Breaking Homicide Probes Unsolved Murders on ID

Investigation Discovery’s all-new cold case series Breaking Homicide will uncover new evidence on long-buried victims. The six-part franchise comes from the same team that produced Is O.J. Innocent? The Missing Evidence.

Each two-hour episode follows former Rhode Island Police Sergeant Derrick Levasseur and Forensic Psychologist Kris Mohandie as they “answer the pleas of desperate families seeking help investigating the unsolved murders of their loved ones,” according to the press statement. Every installment promises to bring “fresh perspective and new hope to those who never gave up on the search for justice.”

“Over the last 10 years, Investigation Discovery has received countless calls and emails from viewers about local cold cases that have never been solved; Breaking Homicide is our answer to those often-desperate requests for help,”  Group President of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America Henry Schleiff said in a statement. 

Levasseur and Mohandie will travel “to large cities and small hometowns across America as they investigate six cold cases, chasing down new clues hoping for a break in these decades- old crimes,” according to the statement.  “From a serial killer haunting Honolulu who has never been caught, to the sadistic assault and murder of a girl from Levasseur’s hometown in Rhode Island; each case explored is still open.”

“Derrick and Kris use their decades of experience and the fierce tenacity we first saw with their critically acclaimed work on ID’s OJ special to shine a new light on these tragic crimes where the killers remain at-large and communities search for the closure they deserve,” Schleiff said.

Levasseur and Mohandie, along with the help of local law enforcement and victims’ family members who never gave up, will scrutinize one cold case from start to finish trying to find closure for loved ones. With the benefit of advanced technology, the investigators apply their unique talents and skills to meticulously dissect each piece of evidence, and in some cases, unearthing new leads.

Cases examined in the first season of Breaking Homicide include:

Michelle Norris / Central Falls, R.I. premieres Sunday, April 15 at 9pm ET

In the premiere episode, Kris and Derrick pay a visit to Derrick’s hometown to investigate a case that continues to haunt the community.  Who abducted seven-year-old Michelle Norris from a playground in 1986, killing her in the nearby woods? Clues point to the murderer being someone who lived in the neighborhood. Is he still there? And what clues does a mysterious letter hold?  Derrick and Kris interact with old friends and potential suspects in this confrontational premiere episode.

Faith Hedgepeth / Chapel Hill, N.C. premieres Sunday, April 22 at 9pm ET

Kris and Derrick visit the famous college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina to investigate the tragic murder of nineteen-year-old college student Faith Hedgepeth. This co-ed was brutally murdered in 2012 and her killer has never been found. Who sent the text message from her phone if she was already dead? And who wrote the mysterious note left by her body?  Using the latest mobile technology, Kris and Derrick try to bring some closure to this tragic story.

Christopher Jenkins / Minneapolis premieres Sunday, April 29 at 9pm ET

Drunken revelry gone wrong?  A fight that got out of hand?  These are the puzzling questions that still haunt the parents of Christopher Jenkins, a 21-year-old student who died on Halloween night in 2002. Did he fall from a bridge into the Mississippi River by accident? Did he commit suicide or was he murdered? And does a mysterious island hold all the answers?  Derrick and Kris interact with private investigators and new witnesses to tryto answer these burning questions and provide new theories on the case.

Rebecca Zahau / San Diego premieres Sunday, May 6 at 9pm ET

In one of the most unique cases covered this season, Derrick and Kris visit sunny San Diego where, in 2001, 32-year-old Rebecca Zahau was found dead, hanging naked, her hands bound behind her back. The case had all the signs of murder, but police ruled it a suicide. Were they wrong? Or did she pull off one of the most incredible death scenes ever staged?  Derrick and Kris go step-by-step to try and re-create the scene of the crime and figure out what really happened.

Honolulu Strangler / Honolulu premieres Sunday, May 13 at 9pm ET

Sun, beautiful landscapes and a breeding ground for a notorious serial killer?  Honolulu, Hawaii is the location of Derrick and Kris’s latest case.  It’s been over thirty years since a brutal serial killer terrified this tropical paradise, savagely murdering five young women. Can the team find the perpetrator who committed these heinous crimes?

Michelle O’Keefe /Palmdale, Calif., premieres Sunday, May 20 at 9pm ET

In the final episode of Breaking Homicide, Kris and Derrick travel to Palmdale, CA to investigate a case involving a young woman brutally assaulted while walking to her car.  Security guard Ray Jennings was convicted of killing 18-year-old Michelle O’Keefe at a parking lot where he worked in 2000. Eleven years later he was declared innocent. If he’s not guilty, how did he know things only the killer could know? The team probes the truths and lies in this tragic crime, providing the O’Keefe family peace and closure.

After each installment, viewers can log onto IDGO to catch up with the latest breaks in the case, get updates from family members and see answers to each cases’ biggest questions in the digital companion series Breaking Homicide: Final Theory beginning at 11pm ET.

Breaking Homicide premieres on April 15, 2018 at 9 p.m. on Investigation Discovery.