Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s02e13 Episode Script
See Me
In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
How long was Mr.
Richter your patient? A little over 10 years.
It's imperative that I get in touch with him.
This new information directly impacts his condition.
This new information you can't tell me about.
You never did say what your specialty was.
I'm a psychiatrist.
And how did you find out Mr.
Richter was my patient? Did you snoop through confidential records? - Dr.
Dysart - Dr.
Roland, I think Mr.
Richter probably had good reason to stop seeing you.
I need to see him, Mr.
Garcia.
I am his doctor.
He's never mentioned you.
Why don't we ask him? Is he here? Derek, this man needs to go.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
Can I leave him a note? Jeff.
Jeff.
It's me, Michael.
Hey, did you get my note? I don't want to talk to you.
Do you still like steak? There's a place right over on Lexington Listen, you just stay away.
I faxed that note to Katherine B.
Thompson.
She's at the New York Times.
You can tell me all about it right over Don't touch me.
Don't ever touch me! Jeff.
If he ever touches me again, I'll kill him.
Come on, man, let's go back Inside.
Say goodbye to Grandma.
I can't believe she's gone.
It's just me now.
You have us.
You have Matthew.
Come on, Maisy, one bush is as good as the next.
Tough doggie.
Finally.
Law & Order CI No wallet, no ID in the pocket.
You checked the dog tags? Oh, right.
I'm waiting on that.
Major Case catching muggings now, huh? Only the ones in the Mayor's backyard.
We're ready for that witness.
I count 11 knife wounds to the chest, shoulders, neck.
None on the hands or arms.
No defensive wounds.
He's got knife strikes coming at him from all sides.
He would have put his arms up to protect himself.
And look at the way he's tangled up in these vines.
I don't know.
This guy was disoriented.
Maybe because somebody was trying to kill him.
Yeah, but he didn't do the things that might have saved him.
You found the body? Yeah, I was jogging.
His dog jumped out of the bushes.
You ever seen him? Yeah, just before I decided to turn around and go home, around 10:00.
Is there a particular reason why you turned around and went home? Lightning.
Dry lightning.
I caught a flash out of the corner of my eye.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
I got an address for Maisy's owner.
- Dr.
Michael Roland, over on York.
- Thanks.
Dry lightning? In the park? Behind Gracie Mansion? Is that where he usually walks your dog? Yes.
It's just so close.
Oh, my God, Michael.
We're very sorry.
He ever mention any problems with his psychiatric patients, any threats? No.
What did you think when your husband didn't come home? I didn't know what to think.
Did you think that he wasn't walking the dog? He'd been out of the office a lot, in the mornings, or in the middle of the afternoon.
He always had an excuse.
People have been coming over, bringing food.
Yes.
My mother passed away.
The service was two days ago.
Well, that must've been very stressful for you and your husband.
Yes.
Yes, it was.
OFFICE OF DR.
MICHAEL ROLAND WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 I don't know what problems Dr.
Roland was having at home, but I can guarantee he was not having an affair.
I'm not opening these files.
And I'm not giving you the password for his computer.
Dr.
Roland would want his patients' privacy protected.
Even if one of his patients tried to kill him? His patients are neurotic, not psychotic.
You logged on to his computer this morning, after we called you.
- I did not.
- Says right here you did.
See, I can't open his folders, but I can get a record of when somebody last logged on.
So you, what? You tried to erase his stash of dirty little pictures? - Compromising e-mails? - Absolutely not.
Maybe she erased her own naughty things.
Were you having a You know, fooling around with Dr.
Roland? I didn't erase anything.
His lawyer told me to save everything till he could look at it.
There.
That e-mail from Dr.
Roland's internet server.
"To user M.
Roland, the New York Attorney General's office has notified us" "of your unauthorized attempts to access NYMEDD.
" That's the Medicaid database.
He was trying to hack into it? Medicaid said Roland was looking for the records of somebody named Jeff Richter.
- Roland's secretary's never heard of him.
- Have we? There's a Jeff Richter with the same social security number Roland used for his search.
He's got a three-year-old assault charge.
Bring him in.
Easier said.
His last known's no good.
BCI doesn't have them.
Neither does the DMV, Con Ed Look what he gives as his occupation when he was booked.
"De-programmed CIA assassin.
" This guy's got problems.
He doesn't want to be found.
Probably resents people who try.
Well, he'd better get over it.
Put an APB out to the homeless shelters.
Right.
Okay, all right, thank you.
The weather service says no reports of lightning last night.
When did Roland hack the Medicaid database? About three months ago.
It's right after his mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer.
Derek saw him just before 9:00.
He was going up to his room.
Nobody saw him after that.
They say the doctor was stabbed 11 times.
He can do that.
You know he can do that.
I know.
We have to protect ourselves.
Derek and me will take care of it.
Don't worry.
Work will go on.
Cinderblock.
I know Cinderblock rooms.
How many floors underground are we? We're 11 floors up, Jeff.
Didn't you see the buttons on the elevator? Up is down.
Down is up.
I know the tricks.
- You're him.
He's you.
- And who's he? I don't know him.
You don't know Michael Roland, your own brother-in-law? Oh, I know that guy.
But that's a facsimile of that guy.
North Koreans have been turning out facsimiles for years.
When's the last time you saw this facsimile? Last week at the Garcia House.
He gave me a note about a funeral.
Your mother's funeral.
The whole thing was a trap.
You lived at the Garcia House on 117th? Yeah, before the facsimile blew my cover.
They asked me to leave so innocent people wouldn't be hurt.
That's the price you pay when you work for the CIA.
You were still at Garcia House Thursday night? Yes.
I ate spaghetti.
I had a smoke on the stoop and I went to bed.
Anybody see you on that stoop? Millions of people.
It's a big city.
No, I see what you're doing, Jeff.
You're using backward logic.
Like, only sick people take pills, so if I stop taking pills, I I won't be sick.
You follow? I take my pills.
Yes.
You didn't have anything on you when they picked you up at the shelter.
And we looked up your Medicaid account.
No charges in over a year.
That's a lie.
I take my pills.
See for yourself.
You know, I know it's hard to stay on your meds.
It's like your head is, you know, wrapped in a wet blanket.
But if you go off, then, well, that's when the trouble starts.
Most schizophrenics aren't violent.
But sometimes you are.
That's why they asked you to leave Garcia House? It was to protect the innocent.
From you.
Because you were starting fights.
I was not.
I take my meds.
Geodon.
I take Geodon.
Come on, Jeff.
You even got into a fight Thursday night.
You went for a walk.
I don't go out nights.
You ran into Michael and his dog.
I tell you, I don't go out at night.
It's too dark.
I don't like it.
I like your socks.
Where'd you get them? The mission.
Lucky you found a matching pair.
Yeah.
He squints.
He doesn't like going out at night.
He can't distinguish shades.
He's got nyctalopia, night blindness.
He wouldn't have attacked Roland at night, he would've waited for daytime.
