As Westward expansion began in the US after the Civil War, homesteaders staked land claims across the plains. One family set up a crude store and Inn along the trail, taking advantage of the location where many a weary traveler would pass by. But many of those travelers began to disappear after stopping at the Bender's place. What searchers found on the property, dubbed "Hell's Half-Acre" by newspapers, was nothing they could have imagined. And history doesn't tell us why a whole family would kill innocent travelers, nor if they were ever captured for their crimes.

The seaside town of Brighton, England had a string of poisonings in the late 1870's.  The victims became severely sick after eating chocolate cream candies from a local sweet shop owned by J. G. Maynard. Mr. Maynard rid his shop of the chocolate inventory, but townsfolk continued getting sick and one young boy died after eating a piece of the offending candy.   Investigators were stumped until the town doctor reluctantly came forward with information that helped shed light on the possible culprit.

Before there were restraining orders and women's shelters galore, domestic violence victims often suffered for years in silence. This is the story of one woman and her final desperate attempt to save herself when she realized there was nowhere else to turn.

On Mother's Day 1985, a young mother and her two little girls were found dead in their home near Ft. Bragg, NC. The youngest of her daughters was left alive, alone, crying, and dehydrated in her crib waiting for a rescue. The murders bore a striking resemblance to the 1970 killings at Ft. Bragg of the MacDonald family. Investigators had to figure out if this was a copycat crime or a totally unrelated case.

In early 1970 Capt. Jeffrey MacDonald is awakened by the screams of his wife and daughters being attacked.  He claims a group of drugged-up hippies were the intruders, but authorities quickly begin to question that claim. This conclusion to the MacDonald family murders delves into the alternative theories put forth by the defense and ends with where the convicted murderer is today.

At the height of the hippie culture and "Satanic Panic" in the early 1970s, a gruesome murder is committed at Fort Bragg, NC.  A pregnant mother and her two small daughters are repeatedly stabbed to death.  Her husband, Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, is also injured but survives the attack. He is able to describe the four assailants who had killed his family; drugged-out hippies chanting, "Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs." In the coming days, the tale becomes even harder to believe and authorities question Captain MacDonald's version of events.