Episode 1
Cop Killer/Evil Twin
1h8.0 / 10
Included: Los Angeles detectives solve a 46-year-old murder case; and DNA leads to a suspected killer who has a twin brother. Host: Bill Kurtis.
Where to watch Cold Case Files
TV series
Cold Case Files
1999TV-145 seasons8.5 / 10
Explore compelling cases that have gone cold for years, chronicling the journeys of the detectives who reopened them. The detectives relive the events of the crimes, reveal new twists and startling revelations, relying on breakthroughs in forensic technology and the influence of social media to help crack these cases.
Streaming, rental and purchase options
Where to watch in United States
Checked Jul 22, 2026
Cold Case Files is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Philo, Prime Video, Hoopla, Pluto TV, and Tubi in United States. You can also buy it from Amazon and Apple TV. Use the direct links below to open the provider.
Synopsis
Explore compelling cases that have gone cold for years, chronicling the journeys of the detectives who reopened them. The detectives relive the events of the crimes, reveal new twists and startling revelations, relying on breakthroughs in forensic technology and the influence of social media to help crack these cases.
Season 3 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 2
The Zodiac Killer
1h8.0 / 10
With access to the San Francisco Police Department's work, including saliva samples taken from letters the infamous Zodiac Killer sent 30 year ago, we reevaluate the case of the serial killer who began terrorizing California in the late 1960s.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 3
The Accidental Killer/Little Sister Lost
1h9.0 / 10
While hiking with husband Dennis in Montana, Leslee Larson fell into Wolf Creek. Then Dennis is convicted of murdering his wife, while in Main. And 15-year-old papergirl Penny Parker goes missing, then her body is found by a search volunteer.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 4
The Merry Widow/The Bad Cop
1h
Included: the case of Douglas J. Wright, a former state trooper whose 1993 murder of his wife brought a conviction in 2003. Also: the murder of a Navy seaman. Host: Bill Kurtis.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 5
Daddy Knows Best/Dawn of the Dead
1h
A detective works for 15 years to nab a man who murdered his wife and dismembered her body to hide the sexual abuse of his children. Then, 20 years after the shooting murder of a gas station attendant, detectives get a lead.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 6
The Killer's Tattoo
1h
The search for a killer with a distinctive tattoo is recalled. Host: Bill Kurtis.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 7
The Green River Killer
1h
Cold Case discusses the story of the nearly 20-year hunt for the man responsible for the murders of 49 prostitutes and other women in the Seattle, Washington area.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 8
A Hitchhike to Murder/Never Forgotten
1h
Police must wait nearly 30 years before advances in DNA technology give them the chance to convict the killer of a young hitchhiker, and Philadelphia police wage a 16-year hunt for the man who raped and killed a 10-year-old girl.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 9
The DNA Link/The Secret Slide
1h
Detectives from three different departments in Westchester County, NY team up to track down a serial killer; and a man known as the Bus Stop Rapist becomes the lead suspect decades after a woman is found murdered under a hotel bed in the case.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 10
Death Before I Do/Hollywood Homicide
1h
Included: the 1988 murder of actress Myra Davis, Janet Leigh's stand-in for “Psycho,” brings a conviction in 2001. Also: a phone tip helps solve a cold case.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 11
Blood Money/Precious Doe
1h
Testimony about the growth of larvae in dead bodies helps convict the man who stabbed a couple to death and strangled their 4-year-old daughter in 1993. And the 2001 murder of a young girl, whose head was cut off, remains unsolved.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 12
Unholy Bible/A Daughter's Justice
1h
A Texas woman's murder is solved when the killer's plan to murder another woman and stuff her into a duffel bag goes awry; and a reporter doing a story on unsolved homicides helps crack a case of murder that had been ruled an accidental death.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 13
Officer Down/Secret Twin
1h
After 23 years, investigators finally track down the killers of an Atlanta policeman when the ex-wife of one of the killers phones in a tip; and a mother keeps the skeletal remains of the 3-year-old daughter she killed in a footlocker.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 14
Weepy-Voiced Killer/The Mr. Big Sting
1h
A prostitute who fights off a screwdriver-wielding man helps police track down a serial killer; and undercover agents acting as mobsters conduct an elaborate sting to solve a murder case that had gone cold for years. Then, detectives from three different police departments in Westchester County, New York team up to track down a serial killer.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 15
Blood on the Badge/Bump in the Night
1h
A woman who takes down the license plate number of a car that had been following her helps police solve the murder of another young woman.; a phone call gives police the lead they need to solve a 30-year-old crime.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 16
The Lady Killer/A Husband's Secret
1h
The testimony of three prison inmates helps convict a man who viciously killed a woman out for a bike ride nearly two decades prior; and a self-admitted sex addict who strangled his cat is a suspect in the 30-year-old murder of a neighbor.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 17
Mistaken for a Killer/A Woman Scorned
1h
DNA technology that take place over 20 years help police to finally identify the man who brutally stabbed two women to death; and an anonymous caller leads police to the killer of a 13-year-old girl who was shot dead and left in the woods.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 18
The Missing Hunters/The Flashlight Rapist
1h
Police suspect brothers J.R. and Coco Duvall beat two Michigan hunters to death, chopped up the bodies, and fed them to pigs; and a serial rapist, who holds a mini-flashlight in his mouth to blind victims, is nabbed when he drops it during an attack.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 19
Cowboys on the Case/Office Politics
1h
Four retired law enforcement officers, known as the Cold Case Cowboys, help track down the killer of a man wanted for rape and robbery; and police await for advancements in DNA technology before they can put away a killer.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 20
The Flaming Gorge Falls/Caught in the Mail
1h
A man suspected of the cold case murder of his wife and son hatches a new plot to kill his mother and father; and detectives solve the 20-year-old murder of a teenager by tricking her killer into licking an envelope, then extracting DNA from the saliva.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 21
Murder Checks In / Killer in the City
1h
Police hunt for a man who killed three women in three different hotels, not far from one another in Des Moines, Iowa. And police get a killer to confess when they tell him prosecutors will show photos of the gruesome crime scene.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 22
The Shopping Cart Killer
1h
A dry cleaning tag inside a sweatshirt left at a crime scene helps police track down a serial killer and rapist who had been eluding them for years.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 23
The Hit makers/Favor For A Friend
1h
A scheme to bribe a country music magazine to manipulate the charts leads to murder in Nashville and a 13-year hunt for the killer; and a murderer's plan to hide his gun is foiled when the man who buried the evidence for him spills the beans to cops.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 24
Lil' Miss /Skeletons In The Closet
1h
An eerie note left on a grave helps solve a 12-year-old case of murder, and an exhaustive questioning of a mother helps police unravel the mysterious deaths of three of her
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode 25
Innocent Prey/The Punishment
1hfinale
Police play a wild hunch that pays off in the capture of a serial rapist. And after 26 years, investigators finally solve the murder of a 6-year-old girl who had been forced to take a cold-water bath as punishment for painting her nails with pink polish without permission.
Where to watch Cold Case FilesEpisode information updated Jul 24, 2026
More about Cold Case Files
Cast
Bill KurtisSelf - Narrator (voice)
Chima SimoneSelfProduction details
- Status
- Ended
- Series type
- Documentary
- Episodes
- 128
- Original language
- English
Networks & production
A&EUnited States- Kurtis Productions
AMPLE EntertainmentUnited States
Blumhouse TelevisionUnited States
Themes
detectiveforensicforensic scienceforensic technologyunsolved crimeunsolved murdersunsolved mystery
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