Law & Order Special Victims Unit s03e19 Episode Script
Justice
In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous, In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit, These are their stories, You just send 100 bucks to the guy at the top, recruit 10 more guys, couple of weeks you got $10,000.
Scam, Gordy.
It's not.
My cousin done it.
Made a mint.
Watch the glass.
It's a pyramid scheme.
Guys at the top get rich.
Schmucks below them don't see a dime.
Who's your cousin, Kenneth Lay? No, Joe Stiltson.
Damn it.
Watch out.
There's oil or something.
Are you coming? This ain't getting any lighter.
It's illegal, Gordy.
You get people to invest, you Holy hell.
Victim's in her teens, You get a name? No.
Attacker's name? Non-responsive the whole ride over.
She say anything at the scene? Just, "He raped me.
" Then she was out again.
In Trauma 4.
There.
Pupils fixed and dilated.
Fresh blood in the ear canal.
She's got a skull fracture and multiple scalp lacs.
Regular rate and rhythm.
She's a rape victim.
We have to preserve hair and fiber evidence.
BP is 140 over 90.
Lung sounds clear bilaterally.
Abdomen's rigid.
Pressure's falling.
Start a unit of O-neg and get her to the OR.
She's bleeding into her belly.
Wait, wait, wait.
Did anybody start a rape kit? Come on, let's go.
Got to move.
We're losing her.
Get that! Hold the door! Come on, guys.
Let's go.
Move it, move it, move it.
Any signs of fluids? BP's 80 palp.
Still tachy at 120.
Please, you're taking my DNA evidence.
Just one swab? And an oral? Coming through.
There's a stain on her thigh.
If you could just give me that? Here.
Coming through.
Let's go.
Let's go! This area is sterile.
You're not going to contaminate my OR.
If I could just get a fingernail scraping You're done.
Hopefully we've got DNA in here.
So get it straight over to the ME's office.
Right.
Then voucher the clothes and drop them at the police lab.
The ME first, lab second.
You got it? Clothes.
Where are the clothes? Here we go.
They didn't do a full rape kit.
Only had time between the ER and the OR, and then, you know, they wash everything away with betadyne, so She didn't make it.
Huh? Our victim.
She died on the table.
I got in the way.
They were trying to save her life and I was trying to make a collar.
I got in the way.
No.
The doctor said there was massive internal bleeding.
She blew a clot.
There's nothing anyone could have done.
Nothing.
Okay.
So let's canvass the neighborhood.
Get a name for the death certificate.
Emily Porter.
Paramedics cut off her jacket in the bus, found this in her pocket.
Percocet.
You got an address? From the pharmacy.
Dr, Russ, report to the main room immediately, Let's go notify the parents.
Hi.
Is your mom or dad home? Mom, door! Are you here to pay condolences? Oh.
My grandma died last night.
Yes? Mrs.
Porter? Yes.
Are you the mother of Emily Porter? No.
I'm Emily Porter.
I've never seen her before.
Your drugs were found on her.
Drugs? I'm not taking any I had a root canal two weeks ago, but they made me loopy.
Do you have any idea how they left the premises? Heather? Did the pills kill her? No, we just need to know who she is.
I don't know her.
I swear.
But you did give her the pills? No! There's this guy.
Everyone at the skateboard park talks about him.
He'll buy anything you give him.
What's his name? Doc.
Nice office.
You got an appointment? Man, I don't take walk-ins.
Looking for some Vicodin.
Well, you need a prescription for that.
You got a prescription? Normally I would have one, but today I'm working on my own.
My partner, he has some kind of dignitary duty.
They carting his ass around in a limo.
You believe that? What the hell you talking about, man? Sorry.
I just needed to vent.
Bring your ass here.
Who is she? I don't know.
Okay.
I'm going in.
Going to charge you with everything I find.
Come on.
No.
Want me to stop going through your pockets? You tell me who she is.
Okay, okay.
Look, I don't know her name, but she came in, like, 10:00 this morning, bought some happy pills.
You're a regular one-stop shop here.
What do you got, fake ID? Ready to make a deal or you want me to go into pocket number three? There's nothing else to tell.
I mean, she came incognito with a hat down over her eyes.
Describe the hat.
It was black.
Kind of shiny and floppy.
Mention where she was going? No.
I mean, but, you know, she was a cute little hottie, and I watched her walk across the street into the Royal Arms.
Get your ass up.
Sorry.
She was wearing a black floppy hat.
Floppy.
Look, like this.
Covered half her face.
Oh, okay.
The cutie pie.
She met a guy in the lobby.
She a pro? Didn't look like one.
Could you describe the guy? Clientele tends to blur.
But white, 30s, kind of buff.
Are you telling me this wasn't a business transaction? He was trying to hump her in the lobby.
She's Miss Arm's Length.
"Let's sit and talk.
" He practically dragged her up the stairs.
Did she ask for help? Nah.
We're going to need his name and his room number.
Dover, Room 406.
