream: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Discovery+
More shows like Betrayed: Blood Relatives, A Crime to Remember, Love, Honor, Betray
Murder Calls revolves around 911 calls made during or after a specific murder, some from the victims, but mostly from those finding the victim after the murder. The show opens with a warning that these calls may be graphic and disturbing, but only some actually are.
No narration between interviews with detectives and victims’ families and friends; instead, the show flashes short descriptions on the screen to fill in information. It includes police interviews and sometimes extended 911 calls, which provide more information on cases that you may have seen on other shows. In addition, episodes often add additional 911 calls.
The Show Elements
Seasons: 3 (2017-2020)
Where to stream: Hulu, Tubi, Max, the Roku Channel, Amazon Prime Video, Discovery+
More shows like Murder Calls: Hear No Evil, Calls from the Inside
Unusual Suspects looks at murder cases from a different angle than other true crime shows: suspects who are unusual in some way. Avoiding the-spouse-did-it cases emphasized by shows like Dateline, the show focuses on suspects who are unusual in their relationship to the victim, their profession, or some other reason, making them unlikely killers.
The show comes across as a bit salacious at times in its narration, but is interesting and unique in its emphasis on atypical perpetrators. It features detectives, victims’ families and friends, and others involved in the investigations. If you’re looking for an anti-Dateline, this show is for you.
The Show Elements
Seasons: 8 (2010-2016)
Where to stream: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Discovery+
More shows like Unusual Suspects: Unusual Suspects: Deadly Intent, An Unexpected Killer
Can’t get enough of Keith Morrison? Here are 10 more of his best episodes from Dateline, complete with twisty stories, creepy voiceovers, and suspect pushback.
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1. “The Last Ride” (Season 31, Episode 1)
Professional cyclist Moriah Wilson is found murdered in her apartment in Austin, Texas, in 2022, dead from two gunshot wounds. Was it her colleague and romantic interest, fellow cyclist Colin Strickland? Or someone else? As the police investigate, they discover video surveillance of a vehicle arriving at the apartment just before the murder. It’s a twisty episode full of jealousy, stalking, and murder, even a suspect on the lam, who flees to Costa Rica to start a new life under an assumed name but is caught 43 days later.
2. “The Real Thing About Pam” (Season 30, Episode 22)
In 2011, Betsy Faria is found stabbed to death in her home in Missouri. Police find bloodstained slippers in her husband, Russell’s, closet, and a document by Betsy expressing her concern that he might kill her. Betsy’s friend tells the police that he had threatened to kill Betsy. But he had an alibi, and he wasn’t the recipient of the life insurance money. The killer is also suspected in two other murders. If you can’t get enough of the case, check out Keith Morrison’s podcast on it and NBC’s limited series, The Thing About Pam.
3. “The Ascension of Mother God” (Season 30, Episode 4)
The mummified body of spiritual leader Amy Carlson, who called herself “Mother God,” is found in the house of some of the members of her cult, Love Has Won, in rural Colorado. The body was wrapped in Christmas lights and covered with a sleeping bag. Was it murder or did she die another way? The episode is full of conspiracies, cult beliefs, and other weirdnesses perfect for Keith to report on.
4. “Buried Secrets” (Season 20, Episode 58)
David Jackson disappears in 1988 in Florida, just before he is supposed to meet someone at a motel. Three months later, his car is discovered at the airport, but police have no other leads. The case goes cold until 14 years later, when a new detective links a skeleton in a box to his disappearance. The bones were recovered during the construction of a new Walmart in Florida years earlier. Further investigation leads to a confession, but were all the killers caught? Is everyone telling the truth? Keith interviews one of the suspects and pushes for answers.
5. “Tangled” (Season 24, Episode 38)
In Walsenburg, Colorado, Ralph Candelario is found in front of his house, injured and calling for help. His wife, Pam, is found murdered inside. Both had been beaten by burglars in the middle of the night. When investigators look at the closest people in Pam’s circle, they discover another murder by their main suspect. A letter to the town newspaper, written by the suspect, raises the suspicions of police and leads to answers.
6. “Secrets in a Small Town” (Season 20, Episode 17)
In Alabama, Theresa Mayfield is found shot dead in her car on a dirt road. She had gone there to help a friend whose car had broken down, but the police only discover her body in her car, with the window rolled down. With no other clues, the case goes cold until a witness comes forward, claiming that he had been on the same road that day and someone had given him a gun in a plastic bag. The gun was the murder weapon.
7. “The Family Secret” (Season 18, Episode 26)
When Lloyd Ford leaves his wife and family in Ainsworth, Nebraska, his children assume he’ll come back. Years pass, and he never returns, so his wife files for divorce. But one of his daughters knows what really happened, that he’s been dead for years, and it takes her 25 years to tell anyone. Keith interviews the daughter, and the story she reveals is both shocking and heartbreaking.
