TELEVISION: 'THE CODE' SHOWS HOW SCHEPER FAMILY MURDERS WERE SOLVED

The 1992 murders of Sherry, Curtis and Randy Scheper in their Cape Girardeau home had detectives stumped until the arrival of a mysterious letter from an informant identifying himself as "Del Orfo."

They located Del Orfo when one of the detectives realized the name might be a code for a telephone number. Del Orfo ultimately implicated three men in the killings.

"The Code," an episode of a new syndicated TV series called "Arrest & Trial," shows how police solved the crime. It will air at 11:35 tonight on ABC station WSIL-TV in Harrisburg, Ill.

"Arrest & Trial" is a "dramatic reality" series combining interviews with key law enforcement figures, dramatizations and news footage. "We show the heroics of the investigators, detectives and prosecutors," said executive producer/director Robert Port from Los Angeles. "We find the investigative process, and what they put themselves through is incredible."

For this episode, the producers interviewed Lt. John Brown and Det. Zeb Williams of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Capt. Jim Keathly of the Missouri Highway Patrol and Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

Co-produced by Dick Wolf of "Law & Order" fame, the show is hosted by actor Brian Dennehy.

Scripting and the best production values set "Arrest & Trial" apart from other reality shows, Port says. "Nobody has ever done a TV show like this before."

The producers find out about cases primarily through law enforcement contacts. They look for cases like the Scheper murders that are turned around by good investigation.

"Truth is stranger than fiction," Port says. "We don't have to make any of this stuff up."

Forty-eight-year-old Gary Roll was executed for the murders on Aug. 30. Two other men, David Rhodes and John Brown, are serving prison sentences. Brown is no relation to the detective.

WHEN TO WATCH:

*WHAT; "Arrest & Trial"

*WHEN: 11:35 tonight

*WHERE: WSIL-TV channel 3 (ABC)