‘Heart of Darkness’: Love & Passion Lead to Murder in ID’s New True-Crime Series

Heart of Darkness
Investigation Discovery

Sometimes the most dangerous people are the ones you least expect.

Heart of Darkness reveals the unsuspected in a six-part series on Investigation Discovery about love, hate, and how trust can shatter in an instant. Twisting through hidden affairs, love triangles, and family secrets, the series unfolds to show how emotions can motivate the most reasonable people to revert to the primitive instinctual part of their personality and into criminal madness.

In each installment, viewers are asked to question the guilty party until the very last moment, exposing further details of gruesome crimes.

Stories featured in the first season include:

“Lust for Murder” 
Saturday, February 9

After her divorce, Stacie Smith is eager to settle into a new home to celebrate Christmas with her children. But three days later, Stacie is found dead in her kitchen. The only trace of the killer is an inflammatory message on the wall that accuses Stacie of infidelity. With the writing on the wall as their first clue, police must unpack the secrets in Stacie’s life to find her murderer.

“History of Violence” 
Saturday, February 16

After a series of bad relationships, Edwardyne Williams thinks she has finally found love with her third husband, Mike. But when 50-year-old Edwardyne goes missing the week after Thanksgiving, family and friends fear the worst. After an exhaustive two-week search, her body is found in an isolated wooded area less than a mile from her home. At first, it appears to be a random act of violence, but as police dig deeper they discover an unlikely suspect with a violent past, who has been holding a grudge against Edwardyne for years.

Courtesy of Investigation Discovery

“Gambling with the Devil”
Saturday, February 23

When Yvonne Oulton fails to show up at the Isle Casino to meet her husband Robert, he and his son become concerned and begin to search for her. Less than a mile from the casino, father and son discover a bludgeoned Yvonne in the back of her minivan. At first it appears to be a robbery, but as police track down the killer, they quickly unearth a series of lies. Fortunately, cameras never lie and there’s a trail of surveillance footage that leads them straight to an unlikely perpetrator.

“Mommy Dearest”
Saturday, March 2

Sara Williamson Raras is a brilliant mathematician who thinks she finally has the life and family she always wanted. But when the 35-year-old is found brutally murdered one year later, the investigation quickly focuses on her estranged husband Alberto. But when Alberto’s alibi checks out, the case goes cold. Months later, a jailhouse snitch reveals new information that points to an unlikely suspect, a person Sara trusted, whom no one would ever expect.

Courtesy of Investigation Discovery

“Murder in the Poconos”
Saturday, March 9

49-year-old volunteer firefighter Benjamin Amato thinks that he’s found true love when he starts dating 28-year-old Cheryl Kunkle. But when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant with his child, the stress breaks the couple apart. A few years later, Benjamin Amato is found dead at the bottom of his basement stairs and suspicion immediately falls on Cheryl. But when her son is convicted of a double homicide, police must reassess everything they thought they knew about Benjamin Amato’s murder and follow a long and winding path to justice.

“Murder on the Homefront”
Saturday, March 16

Brandon Horst and Heather Schwarz are former high school sweethearts who reunite after Brandon’s tour of duty in the Middle East. Elated to be reunited, the couple marries and plans to start a family. But when Heather and Brandon struggle to have a child, the stress and pressure lead to secrets, affairs, and deceit. The many layers of betrayal are ultimately revealed when the St. Paul police are called to the couple’s home in August 2013 to investigate a suspicious death that turns out to be a diabolical homicide.

Heart of Darkness Premieres Saturday, February 9, 9/8c, Investigation Discovery