Mike Taibbi reports on Clark Rockefeller who made headlines in 2008 when he was arrested for the parental kidnapping of his daughter who was living in Boston. Police quickly figured out he was a fraud who had conned not only high society, but his wife of twelve years.

It started back in the 1980s while he was living in San Marino, California - Rockefeller had pretended to be Christopher Chichester, thirteenth baronet. This past summer, Rockefeller, who was charged with felony murder for the death of his landlady’s son John Sohus, pled not guilty. Sohus and his wife Linda had gone missing in 1985.

Now, with innovative forensic techniques, new interviews and old witnesses, investigators believe they have enough to build their case against the fake Rockefeller. In fact, this week a judge is holding a hearing to determine whether the prosecution’s case is strong enough to justify putting him on trial.

Buried Secrets airs Friday, January 27th, 2012, at 10pm/9c on Dateline NBC.

When a young woman was found dead in her bathtub, suspicion focused on her husband of 4 months. Did she accidentally drown or was it something more sinister? It took three trials to find out. Dennis Murphy revisits this puzzling case.

The two-hour Dateline update of The Bathtub Mystery airs Sunday, January 22nd, at 7pm/6c.

When a woman is stabbed in a parking lot in Century City, her estranged husband is an obvious suspect. But – surveillance video proves he was not at the scene of the crime. Who killed her and why? Dateline NBC's Josh Mankiewicz reports The Goldfinger Mystery on Friday, January 20th, at 10pm/9c.

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Joran van der Sloot pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday in the 2010 killing of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman.

Van der Sloot, who was arrested but not charged in the 2005 disappearance of 19-year-old Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, admitted killing Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010, after the two left a casino together.

"Yes, I want to plead guilty. I wanted from the first moment to confess sincerely," he told the court. "I truly am sorry for this act. I feel very bad."

The three-judge panel said sentencing would be Friday. Van der Sloot faces up to 30 years in prison for slaying Flores, though the guilty verdict was aimed at winning a lighter sentence.

Flores was killed five years to the day after the disappearance of Holloway, an Alabama woman who was celebrating her high school graduation in Aruba and was seen leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot. Her body has never been found.

Van der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case but he was never charged due to a lack of evidence. Holloway's family has criticized Dutch authorities for not making more progress in the case.

Watch the previous Dateline report Behind Bars: Joran van der Sloot from Friday, September 10th, 2010. 

Keith Morrison reports on a cold case of an 18 year old college freshman who was raped and murdered in an Anchorage state park in 1994. Even though the case went cold, her mother continued the crusade to find the killer.

Justice for Bonnie airs Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 10pm/9c on Dateline NBC.

In "I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down," Jennifer Hudson recounts her journey from her humble beginnings to becoming an international, award-winning superstar. Here's an excerpt:

Introduction

Jennifer! Over here!”
“Jennifer, look this way.”
“Jennifer, Jennifer.”
“Over here!”
“No, over here!”
“Jennifer, turn to the right!”

I always dreamed of someday walking the red carpet in Hollywood. Let’s be real. It’s fun. Everyone there is shouting out your name just to get a glimpse of what you’re wearing. The press asks you to pose, wave, and smile as they snap photo after photo, with flashes popping so bright you can hardly see. It’s a moment in time a girl feels truly beautiful. And on this particular night, I thought I was looking fierce.

It was one of my first red-carpet events. I was a contestant on American Idol, and was living my dream of singing for millions of people on the highest-rated show on television. I was a long way from singing in church and talent shows on the South Side of Chicago. I was excited, taking in the red-carpet finery for the first time. I felt on top of the world.

“Jennifer, are you insecure about being a ‘big girl’ in Hollywood?”

That is, until that question.

Oh, hell no. She didn’t just ask me that.

But she did.

It took me a minute to figure out who the reporter was actually talking to.

Who, me? I thought. Insecure?

Surely, she wasn’t addressing me that way. I had the height of a supermodel, breasts that were naturally big and real, and a God-given shape. Why would I feel insecure about that? I looked around hoping to spot another Jennifer— an insecure “big” girl, but there wasn’t anyone else there.

