Cold Case Episode 5.16 Bad Reputation

The hand of a man the police thought was a fugitive since 1997 turns up with no body attached to it. The team learns that a drug dealer had been using the hand for fingerprints and swears the man who the hand belonged to was found dead in 1997.

The man in question is Pete Doyle, a criminal legend in the neighborhood who went away on robbery charges but was later released. Pete tried to live the straight life for the sake of his son but his past kept getting in the way. His ex-wife had remarried and wanted nothing to do with him and warns him to stay away from their son. His teenage son only wants to get to know the legendary father he has heard about all these years only to be disappointed when his father doesn't live up to expectations and his ex-partner in crime wants him back in the robbery game.

The cop who put Pete in jail couldn't wait for him to fail so he could put him back where he belonged. Pete's defeat is complete when he decides to join his ex-partner in another robbery only to learn his son is the brains behind the robbery plan. Pete manages to scare the kid straight before the robbery but everything starts to unravel when he attempts to do the right thing by setting up his partner to be busted by the cop. But unbeknownst to Pete the cop had different plans when he expected Pete to steal the money and bring it to him. When Pete tells him he left the money in the truck the cop decides Pete would be his downfall and he kills Pete.