Paid cash.
Ben Dover.
Is he still up there? We're a by-the-hour establishment.
Tell me that room hasn't been cleaned yet.
Not since '72.
Looks like this is where she was raped.
If there was a rape.
Humor me.
At least give me that there was a struggle.
Bet you there's got to be a thousand DNA samples on that bedspread.
From this week alone.
My question is, how does she wind up dead two blocks away from here? She breaks free, he chases after her, when he catches up, bye-bye.
He didn't leave anything here.
But she did.
Cute hat.
And informative.
"Made Exclusively for Destination.
" The hats are this way.
Pretty swanky.
What's our girl doing shopping here? They're adorable, aren't they? We just got them in.
How much are they? Seven ninety-five.
She managed to find the only affordable thing in here.
That would be $795.
Oh.
Well, that'll max out your credit card.
Could you pull the sales receipts for these? Certainly.
There can't be that many.
At that price, I don't see them flying off the shelves.
Well, they're projected to.
Of course, we just got them in yesterday.
That's odd.
We haven't sold any yet.
Sorry.
I understand you caught a shoplifter for me.
Maybe you can return the favor.
We'll settle for a name.
If they'd caught her before, she'd have been banned from the store.
Maybe she slipped by security? She slipped out of here with that hat.
My Loss Prevention Consultant keeps begging me to use those horrible electronic surveillance tags, but they stretch the fabrics.
Got her.
Why doesn't this one have a name? February 18.
That was our President's Day sale.
I remember that.
She was caught stuffing a cashmere sweater in her bag.
Of course, we pressed charges.
Then you should have received a copy of a "61" or a criminal court complaint.
Either one should have her name on it.
Nothing.
She was picked up by an Officer Slater.
We never heard back.
Yeah, thanks.
Catching any speeders? Do I know you? Slater, right? Yeah.
SVU.
We caught a Jane Doe this morning, and every turn we're coming up blank, ending with you.
I don't follow you.
Okay.
This girl pulled a Winona at Destination two months ago.
You picked her up.
Why can't we find any arrest records? She wouldn't give me her name.
My sarge says if she gives it up we'll just give her a desk appearance.
Did she go for the D.
A.
T.
? Yeah.
Then what's her name? Excuse me.
We need you to pull a Desk Appearance Ticket issued 2-1802 for a Patricia Stephens.
Is that a problem? Sorry.
What was the name? Stephens.
Stephens, with a "P-H.
" Steingard, Stelherd, Stemple.
No.
I don't see it.
Oh, come on.
Well, maybe it was misspelled.
Try it with a "V"' No.
Look, I really have to close.
Listen, lady, the girl's dead.
So if she's got parents, I'm not going to let them spend the night going out of their mind not knowing, so please keep looking.
Patricia's dead? You know this girl? You don't know who she is, do you? That's what we've spent this entire miserable day trying to find out.
Who is she? Judge Thornburg's daughter.
Why did it have to be the stepdaughter of a hanging judge? Thornburg's sentence on the SoHo Youth Center rapes came down last week.
Father Kelly's doing 25-to-life before he burns in hell.
And we get to pay him back by telling him his pill-popping, shoplifting stepdaughter was murdered leaving some seedy sex hotel.
Yeah? What? Came by to let you know we ID'd the girl.
Good.
Going to notify the parents.
Worst part of the job.
Sorry.
Yeah, well, this one hit one of our own.
A cop's daughter? A judge's.
Thornburg.
I know Walt.
Who doesn't? We've testified in his court a hundred times.
We have history.
We both went to St.
John's.
I run into Walt at every function.
He has two small sons.
I didn't even know he had a daughter.
Stepdaughter.
She was 16.
So it's true? It's already hit the courthouse grapevine? This is huge.
My boss is going to want to know where you are on this every minute.
Well, tell her we're going to notify the judge and his wife before Channel 5 does.
No, it's okay.
I'm doing this one.
Don.
Hello, Brook.
Is Walter here? He's in the den.
Is something wrong? Why don't you go lie down? We have to tell Josh and Brian.
I won't keep you long.
She was raped? We're investigating it as a rape-homicide, yes.
When? She was found about 11:00 this morning.
Where? Hell's Kitchen.
Do you have any idea what she would be doing in that part of town? No.
Does Brook have to be here for this? No.
No.
Of course not.
I'll be with you in a minute, okay? All right.
We can drop the niceties now.
She's been a problem child since puberty.
Trust me.
I am long past the point of being shocked.
What kind of trouble had she been in? When Brook and I got together five years ago, she went wild.
We tried discipline, therapy.
Finally had to send her to boarding school.
How long had she been back? A year, going to St.
Monica's.
Brook got a phone call from the school this morning.
Patricia ditched just after roll call.
What did you do? Absolutely nothing.
Truancy was just her latest method of torturing Brook and me.
Before that it was body piercing.
Before that it was a tattoo.
Doesn't match any known gang tats.
