Investigation Discovery's newest series, "Most Likely To...", takes an interesting twist on the true crime series: it tells the stories of high school's best and brightest (those voted by their classmates as "Most likely to succeed," etc.) whose lives go way off track.

Tomorrow night's episode, told through dramatic reenactments, is about a a high school superstar from Fayetteville who became a Special Forces officer -- and ended up murdering his mistress's husband.

John Diamond was convicted in 2001 of the 2000 murder of Marty Theer at the behest of Theer's wife Michelle Theer, with whom Diamond was having an affair. Michelle Theer disappeared before she could be indicted, and by the time authorities caught up with her, she had undergone plastic surgery to alter her appearance.

The episode includes interviews with John Diamond's parents, George and Christen Diamond; his sister, Deborah Dvorak; Danilio Dirico, who served with John in the Army; Paul Woolverton, who covered the case for The Fayetteville Observer; Debbie Layton-Tholl, a clinical psychologist; and Gregory Butler, an assistant district attorney.

Investigation Discovery really loves this case because they featured it over a year ago in their series "Sins & Secrets."

The Theer/Diamond episode of "Most Likely To..." airs Wednesday night at 9.

In this area, Investigation Discovery airs on channels 251 and 1251 on Time Warner Cable; channels 285 and 1285 on DirecTV; channels 260 and 1260 on AT&T U-Verse; and 192 on Dish Network.

Investigation Discovery will air an episode of "Blood Relatives" Friday night that tells the story the murder of Nancy Britt, a Cary resident and former Wake County Teacher of the Year, who was slain while visiting her sister in Lumberton in 2003.

Nancy's husband Myron Britt was convicted of murdering her in 2009 for the insurance money.

"Blood Relatives" presents a highly dramatized retelling of true crimes, with a "Desperate Housewives" type narration and score. They use actors to recreate dramatic scenes and elements of the crime.

A press release from Discovery describes Cary as a "beautiful seaside town," but it doesn't appear to be presented as a seaside town in the show. The town -- or at least the stock footage of some town -- does look very beautiful, though!

The episode includes interviews with Donnie Douglas, a neighbor and reporter; Johnson Britt, the Robeson County District Attorney who prosecuted the case; Steve Sutton, the lead investigator on the case (now retired); Robin Burcell, a crime writer; and Bryan Mims, a news editor at WRAL who reported on the case.

The episode airs at 9 p.m. on Investigation Discovery.

Investigation Discovery airs on channels 251 and 1251 on Time Warner Cable; channels 285 and 1285 on DirecTV; channels 260 and 1260 on AT&T U-verse; and channel 192 on Dish Network.

The 2003 murder of Durham cellist Janine Sutphen will be the subject of an Investigation Discovery program Saturday night.

"Deadly Affairs," a true crime show hosted by soap opera actress Susan Lucci, will exam the case of Sutphen, a teacher and cellist with the Durham Symphony who was murdered by her husband Robert Petrick (right) two years after their marriage.

Petrick was convicted in 2005 of strangling Sutphen and dumping her body in a lake. He is currently serving life without parole.

"Deadly Affairs" airs at 10 p.m. Saturday on Investigation Discovery.

Investigation Discovery airs on channels 251 and 1251 on Time Warner Cable; channels 285 and 1285 on DirecTV; channels 260 and 1260 on AT&T U-verse; and channel 192 on Dish Network.

Staff photo by Julian Harrison

We all wish for happily ever afters, but we get a kick out of watching love gone wrong. That's where shows like "Deadly Affairs" (10 tonight, Investigation Discovery) come in. Love doesn't just go wrong in these re-enactments, love kills.

So each episode features two real-life stories of love triangles that ended in murder. Actual friends and family discuss the cases along with journalists and law officers. Actors depict the affairs, arguments, deaths.

Hosting it all is "All My Children" icon Susan Lucci. The funny thing is she's playing Erica Kane, vamping it up, talking about her numerous husbands, and narrating each story with cheesy lines. It's like live-action pulp fiction.

It's all pretty routine; in a world where the Drew Peterson case makes national news, the story of the seemingly loving husband who kills his wife to be with his mistress isn't all that special. It's Lucci's presence and arch and campy comments that make the whole thing a little special, and fun, which is sort of sad when you think about the idea of making murder entertaining.
 

Two North Carolina murder cases, both most famous for their wrongful convictions and for the long prison terms served by those convicted, are examined tonight on Investigation Discovery and on WRAL.

The Investigation Discovery channel will devote tonight's episode of "Cold Blood" to the 1982 murder of Deborah Sykes in Winston-Salem. Darryl Hunt (right) was charged and convicted of the brutal murder in 1984, but Hunt didn't commit the crime. He served nearly 20 years in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2004.

Tonight's episode features interviews with Hunt, a friend of Sykes, Sgt. Chuck Byrom of the Winston-Salem Police Department, attorney Mark Rabil, and former Winston-Salem Journal reporter Phoebe Zerwick.

I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to screen this entire episode, but Fayetteville is once again in the spotlight in a true crime show on the Investigation Discovery channel.

