Top 10 CSI Episodes That Mirror True Events
#10: “Meet Market” The Brooklyn Bone Snatcher
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“CSI’s” love for grotesque imagery and top-notch forensic analysis come together nicely on this season seven episode, in which the team investigates an arson-related killing. They discover that the victim had his bones replaced with things like PVC pipes and umbrellas. If these details ring a bell, that’s because they’re similar to the infamous crimes of Michael Mastromarino. Dubbed the “Brooklyn bone snatcher,” he headed the trade of illegally obtained human tissues, some of which were diseased. He was set to spend decades in prison, but passed away after a couple of years, ironically, from bone cancer.
#9: “$35K O.B.O.” The Universal CityWalk Tragedy
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This rollercoaster of an episode tells the story of a couple whose lives come to an unfortunate end on the night of their anniversary. Their missing car is later found in another location, with a third victim inside. The “CSI” team is puzzled at first, but later discover that the main witness to the crime was a hired killer with a personal connection to one of the victims who went rogue. The case resembles the 1995 Universal CityWalk tragedy, in which Paul Carasi orchestrated the deaths of his mother and ex-girlfriend. Carasi, whose apparent motives were to get custody of his child while also collecting the life insurance payout, was found guilty and set to receive capital punishment.
#8: “Double Cross” The Demise of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl
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In the fifth episode of “CSI’s” seventh season, the team is called to a church, where two nuns discover a deceased woman, left in a way which mimics a crucifixion. Upon further investigation, they conclude that her death was partly caused by rosary beads. A priest at the church becomes the prime suspect, though he winds up being innocent. The story mirrors that of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, a Catholic nun who met a similar end in the chapel where she worked, save for the faux crucifixion. The case was solved more than two decades later, when new evidence pointed to Gerald Robinson, a priest who worked closely with the victim.
#7: “After the Show” The Last Photoshoot of Linda Sobek
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Linda Sobek was a rising model and actress in Los Angeles whose life came to an unfortunate end on November 16th 1995. That day, Sobek was scheduled for a photoshoot and a TV audition afterwards, but never showed up to the latter. Investigators got a break when pictures of her and some other documents were discovered, which they traced back to her photographer Charles Rathbun. This season four episode, in which a model goes missing just as her career is about to take off, certainly seems to draw some inspiration from the event. While the episode heavily mirrors the real-life crime, the break in the “CSI” case comes when the guilty photographer calls the police himself to make a confession.
#6: “Overload” The Candace Newmaker Case
Rebirthing therapy as a cure for attachment disorder has become extremely controversial and its effectiveness has been disproven, mostly due to the case of Candace Newmaker. Newmaker, whose adoptive mother sought the help of an unlicensed therapist to treat her behavior, lost her life as the result of the dangerous methods utilized in this practice. The highly publicized incident reminds us of the season two episode “Overload,” in which a young boy suffers the same fate. At first, the boy’s therapist fails to disclose what exactly transpired, but after an autopsy is carried out, the truth is uncovered. Newmaker’s story led to the passing of “Candace’s Law,” which banned the rebirthing technique in the U.S. states of Colorado and North Carolina.
#5: “Shooting Stars” The Heaven’s Gate Cult
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The fourth episode of “CSI’s” sixth season takes a deep dive into the world of cults and the dangerous psychological effects they can have on their adherents. The investigators have to look into the deaths of eleven people who appear to have been in a cult led by a scam artist. The episode resembles, at least in part, the story of the real-life Heaven’s Gate cult, whose members all took their own lives over the course of three days, in March 1997. Just like the one featured in the “CSI” episode, Heaven’s Gate’s theology centered on UFOs and aliens, with both groups timing their deaths so that they would line up with astronomical events.
#4: “Bite Me” The Case of Michael & Kathleen Peterson
The arrest and trials of Michael Peterson for the demise of his wife Kathleen led to the hit docuseries “The Staircase.” And it later served as the basis for the HBO Max miniseries of the same name. It would also mirror this season six episode, in which a man becomes the prime suspect when his wife dies after seemingly falling down a flight of stairs. Similar to the real-life case, the unfortunate incident unearths tales of infidelity and dark secrets about the couple’s past. But as the episode progresses, the show takes a different turn, and we learn that the woman’s step-daughter was behind the crime.
#3: “Fracked” The Hinkley Groundwater Contamination
In this 2010 installment, the CSIs are called to investigate the suspicious deaths of two men who were set to act as sources for an exposé about a natural gas company. The company in question had been contaminating the water of a nearby residential town, leading to multiple illnesses. This story closely mirrors that of the Pacific Gas & Electric company, which dumped toxic waste into the groundwater supplying the town of Hinkley, California over a 14-year period. The wrongdoing was brought to light through an investigation carried out by Erin Brockovich. A legal clerk, her work resulted in a historic class action settlement worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
#2: “Blood Drops” The Menendez Brothers Case
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Right from its first season, “CSI” had been crafting intriguing storylines that closely resembled real-life crimes. The seventh episode features a family of six that is almost entirely wiped out by a mysterious perpetrator. Only the two daughters are still alive. What initially looks like the handiwork of a cult eventually unfolds into a bizarre story of severe mistreatment within a family. There are quite a few parallels between the “CSI” case and that of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were arrested and charged with the murder of their parents. Just like the daughter in this episode, the brothers were alleged to have been pushed to the brink by their parents’ indecent actions.
#1: “Gentle, Gentle” What Happened to JonBenét Ramsey
Waking up in the middle of the night to find your child missing from the house is every parent’s worst nightmare. That’s the predicament of Gwen & Steve Anderson, the couple in this season one episode, whose son Zack goes missing in the dead of night. While investigating the case, the CSIs find Zack’s lifeless body in a nearby golf course and uncover evidence that points them inside the house. The episode certainly seems to draw inspiration from the real-life case involving JonBenét Ramsey, who was first reported missing but then discovered hours later in her parents’ basement. The case gained international coverage for its sensational details but sadly, the identity of the individual who masterminded the tragedy remains unknown.
