Plot Synopsis

In VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL, "Vanity Fair" opens up its vault, offering unprecedented access to the magazine's writers and editors who have uncovered the truth behind some of the world's most compelling scandals -- stories at the cross section of power, wealth, and celebrity. Using first-person accounts from those involved in the case -- from law enforcement to family members and friends of the victim -- each one-hour episode features a different mystery, including: "Prisoner of Denver" by Mark Seal, which chronicles the story of 21-year-old Lisl Auman, who was charged with the felony murder of Denver police officer Bruce VanderJagt in the summer of 1997, despite being locked in the back of a police patroller when the deadly shots were fired; "Don't Ask, Don't Kill" by Buzz Bissinger, which documents the murder of Private First Class Barry Winchell at 2am on July 5, 1999; "The Lady Vanishes" by Mimi Swartz, which tells the story of the disappearance of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, deemed one of the most hated women in all of America for being responsible for banning school prayer, and her son Jon and granddaughter Robin; "The Runaway Doctor" by Buzz Bissinger, which highlights the story of plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Weinberger, who vanishes during a European vacation and spends five years on the run from authorities after being accused of healthcare fraud; and many more true-crime stories from the pages of "Vanity Fair." Season 2 of VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL premiered on Monday, January 4, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT on Investigation Discovery, with all-new stories including a first-hand account from Beverly Johnson and others about Bill Cosby, Robert Sam Anson's look into the murder of Tupac Shakur, and Clara Bingham's expose on accusations of sexual misconduct at the United States Air Force Academy. In the season opener, "Nightmare on Elwood Avenue," a headless torso washes ashore in Galveston, Texas. A mob boss's daughter is executed -- mob style -- in Beverly Hills. A millionaire's young wife goes missing without a trace from her Upper East Side apartment in New York. For more than twenty years, authorities struggle to figure out how all three crimes are connected. Only one man knows with certainty exactly what happened to all three victims. In this episode, Vanity Fair writer Ned Zeman uncovers the tale of "the fugitive heir." Subsequent episodes cover these stories: "Buried Alive" by Buzz Bissinger, which documents how only one man lives to tell the tale of how hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen from two locations -- but he won't be able to talk until after being buried alive; "The Killing Trail" by Buzz Bissinger, which chronicles how two men being shot execution style is eerily similar to 30 murders uncovered in Texas two decades earlier; "Code of Dishonor" by Clara Bingham, which documents a covert war against women in the American Air Force and how soldiers are determined to take public one of the country's best-kept military secrets; "The Perfectly Sinister Mr. Rockefeller" by Mark Seal, which chronicles how two crimes -- a grisly murder and the abduction of a seven-year-old girl from one of the country's wealthiest and most distinguished families -- lead to an international manhunt for an exchange student with a dark past; "Days of Rage" by Bryan Burrough, a nationwide manhunt that begins after a townhouse goes up in flames on a quiet Greenwich Village block with evidence pointing to a band of revolutionaries that want to kill the police; and "Bill Cosby Drugged Me" by Beverly Johnson, who recounts how Beverly's head becomes woozy, her speech becomes slurred, and the room begins to spin nonstop after drinking cappuccino at Cosby's house while reading for a role on THE COSBY SHOW. The 12-episode third season of VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL premiered on Monday, January 23, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT on Investigation Discovery. In the series opener, "The Fugitive Son [by Jennet Conant]," two young women are raped in Darien, Connecticut, a wealthy enclave not far from New York City. The attacker threatens to kill them if they tell anyone. When police announce that the serial rapist is a popular high school athlete from a prominent family, the story makes front-page news. To most it seems unthinkable that the coolest kid at Darien High could commit such a horrendous act. But when the Connecticut golden boy disappears without a trace, the F.B.I. and Interpol launch a worldwide manhunt. As the years pass, everyone involved wants to know... Will he ever return? Will he honor his death threats? Subsequent episodes in Season 3 feature these stories: Murder on the Sunset Strip by Mark MacNamara; Murder at Drama Club by Adam Teicholz; Seeds of Doubt by David Rose; Grounds for Murder by Sarah Ellison; Nightmares on Main Street by Leslie Bennetts; Henry Lee Lucas: Dead Reckoning by Ron Rosenbaum; Natalee Holloway: Lost in Paradise by Bryan Burrough; Bikram Feels the Heat by Benjamin Wallace; Locked Up Next Door (wt) by Mimi Swartz; Race Wars (wt) by Tina Nguyen; and St. George's Hidden Dragons by Benjamin Wallace.
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Season 4 of VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL premiered on Monday, February 5, 2018 at 9pm ET/PT on Investigation Discovery. The season opener, "Shadows on the Lawn," delves into University of Virginia graduate Liz Seccuro's decades-long search for justice following a college sexual assault. When she hears from a man who assaulted her in college, she's determined to bring him to justice. Thirty years later, a student at the same university speaks about an encounter with striking similarities, and investigators uncover a shocking truth. Other episodes this season examine how the drug-related death of a teenager led to the unraveling of the first-ever Dark Net market, "Silk Road;" the mystifying story behind cult author J.T. LeRoy's meteoric rise to literary stardom; the suspicious vanishing of Scientology's "First Lady," Shelly Miscaviage; and the murder charges brought against Marlon Brando's son, Christian, among other stories.