The Cold Case Files: Operation Jambalaya/Christmas Eve Killer

Examines "cold cases" -- homicides and other crimes that go unsolved for many years. "Operation Jambalaya" examines the 1992 case of Marilyn Allen, a woman found strangled to death in Camp Pendleton, a Marine base north of San Diego. Years later, a woman came forward with information that her former boyfriend might be the killer. A New Orleans police officer, working with Naval investigators, went undercover on a Baton Rouge riverboat where suspect Roosevelt Gipson worked. Two weeks after he began playing his role as a bitter woman hater, the officer got a detailed confession from Gipson. Gipson was sentenced to 11 years. "The Christmas Eve Killer" examines the case of a man found dead on Christmas Eve 1987 in a Mauston, Wisconsin, city park. There was little physical evidence except three sets of footprints leading to the park pavilion, and two sets going away. A woman told stories that implicated a local bartender, but none of her stories could be corroborated and many were proven false. The case went cold until 1995. Investigators suspected the woman was lying to protect her brother. When confronted with evidence, he eventually broke down and admitted his involvement.