Murders Before Christmas | TRIPLE EPISODE | The FBI Files

Video Description

Forced Entry (S06E17): In 1994, a rash of home invasion robberies take place in the metropolitan Detroit area. The thieves turn out to be part of a local gang dubbed the “Home Invaders.” Their crimes extend to insurance fraud, theft, and illegal lottery schemes. The Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF) opens an investigation, and with the cooperation of a gang member who was apprehended at the scene of a crime, they are able to obtain the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of 16 gang members. Information obtained through surveillances leads to a stakeout, resulting in captures and arrests. In December 1995, the FBI is able to indict 21 members of the Home Invaders gang through information from wiretaps, evidence seized from search warrants, DNA evidence and testimony of cooperating gang members. The VCTF successfully brings down the entire Home Invaders gang, and, as a result, clears over 200 violent crimes, including murder and rape in the Detroit area. A Bitter End (S06E12): On December 21, 1998, two gunmen kidnap three janitors on their way to clean the Bank of America ATM repository in Las Vegas. The gunmen force the janitors to let them in the ATM repository and hold them hostage until the armored car guards arrive to make their nightly collection. When the guards enter the bank, the gunmen surprise them and shoot one guard in the chest before escaping with $1,088,000, the largest bank robbery take in Las Vegas history. FBI agents and police find the getaway truck in a nearby neighborhood and set up surveillance in the area. Investigators search the residence of a woman who has reportedly been spending large sums of money. The FBI finds a cache of the stolen money and questions the woman’s boyfriend. He tells them that he believes his brother robbed the ATM repository with another man. Authorities arrest his accomplice, and this suspect then flees and leads authorities on a chase, but they apprehend him quickly. Before he can be convicted of the robbery, he commits suicide. Melissa Brannen: Missing (S01E11): When five-year-old Melissa Brannen disappeared from a Christmas party in December 1989, the only probable suspect was 24-year-old Caleb Hughes. Hughes reportedly left the party around the time Melissa vanished, but no one saw him with the girl. Fifty blue acrylic fibers collected during a search of Hughes’ car, however, became the major piece of evidence in the case. FBI fiber analysis determined that those fibers were identical to the ones that made up the sweater Melissa was wearing. Although Melissa’s body was never found, the evidence was enough to convict Hughes of abduction with intent to defile. The FBI Files is an American docudrama that takes a look behind the scenes of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's crime laboratory. Real FBI cases are recounted through reenactments and interviews, due to the sensitive nature of the show, viewer discretion is advised.