Joyce Cohen, Marilyn Plantz and the Ninja Assassin | The New Detectives | S4 E7

Three perfect hits unravel by forensics: a tissue in Miami, a burning truck in Oklahoma City, and a ninja attack in L.A. Tiny clues expose murder for hire. In The New Detectives, investigators revisit the 1986 killing of Miami builder Stan Cohen in Coconut Grove. His wife, Joyce, claimed a 5 a.m. intruder. But GSR on her hands and a wiped pistol hid a vital trace: a facial tissue caught in the gun’s grip, later tied to her nasal mucous. Burglar Frank Maglione confessed she hired the hit. The timeline shattered her alibi when autopsy photos showed lividity pointing to a 3 a.m. death, not 5. Joyce Cohen was convicted; Maglione and the gunmen also received prison terms. In Oklahoma City, a passerby found Jim Plantz’s truck ablaze. Autopsy showed he was beaten, then set on fire while still breathing. Detectives traced motive to life insurance exceeding $300,000 and to his wife, Marilyn. Confessions by lover Clifford Bryson and friend Clinton McKimble matched the forensics: luminol-lit blood, enzyme typing from creek-soaked jeans, spatter in the home, and two bats. A 9:11 a.m. Wal-Mart receipt for a new area rug sealed Marilyn’s knowledge of the cleanup. She and Bryson were sentenced to death; McKimble received life. In West L.A., Vera and Gerald Woodman were gunned down after Yom Kippur. A witness reported a ninja assassin. Toolmarks on a cut garage chain led to brand-new bolt cutters bought near suspect Robert Homick’s apartment. Phone records and coded diaries tied Robert and his brother Steve to Woodman sons Stuart and Neil amid a bitter company feud and insurance angles. Verdicts followed: the brothers got life, Robert life without parole, Steve death. From gunshot residue and lividity to luminol and toolmark analysis, this episode shows how science breaks alibis and cracks contracts to kill. #TheNewDetectives #MurderForHire #JoyceCohen #MarilynPlantz #ForensicScience #TrueCrime #LAPD #OklahomaCity