Do we know what she was hit with? ME pulled glass shards out of her scalp, which match color and thickness with a broken beer bottle found here.
That's where she took the blow.
Yes.
But see the spatter pattern? Based on its trajectory, and height of the victim, I'd say she was standing here, while her attacker came at her from the south, swinging from right to left.
From here, droplets of blood form a serpentine pattern to the stairs.
She was staggering? And continue down the steps, alternating between round drops and smudges, suggesting she cartwheeled head-over-heels.
Smudges being where her head hit the steps? Until she landed hard at the bottom, where she lay unconscious for at least 15 minutes, as you can see from the pool of blood.
This bottle, any pieces big enough for prints? Follow me.
After identifying the type of bottle used, I bought the same brand and filled it with plaster of Paris.
Now comes the fun part.
We tap-tap-tap all over, cracking it like an egg.
And then we take the glass from the crime scene, which I have right here.
You like jigsaw puzzles, Detective? You're kidding me.
There must be a thousand pieces in there.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine to go.
I'll let you know if I get a print.
Patricia was a smart girl and the classes she showed up for, she did very well in.
Unfortunately she was a discipline problem.
Fights? No.
Her hostility was restricted to authority figures.
A rule breaker.
She'd talk back, walk into class 10 minutes after the bell, and we suspected she was defiling her body.
You're talking about her tattoo and piercings? That and she was sent to the nurse's office a few months ago with cuts on her arms.
Wait.
She was cutting herself? Yes.
How often? Just the once that we know of.
If she was cutting, it was a cry for help.
Or a way to make herself feel alive.
Did she have any friends here? It was sad.
She never did manage to fit in.
There's only one girl I ever saw her friendly with.
And where can we find her? Making up for the classes you ditched? Am I in trouble? You were with Tricia Stephens yesterday, weren't you? I can't believe she's dead.
Mary, you need to tell us everything that happened.
I never should have left her.
Left her where? Destination.
I never skip school, I swear.
Trish dragged me along.
To steal a hat? I had no idea she was going to do it.
I was furious, so I took off.
How long had you been friends? Practically since she came here.
We both love the classics.
Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus Tragedies.
We were both very drawn to them.
And why is that? She having boyfriend troubles? No.
Trish never had a boyfriend.
I mean, not really.
Define "really"' Well, there are guys that she wrote to.
Like pen pals? Right.
How many? A bunch.
She didn't think her parents would understand, so all the letters came to my house.
Why was she afraid to tell her parents? They were strict.
They didn't get the real Trish.
She had a good heart.
She was doing God's work.
Reaching out to lost souls.
Who was she writing to? Prisoners.
Funny, for a tragedy buff, I haven't seen any references yet to Hamlet or King Lear.
Wasn't it Shakespeare who wrote, "I want to do you on the stove top"? Where did you find these? Patricia's school locker.
She's been pen-palling with five different convicts.
Ray Dayton, Thomas Gordon.
Dayton went away for murder two.
Gordon, man one.
John Furmen, Louis Knapp, Alden Reed.
Murder, murder, and, what do you know? Murder.
This girl wanted for nothing.
Good family, money, best education.
Now what was she doing writing to killers? It's the ultimate rebellion.
I mean, look at preachers' kids, principals' kids.
Cops' kids.
Hey, good girls go for bad boys.
From what I hear, this girl was nothing but trouble.
Death Row inmates get the most groupies and those whack jobs come from all walks of life.
What years were these five skels convicted? All early '90s.
Time off for good behavior, any one of them could be out on parole.
Why don't you give me that list? I'll have Cabot check in the D.
A"s system.
No.
I'll handle this.
One of your guys is at Sing Sing, three are at Attica and one just got out a week ago.
Which one? Thomas "Bird" Gordon.
Got the max for man one.
Actually did 12 of the 15.
Seems Mr.
Gordon gets a little grabby with women.
Priors include two counts of sex abuse three.
Don, I think you better take a look at this.
See their trial judges? It's Thornburg.
Daddy's a judge and she's seeking out the men he convicted.
What is going on with this girl? What happened here? A guy got shot.
They took him to the hospital.
Said he's a judge.
Judge Thornburg.
Here you go.
Thanks.
How is he? He's still in surgery.
No one will tell me anything.
I know this is difficult.
But can you tell me what happened? I was in the kitchen with Josh and Brian.
The housekeeper was helping me make lunch.
I'd I'd just talked to Walter on his cell, to see if he wanted a sandwich, too.
Take your time.
Let's About five minutes later there was a shot, just like it was outside the door.
And I rushed out there and he was on the ground, bleeding.
Did you see anyone? I didn't look.
AII I could see was Walter.
It doesn't make any sense.
Where was he coming from? Court.
He'd gone in to clear his calendar, then we were going to make funeral arrangements.
Mrs.
Thornburg, is there anybody that you could think of that might want to hurt your husband? No.
I mean I'm sure there are people he's sent to prison that are holding grudges, but we haven't received any threats.