Nope.

Just me.

Like Randy Jackson said to me after my American Idol audition:

“Welcome to Hollywood, girl!”

PROLOGUE of I Got This by Jennifer Hudson © 2012. Reprinted with permission of Dutton, a member of Penguin Group U.S.A.

Learn more about the Julian D. King Gift Foundation, as part of Dateline NBC's interivew with singer and actress Jennifer Hudson from Sunday, January 8th, 2012.

 Visit the foundation's Facebook page or website for more information about its mission:

The mission of the Julian D. King Gift Foundation is to provide stability and positive experiences for children of all backgrounds so that they may grow to become productive, confident and happy adults, able to be positive influences on their communities. The work of the Foundation will be carried out through fund raising events, the content and proceeds of which will be used to support and encourage the positive development of children.

In an exclusive interview, Lester Holt interviews Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson whose new book I Got This, hits shelves January 10. The two talk about her weight loss and healthy living tips as they cook together; Hudson also discloses details of her upcoming nuptials, the Julian D. King Gift Foundation she started in her nephew’s honor, and more.

Also on Dateline Sunday, secrets in a small town can only stay hidden for so long. Keith Morrison reports on the story of Teresa Mayfield, a mother of three who was found dead in her car off a lonely dirt road. Two years after her death there was still no arrest in the case. But then,  strange sequence of events led investigators to an unlikely suspect.

Join us for a two-hour Dateline Sunday beginning at 7pm/6c.

To hear some folks tell it, cruising is one of the safest forms of travel in the world.

To others, it’s an exceedingly risky proposition where you run the risk of robbery, sexual assault and death.

The truth? Few really know and those that do, aren’t talking.

The subject of the relative safety of cruising is once again in the news. On Nov. 22, Kert Clyde Jordan, 35, of Grenada was charged  with engaging in a sexual act with a minor while he was employed as a waiter on the Carnival Liberty.

That news comes on the heels of several other incidents, including an outbreak of Norovirus that sickened 148 on Holland America’s Ryndam, the death of a Celebrity Eclipse passenger after a parasailing accident in the U.S. Virgin Islands and reports of a dead newborn found on the Carnival Dream in mid-October.

Worse, say industry critics, such seemingly isolated incidents are indicative of a much larger problem. “I would say that what the cruise industry claims [in terms of passenger safety] doesn’t correspond with the reality,” said Ross Klein, a professor at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and the publisher of CruiseJunkie.com.

“It’s probably a little better than it was in previous years,” said Klein, “but it still has a long way to go.”

That gap was supposed to be closed with the passage of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act last year. In addition to mandating 42-inch guardrails, peepholes in all passengers’ and crewmembers’ doors and on-deck video surveillance, the law also seeks to improve the process by which cruise lines report thefts, sexual assaults and other alleged crimes to the Coast Guard and FBI.

But despite the new law, the way incidents are reported is already generating controversy.

“The number of cases reported are in line with those reported in previous years and are fully in keeping with the requirements of the law,” said Lanie Morgenstern, director of communications for the Cruise Lines International Association, a cruise industry trade group.

Not so, counters Kendall Carver, chairman of the International Cruise Victims Association: “Instead of reporting all alleged crimes as required by law, they’re only reporting cases where the FBI opens a file and decides to take action — minus cases that are still open,” he told msnbc.com.

According to Carver, whose daughter, Merrian, disappeared from the Celebrity Mercury in 2004, the problem is much larger than the posted numbers suggest.

As evidence, he points to historical data that shows at least 100 alleged crimes per quarter on board cruise ships as recently as 2007–2008. By comparison, the most recent reports, which are compiled by the FBI and posted online by the Coast Guard, show six incidents in the second quarter of 2011 and none in the third quarter.

Part of the discrepancy lies in the way the numbers are reported. “There is potentially a slight disconnect between the number the public sees, which is the number of closed cases, and the number of cases that actually occur,” said Alana Juteau, spokesperson for Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), who introduced the bill. “There could be many open but those numbers don’t go on the website.”

