Season 2 2009

Investigating Arthur Shawcross, who murdered 11 women in the city of Rochester, New York, in the late 1980s. With almost no forensic evidence to build their case, police had to rely on ground-breaking criminal profiling work by the FBI to help catch the killer

The story of 'chessboard killer' Alexander Pichushkin, who aimed to kill 64 people - one for each square on the board of the game - but was caught before he could complete his task. The Russian committed his crimes over a 15-year period between 1992 and 2006 before being apprehended, and officers encountered problems substantiating his claims to have killed more than 50 people

The unsolved case of the Monster of Florence, who preyed on young couples and committed murders in and around the city in the early 1980s, but who has never been officially identified. Among several people suspected of the crimes was peasant farmer Pietro Pacciani, who was tried and convicted, but later cleared by the Italian Supreme Court due to a lack of evidence

Docu-drama examining a string of gruesome murders that affected the close-knit community of Snowtown, near Adelaide, Australia. The perpetrators, led by ruthless psychopath John Bunting, tortured and killed 12 people during the 1990s, before disposing of the bodies in barrels of acid. This programme reveals how the murder of one of the victims, Elizabeth Haydon, alerted police to the gang's activities

The story of Belgian Marc Dutroux, who kidnapped, tortured and abused six girls during 1995 and 1996 - four of whom he murdered. The country's initial joy at the rescue of two of the captives turned to horror when information emerged about the police investigation, suggesting that corruption - and not incompetence - led to Dutroux being free to carry on with his crimes for so long. This possibility brought 300,000 people to the streets in protest and left the nation in turmoil

The case of Japanese businessman Joji Obara, who came to the attention of Tokyo police in 2000, while they were investigating the disappearance of Lucie Blackman from Kent. Raiding his properties, investigators found more than 200 video tapes of his sexual assaults, and he was later convicted of numerous rapes and the manslaughter of an Australian woman

Investigating how the psychological state of Dennis Nilsen, who killed at least 15 men and boys, was approached by the judiciary and media, after the serial killer claimed he committed the murders in a trance

In-depth investigations into infamous criminal cases and uncovering the motives behind them and the procedures used to arrest the perpetrators

Profile of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of six men following a year-long killing spree in Florida. The programme explores how police were able to gather only circumstantial evidence against Wuornos, and launched an undercover operation to lure her and a possible accomplice out into the open

The hunt for the Suffolk Strangler, who murdered five prostitutes in the Ipswich area during 2006, leading to the largest manhunt since the Yorkshire Ripper