''I, Detective'' is an American documentary-style series that aired on Court TV (now

truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...

) from 2001 to 2006. For a time in early 2014, the show returned in reruns on sister network HLN. At first, it was retitled ''Detective Files'', but a month later, the show returned to its original title. The reruns have been repackaged to include updates at the end of some episodes on what became of the suspect(s) or parties involved since the final verdicts. As of late January 2015, the reruns now air on

Justice Network True Crime Network (formerly Justice Network) is an American digital multicast television network that is operated by True Crime Network, LLC, a limited liability company, which is owned by Tegna Inc. The network specializes in true crime, inv ...

Synopsis

Armchair detective An armchair detective is a fictional investigator who does not personally visit a crime scene or interview witnesses; instead, the detective either reads the story of the crime in a newspaper or has it recounted by another person. As the armcha ...

s and

forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

junkies get the opportunity to solve real cases. This half-hour series aired weekly and gave viewers the opportunity to follow clues, find evidence and learn how this information is used to solve some of the most intriguing criminal investigations. ''I, Detective'' combined the elements of documentary,

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, and

quiz show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

s. Through an interactive series of multiple-choice questions, ''I, Detective'' challenged viewers to examine the same evidence, suspects, motives and witness statements that actual investigators consider in their quest to solve the crime. Art Bell, Executive Vice President of Programming and Marketing said "The questions included in ''I, Detective'' give our viewers a chance to be active participants in the investigation. They examine the crime scene, evaluate evidence, and attempt to correctly answer questions that real criminologists and forensic specialists ask themselves as they solve a crime." ''I, Detective'' was produced by Michael Hoff Productions.I, Detective info
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IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

(accessed April 25, 2014)

Cases

The show has covered many infamous cases of the past like:

Murder of Joey Fischer On March 3, 1993, Saint Joseph Academy high school senior Albert Joseph "Joey" Fischer Jr. was shot dead outside his home in Rancho Viejo, an upscale community north of Brownsville, Texas. Dora Cisneros, the mother of his ex-girlfriend, was re ...

, Murder of Neal Rosenblum,

Murder of Kristine Fitzhugh Music teacher Kristine Fitzhugh (born 1947) was murdered on May 5, 2000 in her home in Palo Alto, California by her husband Kenneth Carroll Fitzhugh Jr. (19432012). After Kenneth Fitzhugh received a call from Kristine's workplace saying that she ha ...

and Murder of

Mia Zapata Mia Katherine Zapata (August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993) was an American musician who was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits. After gaining praise in the emerging grunge scene, Zapata was murdered in 1993 while on her way home fr ...

. The show also covered many

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

cases like: Stella Nickell, Donald Piper,

Roger Kibbe Roger Reece Kibbe (May 21, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American serial killer and rapist known as the "I-5 Strangler". Kibbe found all but one of his victims on freeways around Sacramento, California. In 1991 he was sentenced to 25 years ...

or the

Bellevue murders The Bellevue murders, or the Bellevue massacre, occurred on the night of January 3, and the early morning of January 4, 1997, when Alex Kevin Baranyi and David Carpenter Anderson, both 17, lured Kimberly Ann Wilson, 20, to a park in Bellevue, Wash ...

References

{{Court TV 2001 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series 2000s American crime television series 2000s American documentary television series Law enforcement in the United States TruTV original programming