Maybe under normal circumstances, but this guy hasn't taken his meds in over a year.
Well, that's another thing.
Geodon only came out on the market last year.
The only way he'd know about it is if he was taking it.
His fairy godmother must be paying for it because there's no record Medicaid is.
There's no record of Richter anywhere this past year.
He took himself off the radar.
More than likely someone else did.
My bet, it wasn't the North Koreans.
Richter applied for a new social security number last year.
He said he was being stalked.
That's his supporting documentation.
Five pages, typed, single spaced.
I think he had help.
Medicaid ran his new social security number.
Besides his meds, they pay for his chiropractor twice a week, his dentist, once a week, eye doctor, art therapy, podiatrist, dermatologist.
That guy's sicker than he looks.
Let's find out.
Jeff, how you feeling? Pretty good.
How's your sciatica? Medicaid says you see a chiropractor for sciatica nerve problems in your left leg.
Oh, that's all better.
Your feet? Says here you see a podiatrist.
I have bad arches.
Can we see your feet? These dogs don't look so bad.
What else does your doctor do besides clean your feet? Nothing.
My arches still hurt.
I told Mr.
Garcia.
Still, you have to admit, my feet look pretty good.
They should, at 500 bucks a visit.
GARCIA HOUSE HOMELESS SHELTER FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6 I had a chat with that doctor.
Our medical advisory board said his fees and methods were pretty standard.
This is your advisory board here? And lots of heavy hitters.
How's Jeff? We've been so worried about him since he ran away.
He told us he was asked to leave.
We don't turn anybody away.
When we bring people in off the street, we make them a promise, they'll always have a home.
And you served spaghetti for dinner Thursday night? That sounds right.
And after dinner Jeff likes to have a smoke on the stoop.
I kind of lost track of Jeff that night.
We don't do bed checks, so all I can say is, I don't I didn't see him.
And what about you, Mrs.
Garcia? I was upstairs in our rooms.
All right.
Well, so, maybe Jeff was here, you know, maybe he wasn't.
Did he do any of these? No.
Our other residents.
We take them to art therapy twice a week.
Oh.
Emily LeCroix, what was she diagnosed with? Schizophrenia.
- Really? - Yes.
It's a wonderful painting, so full of hope.
Well, it certainly is, um, you know, full of something.
That's my favorite.
Carol James.
- Let me guess.
- The lady has bipolar disorder.
My mother's roommate at Carmel Ridge, she's bipolar.
She paints fruit, too.
But, you know, bright blue apples, hot pink bananas.
Her paintings are raw.
They're filled with energy.
She's, she's driven to express herself.
I didn't see any of that in that painting.
And the kids on the beach? Well, schizophrenics are Well, they typically focus on the eyes.
Would have been the children's eyes, the dog's.
No, I think the Garcias probably bought those paintings at a garage sale.
The Garcias charged Medicaid 200 bucks a week for Jeff's art therapy classes.
Plus 50 bucks transportation.
You feel like sticking around for their next field trip? They drove around for half an hour and then went back to Garcia House.
Well, they let one of them out.
He had to go to the bathroom, so they let him take a pee off the pier.
Off the pier? That's compassion.
Compassion has its rewards.
At 50 bucks a head, the Garcias can charge Medicaid 800 bucks for transportation.
If there is fraud and Dr.
Roland found out Well, the Garcias could have had one of their counselors take care of him.
If fraud there is.
What do you call Jeff Richter's $500 pedicures? The art classes he doesn't remember attending? That's your star witness, Jeff Richter, the one-time murder suspect? You'd use him to impugn the characters of two advocates of the homeless who've earned the respect of the people of this city? We've seen their press clippings.
Good.
I won't go near a grand jury if your only evidence is the ramblings of a lone, deranged individual.
How about the ramblings of 10 deranged individuals? What the hell did you get me into? You lumped me in with those quacks.
I'm just saying, Doc, everybody's got to get their stories straight.
My patients need to continue their treatment.
Which brings me to my last point, your last state check should have come in.
You need to settle up.
How much do you want? What the hell are you doing? I can't take a personal check.
A money order, Doc, same as always.
I have a patient waiting.
TOMPKINS SQUARE MONDAY, DECEMBER 9 You're Emily LeCroix.
I saw your painting at the Garcia House, the kids on the beach with the dog.
No, I didn't do that.
Well, Mrs.
Garcia said you painted that at your art therapy class.
No.
I don't like dogs at all.
Do you take art therapy classes? Oh, yes.
I went last Saturday.
What do you do in these classes? We painted an office.
You mean you painted a mural on a wall? Well, sure, we painted the walls.
We painted them white.
But Mr.
Garcia said that's what his friend wanted, white walls.
Is that what they have you do in these classes, paint walls? And ceilings.
It's very therapeutic.
Thanks, Emily.
Let's hear what the others have to say.
This is Mr.
Biagiotti.
Tell them where they take you every week for drama therapy.
Downtown to watch a show.
Tell them what kind of show.
You know, a TV show.
Care to know how much the Garcias charge Medicaid for this drama therapy? I can only guess.
Mr.
Biagiotti told me the Garcias had him change his social security number.
You'll have warrants by the end of the day.
I don't care what this says.
You can't come in like this.
Our residents / That's why we brought the Department of Health with us.
- Is Mrs.
Garcia upstairs? - What do you want with my wife? We have an arrest warrant for her.
We have one for you, too.
What is this? Mrs.
Garcia, you're under arrest.
Put your hands behind your back.
Why are you doing this to me? I am Lupe Garcia.
This is an injustice.
If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes Well, human misery pays well.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Garcia did not go out last Thursday night.
That's for a fact.
You're very sure of this fact.
Mr.
Garcia was in this office from 8:10 to 10:27.
Lupe went upstairs at 9:14.
What about Derek and the other counselors? Derek Ortiz, certified in special needs care, punched out at 10:15.
Something wrong with your eyes, Reggie? I had a recent intraocular scraping.
Cataracts? Yes.
You take Geodon? Mmm-hmm.
By prescription only.
For my schizophrenia.
Okay, Reggie, thanks.
Okay.
Well, that makes 15.
Fifteen residents with eye problems.
Jeff Richter, Mr.
Biagiotti from the park, Reggie All of them schizophrenics.
I've just been upstairs.
Tell me I was imagining things.
The faucets really are gold plated.
It's disillusioning, to say the least.
On the bright side, everybody on staff is accounted for the night Dr.
Roland was killed.
The Garcias might be thieves but they aren't murderers.
The doctors the Garcias used in their scheme, they switched them up every six months or so, except for the eye doctors.
They've used the same one for the last three years.
A Dr.
Thomas Dysart.
Maybe he was actually treating these people.
Well, they don't seem better off for it.
When Dr.
Roland hacked into Jeff Richter's Medicaid files, did we find out how far he got? OFFICE OF DR.
THOMAS DYSART TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 Jeff Richter? Yes, he is a patient.