Did you know that your daughter was writing to some of the men that your husband put away? What? We're looking at one of them as a suspect in your daughter's murder.
She ever mention someone called Thomas Gordon? No.
Do you think he's the one who tried to kill my husband? He's been out a week.
Don't tell me he's broken his parole already.
He's looking good for a rape-murder.
That fit your guy? Like a glass slipper.
Right before he got sent up, my little princess was a suspect in a rash of break-in rapes in Brooklyn.
Never enough to arrest.
What's your take on this guy? The guy's got a faulty transmitter.
Doesn't receive signals too clearly.
Ladies say "no," he hears "yes"' But he never killed one of them.
How'd your girl buy it? Bottle to the head.
Tumbled down a flight of stairs.
Deja vu.
Tommy's manslaughter convictions stem from a bar fight.
Severed a guy's carotid.
With what? His version? The other guy threw himself on the broken beer bottle he just happened to be holding.
Where's he at? He was paroled to his sister's address in Queens.
Works at her husband's garage.
What do you want with Tommy? We need to have a little chat with him.
Why don't you leave a card and I'll have him give you a call? and he's done for the day? So much for Employee of the Month, huh? He's on parole.
You need to tell us where he is.
Tell me what you want with him.
The judge who sent your brother up, someone took a potshot at him.
Good, because that judge had it out for Tommy from the beginning.
Tommy did not do it.
Did he come to work yesterday? Yeah.
He comes to work every day.
Is that true, Mr.
Degalio? My wife, she dotes on that worm.
The second he shows up, I find things to do in the attic.
Tony! Shut up, Sharlene.
Yeah, he showed up.
Just long enough to ask for the morning off.
What for? The guy's a sludge.
He's been in prison a long time.
He said he was getting a piece of tail.
What, is there a law against that? Did he mention this piece of tail by name? Yeah.
"Sweet young thing"' The way he goes on, she's burning hot for him.
Cat-in-heat hot.
Wants to do these things Okay, they get the picture.
What time did he clock back in? See, that's the thing.
He not only doesn't show up for the rest of the day, he never returns my van, that low-life loser.
You're telling me he didn't come home last night? Of course he did.
Sir? No, he didn't.
Describe the van.
'97 Ford E-150.
Customized it myself.
Hydraulic camshaft, Just need a plate number.
BQY-2064.
And maybe a color? Gold four-tone paint job with flames.
Thanks for your help.
Got uniforms on the judge and his wife round the clock.
Good.
Yeah, you heard me right.
Gold with flames.
Tommy have any friends? None who made the trip upstate to visit.
Other than Sis, no living relatives.
Well, he's out there, people, and according to ballistics from the judge's shooting, armed with a.
380 semi-automatic.
He simmered in the cage for 12 years, building up hate, planning his revenge.
He's out one week, we already like him for attempted murder, rape-homicide.
High stress on the run.
He's not going down easy.
Well, I say he's going to get back to his comfort zone.
We know any of his old haunts? Well, he was busted for drunk and disorderly at a place called O'Malley's.
His sex charges stem from playing grab-ass with some stripper down in the Bowery.
Split up.
Hit them all.
Seen this ugly mug around? Oh, yeah, that's Bird.
He used to come in back when I was performing.
Prison didn't teach him no manners.
He still can't keep his hands to himself.
When was the last time he was in here? A couple days ago.
He was pounding them down all afternoon.
Keeps trying to hit on Sheila over there.
Suddenly he jumps up on the stage and starts doing the hump dance with her.
Tossed him out on his head, told him never to come back.
You think I could talk to Sheila? Twenty bucks will get you three minutes.
So, Tommy Bird, did he ever get violent with any of the girls? Not that I heard of.
But the more sloshed he gets, the more touchy-feely.
Looks like a cop.
She's cool.
Wants to know about the humpmeister.
Bad tipper.
So, you had a conversation with him? Yeah.
I say, "Leave me alone," he don't listen.
He keeps after me to hook up after work.
Did he have a place in mind? Yeah, some bar up the street.
Falcone's.
Hello, Thomas.
I've been sitting on the van.
Any sign of him? No, but I found something very interesting while I was waiting.
You got a warrant? That's all I'm waiting for to make it legal for me to take this.
There's our.
380.
Recently fired.
Let's do it.
Sit down.
What's going on? Arresting your punk ass.
For what? Parole violation.
Oh, man.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can Can I just finish my beer? He's clean.
Let's go.
You got a right to attorney.
You puke in my car I'm going to kill your ass.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be Tommy, we got you.
Your DNA matches the fluids we found in Patricia Stephens.
Never heard of her.
Oh, come on, your sweet young thing.
The one with the floppy hat? If that bitch is saying rape, she's Iying.
Oh, Tommy, she's not saying anything.
She's dead.
What? No way.
She was alive when I left her.
You raped her, you beat her to a bloody pulp and you left her to die while you tracked down her old man.
