Crime & Crime Prevention

The reproduction of books, movies and songs is closely protected by copyright law, but intellectual property in the public domain can be used by anyone for free.

By Patrick J. Kiger

A Netflix docuseries about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is one of its most-watched shows ever. We reviewed FBI files of his case instead and got a chilling look at what drove him to kill.

By Suzie Dundas

While the U.S. is in full support of investigating Vladimir Putin's war crimes in Ukraine, it's long opposed the International Criminal Court at The Hague. But why?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Almost three decades ago, in 1994, bipartisan support in Congress helped push through a federal assault weapons ban. Did it curtail the number of mass shootings in the U.S.?

By Michael J. Klein

People have been raising alarms about the potential for nonconsensual, surreptitious collection and testing of DNA for years, but will genetic paparazzi with DNA collection kits become as ubiquitous as those with cameras?

By Liza Vertinsky & Yaniv Heled

H.R. 8, which passed the House last year, would eliminate private gun sale loopholes and require nearly universal background checks. But it faces difficult odds of passage in the Senate.

By Patrick J. Kiger

ADX Florence is the only federal "supermax" prison in the U.S. and home to a rogue's gallery of notorious criminals. What's it like to serve time there?

By Dave Roos

U.S. President Joe Biden accused Vladimir Putin of committing genocide in Ukraine. But who really determines whether a genocide is occurring, and how?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Arne Johnson stabbed a man to death in 1981. His intended legal defense? Guilty by reason of demonic possession. Did it work?

By John Donovan

A jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges. A Harvard legal scholar weighs in on why the verdict directly challenges the legal standards for self-defense.

By Ronald Sullivan

True crime is often stranger than fiction. How much do you know about some of the strangest and most notorious criminals out there like Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper and the Night Stalker?

By Alia Hoyt

Indigenous women have been going missing and been murdered along an infamous stretch of highway in British Columbia since the 1960s. But not much is being done to find them — or who killed them.

By John Donovan

Two terrorism experts weigh in on the group behind the deadly Kabul airport attack and its rivalry with the Taliban.

By Andrew Mines & Amira Jadoon

Cities like Chicago are spending millions for high-tech systems that can identify and pinpoint the exact location of a gunshot. But are these systems worth the price tag?

By John Donovan

Ed Gein was known as the "The Butcher of Plainfield" for killing two women in the late 1950s. But he was also the inspiration for iconic horror movie characters, including Psycho's Norman Bates and Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface.

By John Donovan

The Netflix documentary "This Is a Robbery" attempts to solve the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist. Today, the 13 stolen pieces of artwork are worth around $500 million. Have you seen any of them?

By John Donovan

The legal difference between murder and manslaughter is unmistakable, even if the final result of both of those crimes is the same. So what sets these charges apart in a court of law?

By John Donovan

The narrow legal definition makes it hard to charge and even harder to convict.

By Jeannine Bell

Despite how hard investigators work, some crimes just baffle even the most gifted detectives. They go cold. That's where these nine cases stand. Will they ever be solved?

By John Donovan

One day they were here and the next they simply disappeared. What happened to these 14 people? Will we ever know what happened to them or will their fates be unsolved forever?

By John Donovan

It takes a lot of legal maneuvering to free an innocent person from prison. And that takes a lot of money. That's why the Innocence Project is so critical to help free the wrongly convicted.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Racketeering didn't exist as a crime before 1970. So what is it and why was the Mafia instrumental in its creation?

By Dave Roos

The gangster most known for facilitating the creation of the modern American Mafia was the head of organized crime in New York City in the 1930s. But the U.S. government asked for his help during World War II.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Recording a video that could potentially become evidence in a criminal case can make your life very complicated. So what do you need to consider before you pull out your phone?

By Patrick J. Kiger

The brutal Colombian drug lord was a millionaire in his 20s but died in a hail of gunfire the day after his 44th birthday.

By John Donovan