But I'd have to look up his file.
We have his Medicaid file right here.
This $3,500 charge last September, what's this code mean? That's for cataract surgery.
Cataract surgery? Isn't that the same code as this procedure here, back in June? Two cataract surgeries in one year? One for each eye.
I told her you'd have a logical explanation for that.
Now, are you a fan, or are these up here to convince your patients they have eye problems? I put them up to invite ridiculous questions.
Now, I have a patient in five minutes.
There's a charge here for another surgery in March.
Which eye was that for, Doctor? That's for a pre-op exam.
You people don't know how lucky you are not having to deal with Medicaid.
They assign a set fee for a procedure which has nothing to do with the actual cost.
You're saying you overcharge Medicaid? No.
My billing service sends them an invoice with all the bells and whistles.
They lowball me.
We negotiate.
And I eventually get paid a fair price.
I told her there was a logical explanation for that, too.
And that's the reason why there are multiple surgery charges for your patients at Garcia House.
Garcia House? Yes.
The homeless are particularly susceptible to eye problems because of diet, hygiene, drug use But I really don't have to justify my work to you.
Well, you just did.
You know, speaking for myself, I'm satisfied.
That's an $8,000 piece of equipment Detective.
Don't play with it.
I've always wondered what this was.
It's a transilluminator, to check pupillary reflex.
Was Dr.
Roland satisfied with your explanation? Roland? Never heard of him.
Jeff Richter was his brother-in-law.
Dr.
Roland was looking for him.
Roland tried to hack into Jeff's medical files.
He managed to download the charges for the eye treatments before he got booted off.
Sorry.
Never talked to him.
What goes in there? Nothing.
We bought this at a medical supply store.
It's called a glare tester.
That's what was missing from Dysart's office.
It gives off a bright light to test the retina's response.
And Dysart used this to blind Dr.
Roland? That's why Roland couldn't defend himself.
Now, this jogger confused this bright light with dry lightning.
And Dysart probably damaged his in the attack, so he had to get rid of it.
That's the "how.
" I don't quite see the "why.
" Even if Dr.
Roland discovered he was defrauding Medicaid By performing cataract surgeries.
Isn't that assault? First degree, no less, being in furtherance of a felony Dysart knew he was facing serious prison time.
What actual evidence do you have to tie him to the murder? He lives alone, no one saw him coming or going.
We could canvass the park again.
In the meantime, we'll build an assault and fraud case, have our own doctors examine his patients, and talk to his billing service.
Tom, I'm your malpractice attorney.
This is beyond my field of I hate when you equivocate, Norman.
You will most certainly be charged as an accomplice to the Garcias.
But it gets worse, since you performed surgery on these people.
I'm not guilty, Norman.
Of course not.
But you're open to assault charges, unless you can demonstrate that the procedures are medically legitimate.
They are! The patients are undergoing a legitimate course of treatment.
/ Results.
You have to prove it with results.
Beneficial results.
You mean, someone who's completed the treatment.
Yes.
A success story.
Can you do that? Dr.
Dysart sent us the worksheets with the procedures checked off.
I had no way of telling if he actually performed those procedures.
She's not trained to do medical oversight.
She's just a bookkeeper.
Dysart gave us a cock and bull story about Medicaid lowballing his fees.
No, he's right.
When I took over his billing, I noticed he was being shortchanged on his fees.
It was your idea to inflate the charges to Medicaid? It's standard practice to negotiate for every nickel.
Dr.
Dysart must have been thrilled you came up with this idea.
I don't think he cared.
Getting paid wasn't a priority.
He was always late getting his worksheets to me.
He was probably too busy moving patients in and out of his office.
I'd be surprised if he saw more than My other eye doctors, they see that many patients in an hour.
You gotta hear this.
Dr.
Emerson was just giving us his report on Dysart's Garcia House patients.
Go ahead, Doctor.
I examined the 15 residents Dysart operated on.
These individuals were subjected to repeated and needless retinal, corneal, and cataract surgeries for a period of over two years.
Some had as many as 18 procedures during that time.
With what results? Five have permanently detached retinas, others have diminished vision, oversensitivity to light, night blindness.
They all have surgical scars on top of surgical scars.
They got laser cuts going nowhere.
Dysart said these people had unique eye problems because they'd been homeless.
I don't care if these people were living on Mars.
In my experience, there is no medical justification for this this butchery.
You made your point, Doctor.
Thank you.
Where are we on the murder? We canvassed the park, we showed his photo around, we fanned on every pitch.
But we still have him on fraud and for assaulting these poor bastards.
He could simply claim incompetence and hide behind his malpractice insurance.
We need proof he intended to defraud.
You're talking about making a deal with the Garcias.
Not a generous deal, but a deal.
If it gets us Dysart.
Greedy son of a bitch.
It's worse than that.
I don't think he did it for money.
These are the doctors' statements about the kickbacks to the Garcias.
This is from a livery service whose offices were painted by the residents of the Garcia House under the guides of art therapy.
And this is from the staff about field trips to parking lots.
You have your statements, we have ours.
From mental health advocates, civic leaders, all testifying to the fact that hundreds of mentally disabled persons have been helped by the Garcias.
There are words and then there are pictures.
This is the work of your ophthalmologist, Dr.
Dysart.
You see this? You see that? That's Emily LeCroix's left eye, post-op.
That scar tissue is from three operations in less than six months.
Thanks to Dr.
Dysart, she's legally blind in that eye.
This is Jeff Richter's eye.
Dysart didn't wait for his scars to heal from one operation before operating on him again.
So now he needs corneal transplants.
Dios.
We didn't know that he was doing this.
Mrs.
Garcia, wait.
- What do you want from my clients? - Dysart.
You help us prosecute him, I'll consider a plea.
First, I hear what they have to say.
He was just supposed to examine them.
I told him not to hurt them.
Where'd you find Dysart? He came to me at a mental health benefit.
He'd heard about our work with schizophrenics and offered his services.
He specifically mentioned schizophrenics? Yeah.
He asked me how many diagnosed schizophrenics were living at the house.
Did he say why he was interested? No.
He just wanted to work with us, any way he could.
If you want their testimony against Dysart, you'll reduce the charges to misdemeanor larceny, they'll pay a fine, they'll retain their license to operate Garcia House.
I can't accept their terms.
Dysart's a sadist with a medical license.
Looks to me he's the greater of two evils.
I want to put them all behind bars.
That means making a case against Dysart without the Garcias' help.
Everything his bookkeeper tells us demonstrates Dysart's indifferent to money.
He's in it for the joy of healing? I'm not sure.
He targets schizophrenics.
Because they're easy prey.
So is any mentally ill person.
But schizophrenics, more than any other group, are more prone to visual hallucinations.
You're not suggesting that this was an experiment? You eliminate greed and sadism, what's left? Experimental surgery without informed consent, without supervision, That's good for a trip up the river.