Tonight's episode of Sins & Secrets" looks at the 2000 murder of Air Force Capt. Marty Theer. Theer's wife Michelle was eventually convicted of planning the murder, which was carried about by her Army Ranger boyfriend. 

"Sins & Secrets" is a series that profiles a different notorious crime in each episode, but casts the city in which the crime took place as another character in the story. So tonight's story -- told through dramatic re-enactments and interviews with local officials and journalists -- will have a good bit of Fayetteville history sprinkled in.

Click below to read more and to watch a video preview of tonight's episode.

A new true crime series debuting on the Investigation Discovery channel tonight puts the spotlight on a salacious story of murder and sex in Fayetteville.

"Scorned: Love Kills" (10 p.m., Investigation Discovery) opens with the story of the 2002 murder of U.S. Army Special Forces Maj. David Shannon. David and his wife Joan Shannon (left) were involved in the "swinging" lifestyle in Fayetteville (members of the "Fayetteville Gang Bangers," no less) but things got out of hand when Joan fell in love with one of her conquests and wanted out of her marriage. And since stupid people think murder is easier and cheaper than divorce, she started planning his death.

The grossest thing about this case is that Joan Shannon involves one of her teenage daughters in her plot.

Suvivor: South Pacific (8pm, CBS) - Members of the jury interview the final three castaways before voting for the winner. This takes two hours. The winner is announced in the "Survivor Reunion" show at 10pm.

Downton Abbey (8pm, UNC-TV) - UNC-TV begins repeats of one of the best TV shows of the year tonight. If you missed it earlier, set your DVRs right now. Tonight we get the first two episodes of this 4-episode series, which follows the entailment woes of Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, right), his wife (Elizabeth McGovern, right), their three daughters, and his mother (Maggie Smith). It's way better than I've made it sound here. Just trust me on this one. (Note: episode 3 will air on Dec. 25 and episode 4 will air on Jan. 1. Season 2 begins on Jan. 8.)

Allen Gregory (8:30pm, Fox) - In the series finale, Allen woos Principal Gottlieb with bribery. No second season for this stinker.

Dexter (9pm, Showtime) - In the sixth season finale, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and the Homicide department try to stop the Doomsday Killers from committing one final murder, while Debra deals with a new emotional situation.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (9pm, ABC) - A vindictive Jack Frost (Martin Short) wreaks havoc at the North pole for Santa (Tim Allen) in the third installment in the "Santa Clause" franchise.

Homeland (10pm, Showtime) - In the Season 1 finale, a near catatonic Carrie (Claire Danes) is confined to bed as Saul (Mandy Patinkin) puzzles over the unnerving implications of her timeline. Meanwhile, Walker settles on a perch from which to complete his mission, and Brody (Damien Lewis) preps for the vice president's policy summit. Great first season -- so glad it's coming back for a second.

On the Case with Paula Zahn (10pm, Investigation Discovery) - A look at the 2008 murder of Lucy Johnson in Gastonia. The pregnant mother of two was found shot twice in the head in her burning home, and her family and friends pointed police to several possible suspects. The 31-year-old ER nurse was twice divorced and embroiled in a custody battle with an ex-boyfriend. But as the investigation unfolded, police stunned everyone by zeroing in on the most unlikely of targets.

All-American Muslim (10pm, TLC) - Lowe's may not like it, but series goes on. Tonight, the end of the month of Ramadan means Coach Zaban's team is no longer fasting, but their playoff hopes may also be over if they don't win their next game.

A true crime program airing tonight on Investigation Discovery will tell the story of the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson from the perspective of Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin Atwater.

Kathleen Peterson's husband Michael Peterson (left) was convicted in 2003 of murdering her in their Durham home.

Peterson is currently seeking a new trial. A hearing on that is scheduled for next month.

"The Devil You Know," airing at 10 p.m., features interviews with Atwater, as well as Art Holland of the Durham Police Department, and Fred Atwater, Kathleen's first husband.

The episode airing tonight is called "Stairway to Hell." (The murder trial was the subject of a 2004 documentary by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade called "The Staircase.")

"The Devil You Know" describes itself as a series that "delves into the secret lives of men and women who masquerade as law-abiding citizens but, behind the charade, are hiding deadly intentions from their loved ones." The shows offers first-hand accounts from friends and family members to tell the stories.

Investigation Discovery airs on 251 and 1251 on Time Warner Cable. On DirecTV you'll find it on 285 and 1285; AT&T U-Verse has it on 260 and 1260; Dish Network has it on 192.

At least in concept, "The Injustice Files" (Investigation Discovery, 9 tonight) is one of those shows that the noble among us think television minds should be producing.

As the title suggests, the show opens the file on unsolved cases; here, that means the investigations in the Civil Rights-Era Cold Case Initiative, a unit charged with looking at racially-motivated homicide investigations that happened before 1970.

For the show, the FBI's Cynthia Deitle partners with African-American documentary filmmaker Keith Beauchamp, who helped uncover new facts in the 1955 Emmett Till murder. Beauchamp, it's hoped, can get people to talk that haven't yet, thus giving the families of the murdered justice.