No, no, no, no.
Yeah, yeah! Sweetheart, we matched the bullet to your gun.
All right, look.
Maybe I took a shot at the judge, but he sabotaged my defense.
He blocked my parole.
Twelve prime years wasted in prison? I'd want someone dead.
Yeah, but not too quick.
I'd want to torture him first, maybe rape and kill the stepdaughter.
What are you talking about? I didn't even know they were related till yesterday.
Hey, you got to believe me! This shooting thing, it wasn't my idea.
It was that stupid slut got me all revved up! Tommy! Weak, very weak.
Hey, I didn't go looking for her.
She wrote to me first.
I got the letters to prove it.
So why you, Tommy? Why did she pick you? Chicks.
One day I'm sitting in my cell, she writes to me out of the blue.
Promises me sex beyond my wildest dreams.
You must've done something really good in a previous life.
I thought I finally found my dream girl.
She said she'd do anything, anytime, anywhere.
Get me anything I needed.
And what did you need? I got a condition requires Percocet.
She said she could bring me some, but that turned out to be a lie, too.
Whatever.
What happened? I get to the hotel, I'm primed and ready, if you know what I mean and all of sudden she's got a headache.
So you raped her! No.
I was past the point of no return, so I seduced her.
Hey, she knew what she was doing.
She got me all worked up.
Then came the catch.
And what was that? Kill her step-daddy.
That's bull.
We've got the letter she sent him.
He kept all of them, even though she wrote on each one "please destroy"' So you have, in writing, her request to kill her stepfather? No.
I didn't think so.
Did she even mention who her stepfather was? She does mention a favor.
She can't say what it is until she sees him in person.
So you're buying the ex-con murdering rapist's version? It's the same charge whether it's his idea or somebody else's.
Why would he lie? That's what they do.
But, Captain, you got to admit Patricia was doing a lot of questionable things.
Let's just say, for argument's sake, that he's not Iying.
Why would she want him to do it? I don't know.
She was a sick girl.
I think as far as the Captain is concerned, this case is closed.
Well, not for me.
I want to know what made her so sick.
Patricia was not very popular.
Mrs.
Thornburg and the boys.
Mrs.
Thornburg.
Wait.
Oh, sorry.
We thought you were I'm her sister, Erin.
Brook's still at the hospital.
This is Detective Benson.
I'm Detective Stabler.
We were working Tricia's case.
We came by to pay our respects.
Maybe if we could talk, at a more appropriate time, of course.
Thank God somebody is here with Tricia's interests at heart.
I'm sorry.
You know? Why don't I look after them for you? I've got a lot of experience wrangling kids.
Patricia and the judge didn't get along? Oil and water.
That must have been hard on your sister.
Oh, please.
Her first husband abandoned them when Trish was five.
Brook got a job as a court reporter, met the meal ticket.
Judge Thornburg.
And she wasn't going to let Trish muck it up.
That's why Trish started acting out.
That was his excuse to get rid of her, start his own family.
The second she was gone, they get married.
Adopt Brian six months later, get pregnant with Josh immediately after that.
Instant new family.
And no room for Trish, who's now conveniently tucked away at boarding school.
Trish never went to boarding school.
I don't understand.
I thought Do you know what a PINS petition is? Person In Need of Supervision.
Yeah.
Just before she turned 12 he swore out one of those.
Had her sent to kiddy prison.
No offense.
You really believe she belonged in a place like this? She'd been chronically truant, shoplifting, breaking curfew.
It was a legitimate call.
For someone with no other options.
These people had money.
We don't discriminate.
These kids are inner-city throwaways.
They could have put Trish in a boarding school, a military school.
Hell, even a charm school.
Money buys choices.
It is unusual for a family with means to go through the family court system.
We're talking a judge here.
He knew exactly what he was throwing her into.
Abused kids, mentally ill, straight-out violent head cases.
Which one was Trish? In her three years here, she never once opened up in therapy.
Serious trust issues.
What was the root of it? We suspected sexual abuse.
Based on? The usual symptoms.
Hypervigilance, exaggerated startled response, insomnia, the fact that she'd never talk about the baby, somatic reactions like nausea, poor appetite Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What baby? Mrs.
Thornburg, could we talk to you for a moment? I was just taking the boys to the hospital to see their father.
We just have a few questions, but they'd be better asked in private.
Ida, can you put Josh in the car? What is it? Why didn't you tell us about Patricia's pregnancy? What are you talking about? I think you know.
The real reason that you sent her off to boot camp.
She was 12 years old and pregnant.
You being a good Catholic, an abortion's out of the question.
You didn't send her to an RTC to straighten her out, you sent her there to conceal her condition.
You don't know what you're saying.
Your adopted son, Brian.
We know he's Tricia's.
How We did the math.
Tricia had her baby four years ago.
Brian's just the right age.
I need to be with my husband.
Mrs.
Thornburg, who's the father? Who's the father of Tricia's baby? She told me she didn't even know.
They lied about the boarding school.
Which timelines with her pregnancy.
Hospital records just came in.
Tricia's unnamed baby has the same birth date as Brian.
I'm sorry, Captain.
Adopting your underaged, unwed daughter's baby is not a crime.
It is if you're the one who knocked her up.
Judge Thornburg? One of the most respected jurists in the state.
Which doesn't mean squat to me if he raped an 11-year-old girl.
Judge Thornburg.
I can't think of a judge who is tougher on child molesters.
Maybe he's a self-loather.
Liv? There's only one way to prove it.
We have Tricia's DNA from the ME's office and Judge Thornburg's from the crime scene.
All we need is Brian's.
You guys had better be right.
Let me get this straight.
You want me to let you take this to a judge to sign a blood order, so that you can take a DNA sample of one of their esteemed colleagues' four-year-old son based on nothing more than a wild theory? If you'll just look at the attached exhibits.
Does anyone allege that this man was having sex with his stepdaughter? No, but we have a pattern of conduct.
I have a signed affidavit from a clerk who made Tricia's most recent shoplifting charge disappear, at the request of Judge Thornburg.
Ever get a colleague to fix a ticket for you, Alex? In the past, he manipulated the system against her.
So why is he covering for her now? She was holding something over him.
Five years ago, he used the court to hide his crime, bypass the system.
Got a crony to push through the detention order.
Had another colleague falsify Brian's adoption papers and his birth certificate.
Uh-huh.
But no proof of sex.
No.
Yet, you're willing to risk your future and my reputation.
Need I remind you that I am responsible for the integrity of this entire bureau? A judge has used the power of the court to further his own agenda.
If the light we shine on him isn't brighter than the light we shine on the public, then this bureau has no integrity.
I wouldn't want to be you if he's not the father.
How are you feeling? Not much like talking, Don.
I'm afraid I have extended all the professional courtesy I can.
I'm sure Brook told you we ran a paternity test on Brian.
He's yours, Walter.
You raped that little girl.
Don't ask me for an explanation.
I've searched the depths of my soul, and I can't for the life of me find one.
What happened? Did she threaten to expose you? Is that why you killed her? You have the person that killed her, the scum who shot me.
You just don't get it, do you, Walter? It's over.
And the least you could do is give me the courtesy of the truth.
You can't really believe that I killed her? I was your last hold-out, but I had to check.
You didn't take the bench until noon that day.
I was in chambers.
That can be easily proved.
I'm expecting a call from the crime lab, which, I hope to God, proves me wrong, Walter.
Come on, that's good enough.
Hold on.
It's just going to take another You're done.
Okay.
It just needs to dry completely.
Or I could give it the old college try.
Okay, he used it like a club, so why don't you start with the neck? Oh, my God.
I think it actually worked.
What do you want now? Have you talked to your husband? Of course I have.
So you know what happened.
Tricia seduced him.
She was 11 years old.
She was a very disturbed girl.
She wouldn't leave him alone.
And you believe him? Yes, I do.
Do you also believe he had nothing to do with her murder? There's no doubt in my mind.
You're right.
We found a fingerprint on the bottle that struck Tricia.
It wasn't your husband's.
See? It was yours.
You're wrong.
When the school called, that was the last straw, wasn't it? She'd been in so much trouble before, you had to find out what she was up to.
So you went looking for her.
I thought it had to be drugs.
I went and looked in her room.
What did you find? A slip of paper by the phone.
It had a hotel, date and time.
I knew she was going to have sex.
You went there to save her? Yes, but I was too late.
She was just coming out.
You're her mother.
You confronted her.
She just walked away.
I knew she'd been with that man, the one who got her pregnant.
So you followed her, you demanded to know.
She finally told you, didn't she? She turned on me.
She said, "You want to know who the father is? "It's your husband"' That must have been unbearable.
I slapped her.
She pushed me back and I fell.
I didn't even know there was a bottle on the ground.
I must have picked it up.
You hit her with the bottle.
You know, she just She gave me this look, like I was the one who had betrayed her.
Scam, Gordy.
It's not.
My cousin done it.
Made a mint.
Watch the glass.
It's a pyramid scheme.
Guys at the top get rich.
Schmucks below them don't see a dime.
Who's your cousin, Kenneth Lay? No, Joe Stiltson.
Damn it.
Watch out.
There's oil or something.
Are you coming? This ain't getting any lighter.
It's illegal, Gordy.
You get people to invest, you Holy hell.
Victim's in her teens, You get a name? No.
Attacker's name? Non-responsive the whole ride over.
She say anything at the scene? Just, "He raped me.
" Then she was out again.
In Trauma 4.
There.
Pupils fixed and dilated.
Fresh blood in the ear canal.
She's got a skull fracture and multiple scalp lacs.
Regular rate and rhythm.
She's a rape victim.
We have to preserve hair and fiber evidence.
BP is 140 over 90.
Lung sounds clear bilaterally.
Abdomen's rigid.
Pressure's falling.
Start a unit of O-neg and get her to the OR.
She's bleeding into her belly.
Wait, wait, wait.
Did anybody start a rape kit? Come on, let's go.
Got to move.
We're losing her.
Get that! Hold the door! Come on, guys.
Let's go.
Move it, move it, move it.
Any signs of fluids? BP's 80 palp.
Still tachy at 120.
Please, you're taking my DNA evidence.
Just one swab? And an oral? Coming through.
There's a stain on her thigh.
If you could just give me that? Here.
Coming through.
Let's go.
Let's go! This area is sterile.
You're not going to contaminate my OR.
If I could just get a fingernail scraping You're done.
Hopefully we've got DNA in here.
So get it straight over to the ME's office.
Right.
Then voucher the clothes and drop them at the police lab.
The ME first, lab second.
You got it? Clothes.
Where are the clothes? Here we go.
They didn't do a full rape kit.
Only had time between the ER and the OR, and then, you know, they wash everything away with betadyne, so She didn't make it.
Huh? Our victim.
She died on the table.
I got in the way.
They were trying to save her life and I was trying to make a collar.
I got in the way.
No.
The doctor said there was massive internal bleeding.
She blew a clot.
There's nothing anyone could have done.
Nothing.
Okay.
So let's canvass the neighborhood.
Get a name for the death certificate.
Emily Porter.
Paramedics cut off her jacket in the bus, found this in her pocket.
Percocet.
You got an address? From the pharmacy.
Dr, Russ, report to the main room immediately, Let's go notify the parents.
Hi.
Is your mom or dad home? Mom, door! Are you here to pay condolences? Oh.
My grandma died last night.
Yes? Mrs.
Porter? Yes.
Are you the mother of Emily Porter? No.
I'm Emily Porter.
I've never seen her before.
Your drugs were found on her.
Drugs? I'm not taking any I had a root canal two weeks ago, but they made me loopy.
Do you have any idea how they left the premises? Heather? Did the pills kill her? No, we just need to know who she is.
I don't know her.
I swear.
But you did give her the pills? No! There's this guy.
Everyone at the skateboard park talks about him.
He'll buy anything you give him.
What's his name? Doc.
Nice office.
You got an appointment? Man, I don't take walk-ins.
Looking for some Vicodin.
Well, you need a prescription for that.
You got a prescription? Normally I would have one, but today I'm working on my own.
My partner, he has some kind of dignitary duty.
They carting his ass around in a limo.
You believe that? What the hell you talking about, man? Sorry.
I just needed to vent.
Bring your ass here.
Who is she? I don't know.
Okay.
I'm going in.
Going to charge you with everything I find.
Come on.
No.
Want me to stop going through your pockets? You tell me who she is.
Okay, okay.
Look, I don't know her name, but she came in, like, 10:00 this morning, bought some happy pills.
You're a regular one-stop shop here.
What do you got, fake ID? Ready to make a deal or you want me to go into pocket number three? There's nothing else to tell.
I mean, she came incognito with a hat down over her eyes.
Describe the hat.
It was black.
Kind of shiny and floppy.
Mention where she was going? No.
I mean, but, you know, she was a cute little hottie, and I watched her walk across the street into the Royal Arms.
Get your ass up.
Sorry.
She was wearing a black floppy hat.
Floppy.
Look, like this.
Covered half her face.
Oh, okay.
The cutie pie.
She met a guy in the lobby.
She a pro? Didn't look like one.
Could you describe the guy? Clientele tends to blur.
But white, 30s, kind of buff.
Are you telling me this wasn't a business transaction? He was trying to hump her in the lobby.
She's Miss Arm's Length.
"Let's sit and talk.
" He practically dragged her up the stairs.
Did she ask for help? Nah.
We're going to need his name and his room number.
Dover, Room 406.
Paid cash.
Ben Dover.
Is he still up there? We're a by-the-hour establishment.
Tell me that room hasn't been cleaned yet.
Not since '72.
Looks like this is where she was raped.
If there was a rape.
Humor me.
At least give me that there was a struggle.
Bet you there's got to be a thousand DNA samples on that bedspread.
From this week alone.
My question is, how does she wind up dead two blocks away from here? She breaks free, he chases after her, when he catches up, bye-bye.
He didn't leave anything here.
But she did.
Cute hat.
And informative.
"Made Exclusively for Destination.
" The hats are this way.
Pretty swanky.
What's our girl doing shopping here? They're adorable, aren't they? We just got them in.
How much are they? Seven ninety-five.
She managed to find the only affordable thing in here.
That would be $795.
Oh.
Well, that'll max out your credit card.
Could you pull the sales receipts for these? Certainly.
There can't be that many.
At that price, I don't see them flying off the shelves.
Well, they're projected to.
Of course, we just got them in yesterday.
That's odd.
We haven't sold any yet.
Sorry.
I understand you caught a shoplifter for me.