Get me the evidence.
Well, you don't do research without a theory to back it up.
He might've published a paper in a medical journal or talked it up with a colleague.
OFFICE OF DR.
ROYCE PETERSON NYU CANCER CENTER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 I haven't spoken to Tom since Columbia, I wouldn't know about his research.
You might try someone who's more current.
We couldn't find anybody.
We only came to you because he used you as a reference when he applied to the Ophthalmological Association.
Ophthalmology? You sure? That wasn't his specialty when you knew him? No.
It was oncology, same as me.
- He lose interest? - I have no idea.
We had one year left.
I spent the summer in Boston.
When I came back, he was gone.
They said he took a sabbatical.
What did he say? I never talked to him.
I didn't even know where he was.
Then, a year later, he got in touch with me.
Let me guess.
He was in Amsterdam.
This is from the Van Gogh Museum.
It's on the back.
He sent me that as a graduation gift.
Never heard from him again.
And he never expressed an interest in ophthalmology? / No.
Maybe when he was smoking that legal weed in Amsterdam, he figured out eye doctors have a better chance of getting laid than oncologists.
I don't think he was in Amsterdam for the weed.
Look up for me, please.
Good.
Now look to the left.
Okay.
Dr.
Dysart, I'm not sure I understood you on the phone.
Marilyn's going into the next phase of her treatment.
It's all covered by her Medicaid.
Are you still on Zyprexa, Marilyn? My eyes are okay, Dr.
Dysart.
It's been two years since she's had any blurriness.
It's a multiphase treatment.
If we stop now, she'll never get better.
I assume you want Marilyn to get better, don't you? Columbia just faxed Dysart's records.
When he came back from his year off, he doubled his workload to complete his requirements for ophthalmology.
Finished in the top percentile.
He spent most of his sabbatical in Amsterdam.
He gave Columbia an address at a hotel there.
On Paulus Potterstraat.
That's the same street as the Van Gogh Museum.
Maybe Dysart was thinking of becoming a reconstructive surgeon.
The story is, Van Gogh gave his ear to a prostitute as, you know, a token of love.
But who knows, what he was, you know, really thinking.
All right, Marilyn, you've been through this before.
I'm going to lower the chair.
Is my mother still here? She's just outside.
This is a local anesthetic.
You've had this before.
Nothing to be worried about.
Put the needle down, Doctor.
What? Get out of here.
I'm with a patient! You're under arrest, Dr.
Dysart.
What the hell do you think you're doing? I'd ask you the same thing, but the answer would probably make my hair stand on end.
It's unheard of.
Arresting a doctor in the middle of a surgery? Or as we call it, during the commission of a crime.
Every procedure he performs is guided by sound medical practice.
Well, maybe he can explain which sound medical practice guided him during these procedures.
This laser incision here, our experts couldn't figure out what it was for.
- Was it a mistake, a slip - I don't make My client hardly has to explain himself to a couple of laymen.
Either two laymen now or 12 later.
Our experts were also mystified by the multiple operations to Miss LeCroix's left eye, while it seems you hardly touched her right.
Did Medicaid only cover the left? There is no medical explanation, is there? His practice is exactly what it looks like, a state-funded eyeball chop shop.
He's not going to respond.
If you're just going to engage in character assassination There's no character there.
There's just this greedy, grasping charnel house butcher who's targeted schizophrenics because nobody would believe them if they complained.
Nobody would believe that a doctor would deliberately mutilate their eyes to make a buck.
That is not true.
I am not a butcher.
I was treating them.
This cut was made to relax the upper zonules.
Tom / And this.
Her presbyopia required me to scrape the lens before a cortical cataract formed.
You're losing me.
You have to show us.
Show us how you helped these people.
The eye through the eye.
The brain interprets what the eye captures.
But these people, Doctor, these schizophrenics Schizophrenia, specifically the visual hallucinations, occur when the sensory intake, the information is corrupted.
Corrupted.
You mean, by the eye? No.
By the lens, here.
Corrupt information hits the posterior subcapsular cataract - back here, which blocks - The optic nerve.
Yes, which leads to the brain.
What I do is remove the tainted part of the lens by performing an extracapsular cataract extraction to clean the lens.
So, a clean lens lets more light into the optic nerve? Yes.
More light stimulates the retina which clears up the hallucinations.
You've actually succeeded? Not yet.
I was in the final phase of treatment on Marilyn Reese when you interrupted me.
All right, so, you get rid of the hallucinations and you get rid of the schizophrenia.
Is that the idea? Yes.
The patient is free of the disease.
Only sick people take pills.
If I stop taking my pills, I won't be sick anymore.
Well, this is Well, it's revolutionary.
When did you discover this treatment? My last year at Columbia.
Right after your sabbatical.
Which is when you switched specialties.
Yes.
How did you know Well, I have an interest in your career.
Why did you take the sabbatical? I was exhausted.
I needed to clear my head, reorder my priorities.
So you went to Amsterdam.
Is that where you developed an interest in Van Gogh? I'd always been attracted to his work.
But it was in Amsterdam where his work, well, acquired a special meaning for you.
I mean, as it does many people whose lives are touched with schizophrenia, which means split mind, which is really misleading because the mind isn't split, it's just out of its owner's control That isn't accurate either.
It's simply responding to corrupted stimuli.
Real physical abnormalities in the sensory organs.
/ Yes.
You talking about this? Most people think he cut it off for love.
But some people say he cut it off to stop the auditory hallucinations from driving him crazy.
Isn't that where you got the idea? That the disease isn't in the brain, it's in the eyes, the ears, the fingertips.
But the brain is Your brain is healthy.
It's inconceivable that this instrument that took you to the top of your class at Columbia could ever betray you.
It's intolerable.
How old were you, Doctor? - My mother was 32 - There's nothing wrong with me.
No.
Nothing wrong.
Yes, you have schizophrenia.
That's That's of no consequence.
My methods are sound.
You had a crisis.
You kept it a secret while you applied your wounded intellect to the problem.
And this is what you came up with.
And this.
No! No! No! I am fully in control of myself.
What you're afraid of, right, people are going to find out, pump you full of drugs, - institutionalize you.
- There'd be no need.
You must have been terrified when Roland showed up at your office.
Terrified that this psychiatrist would see through your professional demeanor.
He was there under false pretenses.
He was conspiring to put you out of business.
/ They don't understand.
Your cure can make people with your condition masters of their own fate.
Yes.
No more drugs, no more stigma.
Yes.
No more fear and shame.
No, you had to save yourself.
You had to stop Roland.
Yes.
You had to kill him.
Yes.
Oh, no.
Now, I have to get back to my work.
Yeah.
I need to get back to my work.
Please let me get back to my work.
We agreed to a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease.
Dr.
Dysart agreed to be institutionalized until our experts decide he's no longer a danger to society.
He must be insane.
He's the only one who wasn't in it for the money.
- Where's Detective Goren? - On the phone.