Cases in point: Neither Kert Clyde Jordan’s alleged sexual assault nor the dead newborn found on Carnival Dream would show up in the statistics. Nor will the FBI discuss the cases due to their open status.

“The reporting of an incident doesn’t automatically mean there’s been a crime,” said Kurt Schmidt, a supervisory special agent in the Bureau’s violent crimes unit. “If someone is saying that we’re supposed to report all incidents, that’s not true.”

What is true is that when it comes to determining the number of onboard incidents, there’s a gap in the new law that you could steer a cruise ship through. On the one hand, the cruise lines are required to record all onboard complaints; on the other, the FBI is only empowered to report cases that are no longer under investigation.

So what’s a concerned cruiser to do? Given the disconnect between reporting and recording, the scale of the problem will remain a point of contention. As result, potential cruisers would be wise to take the precautions necessary to ensure their own safety and security:

• Sexual assault: “Public restrooms are a significant risk factor,” said Klein. “A woman should never go into a public bathroom alone after midnight.”
• Physical violence: “If someone is being belligerent or in your face, walk away,” he said. “It’s not worth ruining your vacation.”
• Robbery: Don’t flash large amounts of cash or expensive jewelry and be extra cautious about big winnings in the casino. “Big winners are targets,” said Charles Lipcon, a maritime lawyer and the author of “Unsafe on the High Seas: Your Guide to a Safer Cruise.”
• Child safety: Despite the “happy bubble” atmosphere on board cruise ships, the reality is that they’re like floating cities full of strangers from around the world. “If you were in a city, would you let your 13-year-old go walking around alone at midnight?” asks Lipcon. “I don’t think so.”
• Foodborne illnesses: Norovirus and other gastrointestinal problems are transmitted via fecal-oral contact, which is why it’s important to wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face. Furthermore, advises Klein, “Avoid foods that people can get without using utensils.”
• Shore-based accidents: When it comes to parasailing, ziplining and other activities, be cognizant of your own physical limitations. “Be aware of your normal activity levels,” said Klein. “If you’re not likely to do it at home, don’t do it on vacation.”

And, finally, says Lipcon, be aware that the best defense is simple common sense: “Keep in mind that 10 to 12 million people go on cruises every year and, for most of them, it’s very safe,” he told msnbc.com. “The No. 1 thing I see where people get into trouble is when they just do something really dumb.”

More stories you might like:

• Woman killed after falling off Queen Mary
• End of tummy trouble? Norovirus vaccine in the works
• TripAdvisor goes solo while start-ups stake their claim

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

George Smith and Jennifer Hagel went on a cruise for their honeymoon and when George went overboard, they had only been married for 10 days. Dennis Murphy tells the story of an active, ongoing investigation whereby FBI agents won’t talk on the record. However, the cruise line, Royal Caribbean has conducted its own internal investigation and “Dateline” has the exclusive update about what happened aboard the ship in the early hours of July 5, 2005.

Overboard airs Friday, January 6, at 10pm/9c.

How long does it take a killer to stop worrying about whether he'll ever be caught? A couple of weeks? A couple of months? 25 years? If he's still a free man then he's probably pretty sure he did, indeed, get away with murder. Detectives retire. Witnesses forget. The trail grows cold, never to warm up again. Until, one day, it does.

Keith Morrison with the story of a "Deadly Triangle," tonight at 10pm/9c on Dateline NBC.

Telling the story of the larger struggle in the American economy to lower unemployment, Lester Holt reports from Millen, Georgia, a small industrial town so devastated by the Great Recession, its unemployment numbers peaked at 21% - more than twice the national average. Between 2007 and 2009 all the factories that kept Millen running and prosperous closed shop or moved overseas. 1,300 people lost their jobs. Caught full-force in this economic tsunami, restauranteur Krystal Chance, banker Sandy Becton, and a single mother and former factory worker Kimberly Thompson, desperately struggle to survive and support their families. Facing a national crisis that has become deeply personal, they manage to persevere with inspiring determination, optimism and pride.

Dateline NBC's Lester Holt reports The Town That Jobs Forgot on Friday, December 23rd, at 10pm/9c.