About this season
Some of the world’s most notorious murders are the subject of “It Takes a Killer,” which investigates the crimes from the perspective of the killers, trying to get inside their minds and determine their motives. Leading homicide investigators and experts from such agencies as the FBI and Scotland Yard take a look at the evidence pulled from crime scenes and profile the killer’s behavior to try to piece together the details of each murder, explaining when, why and how each criminal committed the crime. For the wannabe detectives watching the show, the experts also reveal how the crime was solved — which often requires authorities to think like a killer.
Episodes (16)
1. The Craigslist Killer
Aired 7 August 2016
Three women who advertised erotic services on Craiglist are assaulted, on of them is killed; surveillance video and witness reports match a man who no one would ever suspect to be a killer.
2. Chandra Levy
Aired 7 August 2016
When government intern Chandra Levy goes missing, detectives discover she may have been having an affair with a senator; a man in jail claims he has information
3. Jodi Arias
Aired 14 August 2016
When a deadly sniper terrorizes the DC area for weeks, frantic police put out an APB for a white van, but the FBI has a theory that there might be more than one sniper, and they're not driving a white van.
4. A Treacherous Triangle
Aired 14 August 2016
When a young man is brutally murdered in his home, the only suspect with a motive is his ex-girlfriend, who claims she hasn't seen the victim for months; detectives uncover evidence, and phone messages that tell a different story.
5. Phil Spector
Aired 21 August 2016
When an aspiring actress is found dead in the home of a legendary music producer, he claims it was suicide. But as detectives piece together the crime scene, study the pattern of blood splatter, and the position of the weapon, they zero in on their suspect and a history of bizarre behavior.
6. Deaths In The Family
Aired 21 August 2016
When three members of the same family die of mysterious causes, police being to suspect they have been poisoned. Detectives exhume bodies and confirm the presence of antifreeze, but who is the poisoner, and why? The secret almost dies when a fourth family member is poisoned, but survives.
7. Bind, Torture, Kill
Aired 28 August 2016
A killer terrorizes Wichita, Kansas, preying on random people and families, tying them up, and strangling them. But then the killer goes quiet. When he resurfaces decades later, police find a way to lure him to reveal his identity - and it's a man no one suspected.
8. The Ghost Of Baton Rouge
Aired 28 August 2016
When a series of women are murdered in Baton Rouge, police draw a profile and begin DNA testing a segment of the city's population - white men. But when one victim survives, she tells detectives they're on the wrong trail. The killer isn't white.
9. Stephanie Lazarus
Aired 4 September 2016
When a newly married woman is killed at home, police believe it's a robbery gone wrong. But 20 years later, an LAPD officer opens the cold case file and sees the crime in a new way. The murder was staged to look like a robbery and the killer could actually be a cop - from the same department.
10. The Casanova Killer
Aired 4 September 2016
When four women are killed at different times in different states after going home from a bar with a handsome young man dressed like a cowboy, detectives don't realize the murders are linked together. When they do, their killer is on the run and the manhunt is on.
21. A Woman Scorned
Aired 14 October 2016
22. The Fast Food Killer
Aired 14 October 2016
23. Murder for Millions
Aired 15 October 2016
A millionaire inventor rolls the dice with a much younger fiancee. But he'll soon find out that she and her secret boyfriend have played him for his money and the price of this game is his life.
24. Author of Death
Aired 15 October 2016
Out on parole, an ex-con turned published author goes on a 24-hour killing spree. But when he unknowingly leaves one of his victims alive to identify him, cops who launch a multi state manhunt and bring him to justice.
25. A Son Snaps
Aired 15 October 2016
After years of abuse, a high school valedictorian snaps, viciously stabbing his mother in the family's garage. He almost gets away with her savage murder, except for a couple small inconsistencies in his alibi that reveal his true plans.
52. Homicide In The High Desert
Aired 2 June 2017
When a banker's soon-to-be ex-wife dies, it is passed off as an accidental fall, but after months of investigation it becomes clear that she was murdered.