Don't ask.
These are their stories.
How long was Mr.
Richter your patient? A little over 10 years.
It's imperative that I get in touch with him.
This new information directly impacts his condition.
This new information you can't tell me about.
You never did say what your specialty was.
I'm a psychiatrist.
And how did you find out Mr.
Richter was my patient? Did you snoop through confidential records? - Dr.
Dysart - Dr.
Roland, I think Mr.
Richter probably had good reason to stop seeing you.
I need to see him, Mr.
Garcia.
I am his doctor.
He's never mentioned you.
Why don't we ask him? Is he here? Derek, this man needs to go.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
Can I leave him a note? Jeff.
Jeff.
It's me, Michael.
Hey, did you get my note? I don't want to talk to you.
Do you still like steak? There's a place right over on Lexington Listen, you just stay away.
I faxed that note to Katherine B.
Thompson.
She's at the New York Times.
You can tell me all about it right over Don't touch me.
Don't ever touch me! Jeff.
If he ever touches me again, I'll kill him.
Come on, man, let's go back Inside.
Say goodbye to Grandma.
I can't believe she's gone.
It's just me now.
You have us.
You have Matthew.
Come on, Maisy, one bush is as good as the next.
Tough doggie.
Finally.
Law & Order CI No wallet, no ID in the pocket.
You checked the dog tags? Oh, right.
I'm waiting on that.
Major Case catching muggings now, huh? Only the ones in the Mayor's backyard.
We're ready for that witness.
I count 11 knife wounds to the chest, shoulders, neck.
None on the hands or arms.
No defensive wounds.
He's got knife strikes coming at him from all sides.
He would have put his arms up to protect himself.
And look at the way he's tangled up in these vines.
I don't know.
This guy was disoriented.
Maybe because somebody was trying to kill him.
Yeah, but he didn't do the things that might have saved him.
You found the body? Yeah, I was jogging.
His dog jumped out of the bushes.
You ever seen him? Yeah, just before I decided to turn around and go home, around 10:00.
Is there a particular reason why you turned around and went home? Lightning.
Dry lightning.
I caught a flash out of the corner of my eye.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
I got an address for Maisy's owner.
- Dr.
Michael Roland, over on York.
- Thanks.
Dry lightning? In the park? Behind Gracie Mansion? Is that where he usually walks your dog? Yes.
It's just so close.
Oh, my God, Michael.
We're very sorry.
He ever mention any problems with his psychiatric patients, any threats? No.
What did you think when your husband didn't come home? I didn't know what to think.
Did you think that he wasn't walking the dog? He'd been out of the office a lot, in the mornings, or in the middle of the afternoon.
He always had an excuse.
People have been coming over, bringing food.
Yes.
My mother passed away.
The service was two days ago.
Well, that must've been very stressful for you and your husband.
Yes.
Yes, it was.
OFFICE OF DR.
MICHAEL ROLAND WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 I don't know what problems Dr.
Roland was having at home, but I can guarantee he was not having an affair.
I'm not opening these files.
And I'm not giving you the password for his computer.
Dr.
Roland would want his patients' privacy protected.
Even if one of his patients tried to kill him? His patients are neurotic, not psychotic.
You logged on to his computer this morning, after we called you.
- I did not.
- Says right here you did.
See, I can't open his folders, but I can get a record of when somebody last logged on.
So you, what? You tried to erase his stash of dirty little pictures? - Compromising e-mails? - Absolutely not.
Maybe she erased her own naughty things.
Were you having a You know, fooling around with Dr.
Roland? I didn't erase anything.
His lawyer told me to save everything till he could look at it.
There.
That e-mail from Dr.
Roland's internet server.
"To user M.
Roland, the New York Attorney General's office has notified us" "of your unauthorized attempts to access NYMEDD.
" That's the Medicaid database.
He was trying to hack into it? Medicaid said Roland was looking for the records of somebody named Jeff Richter.
- Roland's secretary's never heard of him.
- Have we? There's a Jeff Richter with the same social security number Roland used for his search.
He's got a three-year-old assault charge.
Bring him in.
Easier said.
His last known's no good.
BCI doesn't have them.
Neither does the DMV, Con Ed Look what he gives as his occupation when he was booked.
"De-programmed CIA assassin.
" This guy's got problems.
He doesn't want to be found.
Probably resents people who try.
Well, he'd better get over it.
Put an APB out to the homeless shelters.
Right.
Okay, all right, thank you.
The weather service says no reports of lightning last night.
When did Roland hack the Medicaid database? About three months ago.
It's right after his mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer.
Derek saw him just before 9:00.
He was going up to his room.
Nobody saw him after that.
They say the doctor was stabbed 11 times.
He can do that.
You know he can do that.
I know.
We have to protect ourselves.
Derek and me will take care of it.
Don't worry.
Work will go on.
Cinderblock.
I know Cinderblock rooms.
How many floors underground are we? We're 11 floors up, Jeff.
Didn't you see the buttons on the elevator? Up is down.
Down is up.
I know the tricks.
- You're him.
He's you.
- And who's he? I don't know him.
You don't know Michael Roland, your own brother-in-law? Oh, I know that guy.
But that's a facsimile of that guy.
North Koreans have been turning out facsimiles for years.
When's the last time you saw this facsimile? Last week at the Garcia House.
He gave me a note about a funeral.
Your mother's funeral.
The whole thing was a trap.
You lived at the Garcia House on 117th? Yeah, before the facsimile blew my cover.
They asked me to leave so innocent people wouldn't be hurt.
That's the price you pay when you work for the CIA.
You were still at Garcia House Thursday night? Yes.
I ate spaghetti.
I had a smoke on the stoop and I went to bed.
Anybody see you on that stoop? Millions of people.
It's a big city.
No, I see what you're doing, Jeff.
You're using backward logic.
Like, only sick people take pills, so if I stop taking pills, I I won't be sick.
You follow? I take my pills.
Yes.
You didn't have anything on you when they picked you up at the shelter.
And we looked up your Medicaid account.
No charges in over a year.
That's a lie.
I take my pills.
See for yourself.
You know, I know it's hard to stay on your meds.
It's like your head is, you know, wrapped in a wet blanket.
But if you go off, then, well, that's when the trouble starts.
Most schizophrenics aren't violent.
But sometimes you are.
That's why they asked you to leave Garcia House? It was to protect the innocent.
From you.
Because you were starting fights.
I was not.
I take my meds.
Geodon.
I take Geodon.
Come on, Jeff.
You even got into a fight Thursday night.
You went for a walk.
I don't go out nights.
You ran into Michael and his dog.
I tell you, I don't go out at night.
It's too dark.
I don't like it.
I like your socks.
Where'd you get them? The mission.
Lucky you found a matching pair.
Yeah.
He squints.
He doesn't like going out at night.
He can't distinguish shades.
He's got nyctalopia, night blindness.
He wouldn't have attacked Roland at night, he would've waited for daytime.
Maybe under normal circumstances, but this guy hasn't taken his meds in over a year.
Well, that's another thing.
Geodon only came out on the market last year.
The only way he'd know about it is if he was taking it.
His fairy godmother must be paying for it because there's no record Medicaid is.
There's no record of Richter anywhere this past year.
He took himself off the radar.
More than likely someone else did.
My bet, it wasn't the North Koreans.
Richter applied for a new social security number last year.
He said he was being stalked.
That's his supporting documentation.
Five pages, typed, single spaced.
I think he had help.
Medicaid ran his new social security number.
Besides his meds, they pay for his chiropractor twice a week, his dentist, once a week, eye doctor, art therapy, podiatrist, dermatologist.
That guy's sicker than he looks.
Let's find out.
Jeff, how you feeling? Pretty good.
How's your sciatica? Medicaid says you see a chiropractor for sciatica nerve problems in your left leg.
Oh, that's all better.
Your feet? Says here you see a podiatrist.
I have bad arches.
Can we see your feet? These dogs don't look so bad.
What else does your doctor do besides clean your feet? Nothing.
My arches still hurt.
I told Mr.
Garcia.
Still, you have to admit, my feet look pretty good.
They should, at 500 bucks a visit.
GARCIA HOUSE HOMELESS SHELTER FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6 I had a chat with that doctor.
Our medical advisory board said his fees and methods were pretty standard.
This is your advisory board here? And lots of heavy hitters.
How's Jeff? We've been so worried about him since he ran away.
He told us he was asked to leave.
We don't turn anybody away.
When we bring people in off the street, we make them a promise, they'll always have a home.
And you served spaghetti for dinner Thursday night? That sounds right.
And after dinner Jeff likes to have a smoke on the stoop.
I kind of lost track of Jeff that night.
We don't do bed checks, so all I can say is, I don't I didn't see him.
And what about you, Mrs.
Garcia? I was upstairs in our rooms.
All right.
Well, so, maybe Jeff was here, you know, maybe he wasn't.
Did he do any of these? No.
Our other residents.
We take them to art therapy twice a week.
Oh.
Emily LeCroix, what was she diagnosed with? Schizophrenia.
- Really? - Yes.
It's a wonderful painting, so full of hope.
Well, it certainly is, um, you know, full of something.
That's my favorite.
Carol James.
- Let me guess.
- The lady has bipolar disorder.
My mother's roommate at Carmel Ridge, she's bipolar.
She paints fruit, too.
But, you know, bright blue apples, hot pink bananas.
Her paintings are raw.
They're filled with energy.
She's, she's driven to express herself.
I didn't see any of that in that painting.
And the kids on the beach? Well, schizophrenics are Well, they typically focus on the eyes.
Would have been the children's eyes, the dog's.
No, I think the Garcias probably bought those paintings at a garage sale.
The Garcias charged Medicaid 200 bucks a week for Jeff's art therapy classes.
Plus 50 bucks transportation.
You feel like sticking around for their next field trip? They drove around for half an hour and then went back to Garcia House.
Well, they let one of them out.
He had to go to the bathroom, so they let him take a pee off the pier.
Off the pier? That's compassion.
Compassion has its rewards.
At 50 bucks a head, the Garcias can charge Medicaid 800 bucks for transportation.
If there is fraud and Dr.
Roland found out Well, the Garcias could have had one of their counselors take care of him.
If fraud there is.
What do you call Jeff Richter's $500 pedicures? The art classes he doesn't remember attending? That's your star witness, Jeff Richter, the one-time murder suspect? You'd use him to impugn the characters of two advocates of the homeless who've earned the respect of the people of this city? We've seen their press clippings.
Good.
I won't go near a grand jury if your only evidence is the ramblings of a lone, deranged individual.
How about the ramblings of 10 deranged individuals? What the hell did you get me into? You lumped me in with those quacks.
I'm just saying, Doc, everybody's got to get their stories straight.
My patients need to continue their treatment.
Which brings me to my last point, your last state check should have come in.
You need to settle up.
How much do you want? What the hell are you doing? I can't take a personal check.
A money order, Doc, same as always.
I have a patient waiting.
TOMPKINS SQUARE MONDAY, DECEMBER 9 You're Emily LeCroix.
I saw your painting at the Garcia House, the kids on the beach with the dog.
No, I didn't do that.
Well, Mrs.
Garcia said you painted that at your art therapy class.
No.
I don't like dogs at all.
Do you take art therapy classes? Oh, yes.
I went last Saturday.
What do you do in these classes? We painted an office.
You mean you painted a mural on a wall? Well, sure, we painted the walls.
We painted them white.
But Mr.
Garcia said that's what his friend wanted, white walls.
Is that what they have you do in these classes, paint walls? And ceilings.
It's very therapeutic.
Thanks, Emily.
Let's hear what the others have to say.
This is Mr.
Biagiotti.
Tell them where they take you every week for drama therapy.
Downtown to watch a show.
Tell them what kind of show.
You know, a TV show.
Care to know how much the Garcias charge Medicaid for this drama therapy? I can only guess.
Mr.
Biagiotti told me the Garcias had him change his social security number.
You'll have warrants by the end of the day.
I don't care what this says.
You can't come in like this.
Our residents / That's why we brought the Department of Health with us.
- Is Mrs.
Garcia upstairs? - What do you want with my wife? We have an arrest warrant for her.
We have one for you, too.
What is this? Mrs.
Garcia, you're under arrest.
Put your hands behind your back.
Why are you doing this to me? I am Lupe Garcia.
This is an injustice.
If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes Well, human misery pays well.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Garcia did not go out last Thursday night.
That's for a fact.
You're very sure of this fact.
Mr.
Garcia was in this office from 8:10 to 10:27.
Lupe went upstairs at 9:14.
What about Derek and the other counselors? Derek Ortiz, certified in special needs care, punched out at 10:15.
Something wrong with your eyes, Reggie? I had a recent intraocular scraping.
Cataracts? Yes.
You take Geodon? Mmm-hmm.
By prescription only.
For my schizophrenia.
Okay, Reggie, thanks.
Okay.
Well, that makes 15.
Fifteen residents with eye problems.
Jeff Richter, Mr.
Biagiotti from the park, Reggie All of them schizophrenics.
I've just been upstairs.
Tell me I was imagining things.
The faucets really are gold plated.
It's disillusioning, to say the least.
On the bright side, everybody on staff is accounted for the night Dr.
Roland was killed.
The Garcias might be thieves but they aren't murderers.
The doctors the Garcias used in their scheme, they switched them up every six months or so, except for the eye doctors.
They've used the same one for the last three years.
A Dr.
Thomas Dysart.
Maybe he was actually treating these people.
Well, they don't seem better off for it.
When Dr.
Roland hacked into Jeff Richter's Medicaid files, did we find out how far he got? OFFICE OF DR.
THOMAS DYSART TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 Jeff Richter? Yes, he is a patient.
But I'd have to look up his file.
We have his Medicaid file right here.
This $3,500 charge last September, what's this code mean? That's for cataract surgery.
Cataract surgery? Isn't that the same code as this procedure here, back in June? Two cataract surgeries in one year? One for each eye.
I told her you'd have a logical explanation for that.
Now, are you a fan, or are these up here to convince your patients they have eye problems? I put them up to invite ridiculous questions.
Now, I have a patient in five minutes.
There's a charge here for another surgery in March.
Which eye was that for, Doctor? That's for a pre-op exam.
You people don't know how lucky you are not having to deal with Medicaid.
They assign a set fee for a procedure which has nothing to do with the actual cost.
You're saying you overcharge Medicaid? No.
My billing service sends them an invoice with all the bells and whistles.
They lowball me.
We negotiate.
And I eventually get paid a fair price.
I told her there was a logical explanation for that, too.
And that's the reason why there are multiple surgery charges for your patients at Garcia House.
Garcia House? Yes.
The homeless are particularly susceptible to eye problems because of diet, hygiene, drug use But I really don't have to justify my work to you.
Well, you just did.
You know, speaking for myself, I'm satisfied.
That's an $8,000 piece of equipment Detective.
Don't play with it.
I've always wondered what this was.
It's a transilluminator, to check pupillary reflex.
Was Dr.
Roland satisfied with your explanation? Roland? Never heard of him.
Jeff Richter was his brother-in-law.
Dr.
Roland was looking for him.
Roland tried to hack into Jeff's medical files.
He managed to download the charges for the eye treatments before he got booted off.
Sorry.
Never talked to him.
What goes in there? Nothing.
We bought this at a medical supply store.
It's called a glare tester.
That's what was missing from Dysart's office.
It gives off a bright light to test the retina's response.
And Dysart used this to blind Dr.
Roland? That's why Roland couldn't defend himself.
Now, this jogger confused this bright light with dry lightning.
And Dysart probably damaged his in the attack, so he had to get rid of it.
That's the "how.
" I don't quite see the "why.
" Even if Dr.
Roland discovered he was defrauding Medicaid By performing cataract surgeries.
Isn't that assault? First degree, no less, being in furtherance of a felony Dysart knew he was facing serious prison time.
What actual evidence do you have to tie him to the murder? He lives alone, no one saw him coming or going.
We could canvass the park again.
In the meantime, we'll build an assault and fraud case, have our own doctors examine his patients, and talk to his billing service.
Tom, I'm your malpractice attorney.
This is beyond my field of I hate when you equivocate, Norman.
You will most certainly be charged as an accomplice to the Garcias.
But it gets worse, since you performed surgery on these people.
I'm not guilty, Norman.
Of course not.
But you're open to assault charges, unless you can demonstrate that the procedures are medically legitimate.
They are! The patients are undergoing a legitimate course of treatment.
/ Results.
You have to prove it with results.
Beneficial results.
You mean, someone who's completed the treatment.
Yes.
A success story.
Can you do that? Dr.
Dysart sent us the worksheets with the procedures checked off.
I had no way of telling if he actually performed those procedures.
She's not trained to do medical oversight.
She's just a bookkeeper.
Dysart gave us a cock and bull story about Medicaid lowballing his fees.
No, he's right.
When I took over his billing, I noticed he was being shortchanged on his fees.
It was your idea to inflate the charges to Medicaid? It's standard practice to negotiate for every nickel.
Dr.
Dysart must have been thrilled you came up with this idea.
I don't think he cared.
Getting paid wasn't a priority.
He was always late getting his worksheets to me.
He was probably too busy moving patients in and out of his office.
I'd be surprised if he saw more than My other eye doctors, they see that many patients in an hour.
You gotta hear this.
Dr.
Emerson was just giving us his report on Dysart's Garcia House patients.
Go ahead, Doctor.
I examined the 15 residents Dysart operated on.
These individuals were subjected to repeated and needless retinal, corneal, and cataract surgeries for a period of over two years.
Some had as many as 18 procedures during that time.
With what results? Five have permanently detached retinas, others have diminished vision, oversensitivity to light, night blindness.
They all have surgical scars on top of surgical scars.
They got laser cuts going nowhere.
Dysart said these people had unique eye problems because they'd been homeless.
I don't care if these people were living on Mars.
In my experience, there is no medical justification for this this butchery.
You made your point, Doctor.
Thank you.
Where are we on the murder? We canvassed the park, we showed his photo around, we fanned on every pitch.
But we still have him on fraud and for assaulting these poor bastards.
He could simply claim incompetence and hide behind his malpractice insurance.
We need proof he intended to defraud.
You're talking about making a deal with the Garcias.
Not a generous deal, but a deal.
If it gets us Dysart.
Greedy son of a bitch.
It's worse than that.
I don't think he did it for money.
These are the doctors' statements about the kickbacks to the Garcias.
This is from a livery service whose offices were painted by the residents of the Garcia House under the guides of art therapy.
And this is from the staff about field trips to parking lots.
You have your statements, we have ours.
From mental health advocates, civic leaders, all testifying to the fact that hundreds of mentally disabled persons have been helped by the Garcias.
There are words and then there are pictures.
This is the work of your ophthalmologist, Dr.
Dysart.
You see this? You see that? That's Emily LeCroix's left eye, post-op.
That scar tissue is from three operations in less than six months.
Thanks to Dr.
Dysart, she's legally blind in that eye.
This is Jeff Richter's eye.
Dysart didn't wait for his scars to heal from one operation before operating on him again.
So now he needs corneal transplants.
Dios.
We didn't know that he was doing this.
Mrs.
Garcia, wait.
- What do you want from my clients? - Dysart.
You help us prosecute him, I'll consider a plea.
First, I hear what they have to say.
He was just supposed to examine them.
I told him not to hurt them.
Where'd you find Dysart? He came to me at a mental health benefit.
He'd heard about our work with schizophrenics and offered his services.
He specifically mentioned schizophrenics? Yeah.
He asked me how many diagnosed schizophrenics were living at the house.
Did he say why he was interested? No.
He just wanted to work with us, any way he could.
If you want their testimony against Dysart, you'll reduce the charges to misdemeanor larceny, they'll pay a fine, they'll retain their license to operate Garcia House.
I can't accept their terms.
Dysart's a sadist with a medical license.
Looks to me he's the greater of two evils.
I want to put them all behind bars.
That means making a case against Dysart without the Garcias' help.
Everything his bookkeeper tells us demonstrates Dysart's indifferent to money.
He's in it for the joy of healing? I'm not sure.
He targets schizophrenics.
Because they're easy prey.
So is any mentally ill person.
But schizophrenics, more than any other group, are more prone to visual hallucinations.
You're not suggesting that this was an experiment? You eliminate greed and sadism, what's left? Experimental surgery without informed consent, without supervision, That's good for a trip up the river.
Get me the evidence.
