CRIMES OF LOVE AND PASSION ARE UNLEASHED IN INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY'S NEW SERIES "HEART OF DARKNESS"

The six-episode true-crime mystery series premieres on February 9th at 9/8ct

(New York, NY) -What if your closest loved ones were monsters in disguise? What if everything you thought you knew about love was wrong? Investigation Discovery (ID), America's leading destination for true-crime programming, announced today the premiere of the six-part series HEART OF DARKNESS, a series about love, hate, and how trust can shatter in an instant. Episodes detail casualties of love, including former partners, jealous friends, scorned sons and daughters, and devoted family members. Twisting through hidden affairs, love triangles and family secrets, HEART OF DARKNESS shows the transfixing power of emotion and how it can beckon the most reasonable people into criminal madness. HEART OF DARKNESS premieres on Saturday, February 9th at 9/8PM CT only on Investigation Discovery.

HEART OF DARKNESS proves that love is never predictable, and sometimes the most dangerous people are the ones you least expect. Each episode begs viewers to question the guilty party until the very last moment, exposing further details of bone-chilling crimes. Stories featured in the first season of HEART OF DARKNESS include:

LUST FOR MURDER

Airdate: Saturday, February 9 at 9pm ET

Location: St. Albans, WV

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

Airdate: Saturday, February 16 at 9pm ET

Location: Hope Mills, NC

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.

GAMBLING WITH THE DEVIL

Airdate: Saturday, February 23 at 9pm ET

Location: Pompano Beach, FL

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

Airdate: Saturday, March 2 at 9pm ET

Location: Elkridge, MD

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.

MURDER IN THE POCONOS

Airdate: Saturday, March 9 at 9pm ET

Location: Brodheadsville, PA

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

Airdate: Saturday, March 16 at 9pm ET

Location: St Paul, MN

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 is produced for Investigation Discovery by Talos Films. At Talos Films Julian P. Hobbs, Elli Hakami and Thomas Latter are executive producers and Elissa Halperin serves as supervising producer. For Investigation Discovery Liz Massie is executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager and Henry Schleiff is Group President of Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel American Heroes Channel and Destination America.

ABOUT INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY (ID)

Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading crime and justice network on television, delivering the highest-quality programming to approximately 85 million U.S. households. From harrowing crimes to in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries behind these "real people, real stories", the always revealing network challenges our understanding of culture, society and the human condition. The #1 network for women in all of cable, ID's programming is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD), as well as anytime and anywhere through the network's TV Everywhere offering, IDGo. For exclusive web content and bonus material, fans can follow ID on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or check out the network's true crime blog, CrimeFeed.

Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Available in 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. For additional information about ID, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com