Tag: murder shows

Show: I Am a Killer

Convicted murderers share their stories

I Am a Killer
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About I Am a Killer

If you’ve ever wanted to hear about the motivations behind murders from the perpetrators themselves, then I Am a Killer is the show for you. It presents first-person accounts of people convicted of murders, who share their stories. Sometimes, they even own up to their crime.

Rather than investigating the mystery of who committed the murder, episodes start with the answer to that question and focus on the killer’s story first. Then, the victims’ families and friends share the impact of the murder on their lives, and detectives detail some parts of their investigations, but not as much as other true crime shows. Because I Am a Killer emphasizes first-person accounts, it doesn’t have narration, letting viewers hear the story from those involved firsthand.

While the show focuses more on the perpetrators’ stories, it is more balanced than the defendant-focused Accused: Guilty or Innocent? by incorporating the perspectives of victims’ loved ones.

It’s a fascinating look into the minds of killers and sheds light on the complicated nature of the stories people tell themselves when accused of a violent crime.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 6 (2018-)

Where to stream: Netflix

More shows like I Am a Killer: Evil Lives Here: The Killer Speaks, Facing Evil with Candace DeLong, I (Almost) Got Away with It, I Am a Killer: Released, The Killer Speaks, I Am a Stalker, Accused: Guilty or Innocent?

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✘ Narration
✘ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Killer Relationship

Relationships gone wrong, ending in murder

Killer Relationship
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About Killer Relationship

Hosted and narrated by Faith Jenkins, a former prosecutor who was also a judge on Divorce Court, Killer Relationship shares stories of relationships gone so wrong that they result in murder. Most of the cases are intimate partner homicides, but some involve other close relationships.

Jenkins provides a bit of commentary on some of the cases, drawing on her experience with domestic violence cases and on Divorce Court, and the show includes some police interviews and insight from victims’ family and friends. No trial clips, though, just foreboding stories of how some relationships, even seemingly stable ones, can end in murder.

If you’re a fan of Dateline and its spouse-did-it episodes, check out Killer Relationship.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 3 (2022-)

Where to stream: Hulu, Peacock

More shows like Killer Relationship: Dateline, Fatal Affairs, Meet, Marry, Murder, My Lover, My Killer, Fatal Vows, Happily Never After, Snapped

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Fatal Encounters

Two lives converge in murder

Fatal Encounters
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About Fatal Encounters

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.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 3 (2012-2015)

Where to stream: Hulu, Discovery+

More shows like Fatal Encounters: The Last 24/A Time to Kill, Final Moments, Killision Course

See also this list of true crime shows

✘ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Betrayed

A true crime show similar to a crime drama

Betrayed
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About Betrayed

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

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Murder Calls

A true crime show that focuses on 911 calls related to murder cases

Murder Calls
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About Murder Calls

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

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✘ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Unusual Suspects

Not your usual murder suspects

Unusual Suspects
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About Unusual Suspects

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

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: The FBI Files

FBI agents share their techniques and cases

The FBI Files
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About The FBI Files

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 Detectives and 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

See also this list of true crime shows

✘ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✘ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: On the Case with Paula Zahn

A long-running true crime show hosted by Paula Zahn

On the Case with Paula Zahn
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About On the Case with Paula Zahn

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

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks

A Cold Case Files spinoff focusing on DNA

About Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks

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 Justice host 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.

True crime shows

The Show Elements

Seasons: 1 (2023-)

Where to stream: Hulu

More shows like Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks: Cold Case Files, Forensic Files, The New Detectives, Unsolved Mysteries, Cold Justice, American Justice

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: How I Caught My Killer

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.

True crime shows

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

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts