Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Catching Killers’ Season 3 on Netflix, Where Catchers Themselves Recount Their Efforts To Track And Capture Serial Killers

Catching Killers returns to Netflix for a third four-episode season in its familiar format, interviewing law enforcement professionals about their personal experiences with the tracking down and apprehension of vicious serial killers. Like previous installments that focused on infamous cases like those of Aileen Wuornos or BTK, Season 3 of Catching Killers features episodes about the widely roaming “Railroad Killer,” the “New York” Zodiac Killer in 1990s, the FBI’s search for the Olympic bomber in 1996, and the massive manhunt that ensnared the DC Sniper in 2002.

CATCHING KILLERS – SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: In an aerial shot, a freight train rattles across the vast flatland of far northeast Texas. It’s 1998.  

The Gist: In a little Texas town like Hughes Springs, the police chief knows every citizen by name. And so Randy Kennedy took it personally when a routine wellness check on an elderly local resident revealed that she’d been beaten to death in her home. “Why did you murder her?” Kennedy, in an interview with Catching Killers producers, remembers thinking about the unknown perpetrator of the grisly scene. “I decided I am going to bring whoever did this to justice. If it’s the last thing I do, I am going to find you.” 

Kennedy’s murder investigation in Hughes Springs was significant, because it connected the killer’s MO to a range of similar unsolved cases. All of the victims lived near railroad tracks, which provided access and escape; they were bludgeoned to death with blunt instruments, like tire irons, heavy decorative figurines, sledgehammers, and pickaxes; their identification was left out in specific display; and meals were consumed at the crime scenes, with remnants blatantly left behind. After two such cases were linked across the Lone Star State, the Texas Rangers were called in to join the investigation, with Ranger Drew Carter in the lead. By June 1999, five victims were linked to the murderer now known as “The Railroad Killer,” and it was officially a series. But authorities were no closer to catching their quarry. 

Carter and FBI special agents Kim Barkhausen and Thomas McClenaghan are interviewed extensively in Catching Killers, and as DNA and fingerprint evidence gives them a person of interest – Angel Maturino Resendiz – it becomes a race against time to locate him across a network of US railroad track 140,000 miles strong, as even more of the murders he committed are revealed. And with increased media attention, including the involvement of America’s Most Wanted and its call centers in logging nationwide tips, Carter and Barkhausen eventually run point on personally connecting with Resendiz’ family members in order to facilitate his surrender and confession.  

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? With its straightforward presentation – interviews with police and FBI personnel drive the story forward, with the support of a moody musical soundtrack – Catching Killers can often suggest a true crime podcast more than it does other small screen offerings. Which of course does not mean in any way that Netflix and other streamers aren’t packed with true crime content. The former features I Am a Killer, which shifts the perspective on violent crimes from pursuer to perpetrator, while Paramount+ recently debuted FBI True, with special agents recounting some of their biggest cases. (Like Killers, True devotes an episode to the Beltway sniper case.)  

Our Take: Catching Killers keeps things close to the bone. At the center of its narrative are the local and federal authorities who conducted the investigations it profiles, and they’re presented as real people, with real feelings and natural reactions to the often heinous actions of the murderers they’re chasing. They’re not just a guy in a police uniform, just a Ranger in his traditional white Stetson hat, or just a federal agent wearing a suit and a frown, delivering detached official statements on this or that case. By allowing these individuals the space to describe in their own worlds the cases they were involved in, Catching Killers illustrates the humanity beyond their vocation, and it draws its own strength from what they describe.

Those interviews are certainly the high point of the docuseries. But Killers also scores points for not leaning too heavily on reenactments, which if not nailed visually or tonally can actually serve to remove viewers from a narrative. The reenactments that do appear here are subtle, and effectively combine with news reports and other archival media material to fill out the visuals around the interviewees’ recollections. Other takes on these notorious and awful crimes, from the killer’s families, or their victims’ loved ones, or even the murderers themselves, will have to be explored elsewhere. And in today’s industry of true crime content, they probably will be. But Catching Killers is all about that verb in its title, and the experience of the investigation in first-person memory, which is rewarding in its format simplicity.

Sex and Skin: Resendiz’ sexual assault of his victims is discussed in context as police and FBI officials gather DNA evidence against him. 

Parting Shot: As postscripts reveal that Resendiz was convicted of capital murder in Texas and executed by lethal injection in 2006, police chief Randy Kennedy is seen placing a bouquet of flowers on the gravestone of the serial killer’s Hughes Springs victim. 

Sleeper Star: Drew Carter proves to be both your quintessential Texas Ranger and a bit of a character. When asked by the producers whether the scope and severity of the Railroad Killer’s crimes precipitated the need to involve federal authorities, Carter’s personal and organizational pride is pricked, and he offers a scowly grin. “I don’t know if I can say we need the FBI…”

Most Pilot-y Line: Former FBI special agent Kim Barkhausen acknowledges the challenges to maintaining a healthy work-life balance when you’re involved in a major murder investigation. “But making sure another family isn’t victimized becomes very important.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Catching Killers offers a streamlined take on the crowded true crime genre, focusing each 45-minute episode on the experiences of law enforcement personnel who were directly involved in the nabbing of notorious murderers. 

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges