Ray and Faye Copeland: The Cattle Murders | The New Detectives | S5 E2

A strange gas check bullet, DNA under fingernails, and a killer couple's ledger expose partners in murder from Trenton to Los Angeles to rural Missouri. In Trenton, New Jersey, November 1989, two taxi drivers — Francis C. Bodner and Willie Rogers — are executed with unusual ammunition. A tiny metal disc on each slug leads Captain Mike Leisinger to a rare “gas check” bullet. Microscopic rifling shows five lands and grooves with a right-hand twist, narrowing the weapon type. An eyewitness, a lifted fingerprint, and a brave informant who buys two revolvers from suspects Ron and John Allen let ballistics match one gun to both killings. Detective Michael Salvatore moves in, and the Allen twins and accomplice Greg Williams are brought to justice. In Los Angeles, 1991, a staged burglary fails to hide the murder of Joan Dolly. Detective Paul Tippen spots inconsistencies at the window and ladder, then learns widower Dennis Dolly left town quickly and was seen in Las Vegas with Brandita Taliano. Jewelry traced to Joan and phone records deepen suspicion. Dennis even tried to hire Gary Ware for $30,000, but Ware was jailed during the killing. The case goes cold until PCR DNA arrives. Criminalist Colin Yamauchi’s team amplifies a tiny sample from under Joan’s nails, matching Taliano and linking her directly to the assault. A conspiracy case secures convictions for Taliano and Dennis Dolly. In rural Livingston County, Missouri, Sheriff Gary Calvert follows a cattle-rustling scam to serial murder. Drifters recruited by Ray and Faye Copeland pass bad checks, then vanish. A tip and a second farm reveal shallow graves; a well and haystack yield more victims. Ballistics expert Todd Garrison matches a Marlin .22 from the Copeland home to bullets recovered from five bodies. Handwriting expert Don Locke ties Faye’s distinctive script — and the chilling X marks — to a hidden list of names. Both Copelands are convicted; the scheme netted roughly $30,000 at the cost of five lives. This episode of The New Detectives shows how ballistics, DNA, and document analysis turn partners in crime into open-and-shut cases. #TheNewDetectives #TrueCrime #Forensics #Ballistics #DNA #CopelandMurders #Trenton