Cold Case Files: Season 3
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Cold Case Files Season 2.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
Cop Killer/Evil Twin
Jan 1, 2001
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.
The Zodiac Killer
Jan 8, 2001
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 se
The Accidental Killer/Little Sister Lost
Jan 15, 2001
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 Park
The Merry Widow/The Bad Cop
Jan 22, 2001
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.
Daddy Knows Best/Dawn of the Dead
Jan 29, 2001
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 g
The Killer's Tattoo
Feb 5, 2001
The search for a killer with a distinctive tattoo is recalled. Host: Bill Kurtis.
The Green River Killer
Feb 12, 2001
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.
A Hitchhike to Murder/Never Forgotten
Feb 19, 2001
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 DNA Link/The Secret Slide
Feb 26, 2001
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
Death Before I Do/Hollywood Homicide
Mar 5, 2001
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.
Blood Money/Precious Doe
Mar 12, 2001
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 yo
Unholy Bible/A Daughter's Justice
Mar 19, 2001
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
Officer Down/Secret Twin
Mar 26, 2001
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
Weepy-Voiced Killer/The Mr. Big Sting
Apr 2, 2001
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 murde
Blood on the Badge/Bump in the Night
Apr 9, 2001
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
The Lady Killer/A Husband's Secret
Apr 16, 2001
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 hi
Mistaken for a Killer/A Woman Scorned
Apr 23, 2001
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
The Missing Hunters/The Flashlight Rapist
Apr 30, 2001
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 hi
Cowboys on the Case/Office Politics
May 7, 2001
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 tec
The Flaming Gorge Falls/Caught in the Mail
May 14, 2001
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
Murder Checks In / Killer in the City
May 21, 2001
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 prosecut
The Shopping Cart Killer
May 28, 2001
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.
The Hit makers/Favor For A Friend
Jun 4, 2001
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
Lil' Miss /Skeletons In The Closet
Jun 11, 2001
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
Innocent Prey/The Punishment
Jun 18, 2001
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 tak