Root of all Evil

Root of all Evil refers to episode 20 of the Season 6 of the television series Forensic Files which was broadcast for the first time on October 1, 2001.

Plot summary
In 1981, Charlotte Grabbe, wife of prominent Marshall, Illinois farmer Fred Grabbe, disappeared from her farm without a trace. For three years, investigators searched in vain for any trace of Charlotte.

Eventually, Fred Grabbe's former lover came forward with a fantastic tale of rage, murder, mutilation and cremation, but there seemed to be no way to test the validity of her story. That is, until a plant pathologist and a dendrochronologist conducted some tests on the plant life where the cremation supposedly occurred, which led to a surprising revelation.