8. “In the Dead of Night” (Season 19, Episode 3)
At a farm in rural Nebraska, Wayne and Sharmon Stock are found shot dead on Easter Sunday in 2006. Police immediately look to their closest circle and become suspicious of their nephew Matthew, who was supposedly angry at them over money. He fails a polygraph and upon questioning, confesses, saying that he and his cousin Nick murdered the couple. But an engraved ring found at the murder scene is unexplained. When police investigate, they begin to question Matthew’s confession. If you’ve ever been skeptical about police interrogations, polygraphs, and the Reed technique, check this episode out.
9. “The Disappearance of Debbie Hawk” (Season 18, Episode 55)
In Hanford, California, Debbie Hawk’s children come home to find her missing and blood leading from the bedroom to the garage. Papers are scattered everywhere. To the police, the crime scene looks staged. They find her car abandoned with keys in the ignition. Debbie’s ex-husband has an alibi—he was at home with the kids all night. But suspicions build, and they divide the family. Keith’s pushback against the main suspect, who he interviews, is classic.
10. “Miles from Nowhere” (Season 22, Episode 5)
At a remote cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Chad Wallin-Reed and his family feel threatened by vandals who stole a light from their property, concerned due to recent break-ins at their cabin. When the vandals return the following night, Chad fires a warning shot at their car then follows in his own car. When he catches up to them, someone fires a gun at him, so he continues to follow them and fires back. The car stops, and he approaches, finding the driver wounded, possibly dead. In fact, he had shot not just the driver but six men. Chad tells the police that they had shot at him and that it was all in self-defense. But that’s only one side of the story, and when police investigate, the truth surfaces.
The FBI Files offers a wider take on true crime cases, covering murder but also bank robberies, kidnappings, bombings, organized crime, and other crimes investigated by the FBI, sometimes in conjunction with local authorities.
FBI agents, local detectives, and others working on the cases share their experiences and describe investigative and interview techniques, going into detail about them similar to the coverage on The New Detectivesand the original Cold Case Files.
FBI agents also discuss the use of profiling on some cases, including cases involving serial killers. The show incorporates re-creations and some historical footage, but few episodes bring on victims’ loved ones.
The Show Elements
Seasons: 7 (1998-2005)
Where to stream: Tubi, The Roku Channel, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video
More shows like The FBI Files: FBI Criminal Pursuit, FBI: Critical Incident, FBI Takedowns, FBI’s Most Wanted, The New Detectives, Cold Case Files
Hosted by journalist Paula Zahn, this true crime show offers murder cases from across the US. Many cases are from the 1970s to 1990s, including cases not covered on other shows, and most are stranger murders. The show includes re-creations and some police interviews but few trial clips, which are brief when incorporated.
Zahn narrates the show and interviews detectives, victims’ loved ones, and sometimes perpetrators. Her interviews aren’t as hard-hitting or empathetic as those of the Dateline hosts, but if you’re looking for a show with tons of episodes, this one’s for you. With 26 seasons and still going strong, you’ll have your schedule set for the next decade.
The Show Elements
Seasons: 27 (2009-)
Where to stream: Discovery+, Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video
More shows like On the Case with Paula Zahn: Dateline, Killer Instinct with Chris Hansen
Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks is a Cold Case Files spinoff that focuses solely on the role of DNA testing in solving murder cases that have gone cold after several years, sometimes decades.
Narrated by Cold Case Files and American Justicehost Bill Kurtis, this true crime show has a similar feel to the original: victims’ loved ones join detectives in telling their stories about the homicides and their investigations, and police interviews fill in the details. But instead of detailing cold cases involving all types of forensics, this show focuses on DNA testing. Many of the cases include the use of genetic genealogy to solve the crimes, a fascinating new field of forensics.
Murder victims help solve their own murders from beyond the grave
About How I Caught My Killer
DNA. Fingerprints. Blood spatter. These are all types of evidence that have become standard in solving homicide cases. But the ubiquity of technology has also impacted murder investigations, providing new evidence for detectives. How I Caught My Killer includes cases with clues left by technology, along with other evidence. In a flip of the usual method of investigation, the focus is on evidence from the victim’s life, instead of evidence left by the killer.
This true crime show features murder cases in which the victims “caught” the killer by helping detectives solve the case through text messages, diary entries, social media posts, fitness apps, or documents that provide clues after their murder.
Each episode has a different narrator to reflect the identity of the victim. Another unique aspect of the true crime show is the music, which uses pop songs with lyrics instead of instrumental background music, making the show seem more trendy and modern.
The Show Elements
Seasons: 2 (2023-)
Where to stream: Hulu
More shows like How I Caught My Killer: Before I Die, If I Should Die
Men who murder and steal from the women in their lives
About Handsome Devils
The title of Handsome Devils is a bit of a misnomer. Not all of the killers in the show are actually handsome, but they’re all devils in some way. These men have romantic relationships with their victims and either murder or embezzle money from them, or both.
In this fairly typical true crime show, surviving victims tell their harrowing stories, along with detectives and other victims’ family and friends. Add re-creations and police interviews, and it makes for the usual format.
The show is only 10 episodes, but many more of these types of cases exist. Find them on shows like Dateline, 20/20, or Casanova Killers.
True Crime Docket 