Well, you don't do research without a theory to back it up.
He might've published a paper in a medical journal or talked it up with a colleague.
OFFICE OF DR.
ROYCE PETERSON NYU CANCER CENTER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 I haven't spoken to Tom since Columbia, I wouldn't know about his research.
You might try someone who's more current.
We couldn't find anybody.
We only came to you because he used you as a reference when he applied to the Ophthalmological Association.
Ophthalmology? You sure? That wasn't his specialty when you knew him? No.
It was oncology, same as me.
- He lose interest? - I have no idea.
We had one year left.
I spent the summer in Boston.
When I came back, he was gone.
They said he took a sabbatical.
What did he say? I never talked to him.
I didn't even know where he was.
Then, a year later, he got in touch with me.
Let me guess.
He was in Amsterdam.
This is from the Van Gogh Museum.
It's on the back.
He sent me that as a graduation gift.
Never heard from him again.
And he never expressed an interest in ophthalmology? / No.
Maybe when he was smoking that legal weed in Amsterdam, he figured out eye doctors have a better chance of getting laid than oncologists.
I don't think he was in Amsterdam for the weed.
Look up for me, please.
Good.
Now look to the left.
Okay.
Dr.
Dysart, I'm not sure I understood you on the phone.
Marilyn's going into the next phase of her treatment.
It's all covered by her Medicaid.
Are you still on Zyprexa, Marilyn? My eyes are okay, Dr.
Dysart.
It's been two years since she's had any blurriness.
It's a multiphase treatment.
If we stop now, she'll never get better.
I assume you want Marilyn to get better, don't you? Columbia just faxed Dysart's records.
When he came back from his year off, he doubled his workload to complete his requirements for ophthalmology.
Finished in the top percentile.
He spent most of his sabbatical in Amsterdam.
He gave Columbia an address at a hotel there.
On Paulus Potterstraat.
That's the same street as the Van Gogh Museum.
Maybe Dysart was thinking of becoming a reconstructive surgeon.
The story is, Van Gogh gave his ear to a prostitute as, you know, a token of love.
But who knows, what he was, you know, really thinking.
All right, Marilyn, you've been through this before.
I'm going to lower the chair.
Is my mother still here? She's just outside.
This is a local anesthetic.
You've had this before.
Nothing to be worried about.
Put the needle down, Doctor.
What? Get out of here.
I'm with a patient! You're under arrest, Dr.
Dysart.
What the hell do you think you're doing? I'd ask you the same thing, but the answer would probably make my hair stand on end.
It's unheard of.
Arresting a doctor in the middle of a surgery? Or as we call it, during the commission of a crime.
Every procedure he performs is guided by sound medical practice.
Well, maybe he can explain which sound medical practice guided him during these procedures.
This laser incision here, our experts couldn't figure out what it was for.
- Was it a mistake, a slip - I don't make My client hardly has to explain himself to a couple of laymen.
Either two laymen now or 12 later.
Our experts were also mystified by the multiple operations to Miss LeCroix's left eye, while it seems you hardly touched her right.
Did Medicaid only cover the left? There is no medical explanation, is there? His practice is exactly what it looks like, a state-funded eyeball chop shop.
He's not going to respond.
If you're just going to engage in character assassination There's no character there.
There's just this greedy, grasping charnel house butcher who's targeted schizophrenics because nobody would believe them if they complained.
Nobody would believe that a doctor would deliberately mutilate their eyes to make a buck.
That is not true.
I am not a butcher.
I was treating them.
This cut was made to relax the upper zonules.
Tom / And this.
Her presbyopia required me to scrape the lens before a cortical cataract formed.
You're losing me.
You have to show us.
Show us how you helped these people.
The eye through the eye.
The brain interprets what the eye captures.
But these people, Doctor, these schizophrenics Schizophrenia, specifically the visual hallucinations, occur when the sensory intake, the information is corrupted.
Corrupted.
You mean, by the eye? No.
By the lens, here.
Corrupt information hits the posterior subcapsular cataract - back here, which blocks - The optic nerve.
Yes, which leads to the brain.
What I do is remove the tainted part of the lens by performing an extracapsular cataract extraction to clean the lens.
So, a clean lens lets more light into the optic nerve? Yes.
More light stimulates the retina which clears up the hallucinations.
You've actually succeeded? Not yet.
I was in the final phase of treatment on Marilyn Reese when you interrupted me.
All right, so, you get rid of the hallucinations and you get rid of the schizophrenia.
Is that the idea? Yes.
The patient is free of the disease.
Only sick people take pills.
If I stop taking my pills, I won't be sick anymore.
Well, this is Well, it's revolutionary.
When did you discover this treatment? My last year at Columbia.
Right after your sabbatical.
Which is when you switched specialties.
Yes.
How did you know Well, I have an interest in your career.
Why did you take the sabbatical? I was exhausted.
I needed to clear my head, reorder my priorities.
So you went to Amsterdam.
Is that where you developed an interest in Van Gogh? I'd always been attracted to his work.
But it was in Amsterdam where his work, well, acquired a special meaning for you.
I mean, as it does many people whose lives are touched with schizophrenia, which means split mind, which is really misleading because the mind isn't split, it's just out of its owner's control That isn't accurate either.
It's simply responding to corrupted stimuli.
Real physical abnormalities in the sensory organs.
/ Yes.
You talking about this? Most people think he cut it off for love.
But some people say he cut it off to stop the auditory hallucinations from driving him crazy.
Isn't that where you got the idea? That the disease isn't in the brain, it's in the eyes, the ears, the fingertips.
But the brain is Your brain is healthy.
It's inconceivable that this instrument that took you to the top of your class at Columbia could ever betray you.
It's intolerable.
How old were you, Doctor? - My mother was 32 - There's nothing wrong with me.
No.
Nothing wrong.
Yes, you have schizophrenia.
That's That's of no consequence.
My methods are sound.
You had a crisis.
You kept it a secret while you applied your wounded intellect to the problem.
And this is what you came up with.
And this.
No! No! No! I am fully in control of myself.
What you're afraid of, right, people are going to find out, pump you full of drugs, - institutionalize you.
- There'd be no need.
You must have been terrified when Roland showed up at your office.
Terrified that this psychiatrist would see through your professional demeanor.
He was there under false pretenses.
He was conspiring to put you out of business.
/ They don't understand.
Your cure can make people with your condition masters of their own fate.
Yes.
No more drugs, no more stigma.
Yes.
No more fear and shame.
No, you had to save yourself.
You had to stop Roland.
Yes.
You had to kill him.
Yes.
Oh, no.
Now, I have to get back to my work.
Yeah.
I need to get back to my work.
Please let me get back to my work.
We agreed to a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease.
Dr.
Dysart agreed to be institutionalized until our experts decide he's no longer a danger to society.
He must be insane.
He's the only one who wasn't in it for the money.
- Where's Detective Goren? - On the phone.
Don't ask.