Maybe you can return the favor.
We'll settle for a name.
If they'd caught her before, she'd have been banned from the store.
Maybe she slipped by security? She slipped out of here with that hat.
My Loss Prevention Consultant keeps begging me to use those horrible electronic surveillance tags, but they stretch the fabrics.
Got her.
Why doesn't this one have a name? February 18.
That was our President's Day sale.
I remember that.
She was caught stuffing a cashmere sweater in her bag.
Of course, we pressed charges.
Then you should have received a copy of a "61" or a criminal court complaint.
Either one should have her name on it.
Nothing.
She was picked up by an Officer Slater.
We never heard back.
Yeah, thanks.
Catching any speeders? Do I know you? Slater, right? Yeah.
SVU.
We caught a Jane Doe this morning, and every turn we're coming up blank, ending with you.
I don't follow you.
Okay.
This girl pulled a Winona at Destination two months ago.
You picked her up.
Why can't we find any arrest records? She wouldn't give me her name.
My sarge says if she gives it up we'll just give her a desk appearance.
Did she go for the D.
A.
T.
? Yeah.
Then what's her name? Excuse me.
We need you to pull a Desk Appearance Ticket issued 2-1802 for a Patricia Stephens.
Is that a problem? Sorry.
What was the name? Stephens.
Stephens, with a "P-H.
" Steingard, Stelherd, Stemple.
No.
I don't see it.
Oh, come on.
Well, maybe it was misspelled.
Try it with a "V"' No.
Look, I really have to close.
Listen, lady, the girl's dead.
So if she's got parents, I'm not going to let them spend the night going out of their mind not knowing, so please keep looking.
Patricia's dead? You know this girl? You don't know who she is, do you? That's what we've spent this entire miserable day trying to find out.
Who is she? Judge Thornburg's daughter.
Why did it have to be the stepdaughter of a hanging judge? Thornburg's sentence on the SoHo Youth Center rapes came down last week.
Father Kelly's doing 25-to-life before he burns in hell.
And we get to pay him back by telling him his pill-popping, shoplifting stepdaughter was murdered leaving some seedy sex hotel.
Yeah? What? Came by to let you know we ID'd the girl.
Good.
Going to notify the parents.
Worst part of the job.
Sorry.
Yeah, well, this one hit one of our own.
A cop's daughter? A judge's.
Thornburg.
I know Walt.
Who doesn't? We've testified in his court a hundred times.
We have history.
We both went to St.
John's.
I run into Walt at every function.
He has two small sons.
I didn't even know he had a daughter.
Stepdaughter.
She was 16.
So it's true? It's already hit the courthouse grapevine? This is huge.
My boss is going to want to know where you are on this every minute.
Well, tell her we're going to notify the judge and his wife before Channel 5 does.
No, it's okay.
I'm doing this one.
Don.
Hello, Brook.
Is Walter here? He's in the den.
Is something wrong? Why don't you go lie down? We have to tell Josh and Brian.
I won't keep you long.
She was raped? We're investigating it as a rape-homicide, yes.
When? She was found about 11:00 this morning.
Where? Hell's Kitchen.
Do you have any idea what she would be doing in that part of town? No.
Does Brook have to be here for this? No.
No.
Of course not.
I'll be with you in a minute, okay? All right.
We can drop the niceties now.
She's been a problem child since puberty.
Trust me.
I am long past the point of being shocked.
What kind of trouble had she been in? When Brook and I got together five years ago, she went wild.
We tried discipline, therapy.
Finally had to send her to boarding school.
How long had she been back? A year, going to St.
Monica's.
Brook got a phone call from the school this morning.
Patricia ditched just after roll call.
What did you do? Absolutely nothing.
Truancy was just her latest method of torturing Brook and me.
Before that it was body piercing.
Before that it was a tattoo.
Doesn't match any known gang tats.
Do we know what she was hit with? ME pulled glass shards out of her scalp, which match color and thickness with a broken beer bottle found here.
That's where she took the blow.
Yes.
But see the spatter pattern? Based on its trajectory, and height of the victim, I'd say she was standing here, while her attacker came at her from the south, swinging from right to left.
From here, droplets of blood form a serpentine pattern to the stairs.
She was staggering? And continue down the steps, alternating between round drops and smudges, suggesting she cartwheeled head-over-heels.
Smudges being where her head hit the steps? Until she landed hard at the bottom, where she lay unconscious for at least 15 minutes, as you can see from the pool of blood.
This bottle, any pieces big enough for prints? Follow me.
After identifying the type of bottle used, I bought the same brand and filled it with plaster of Paris.
Now comes the fun part.
We tap-tap-tap all over, cracking it like an egg.
And then we take the glass from the crime scene, which I have right here.
You like jigsaw puzzles, Detective? You're kidding me.
There must be a thousand pieces in there.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine to go.
I'll let you know if I get a print.
Patricia was a smart girl and the classes she showed up for, she did very well in.
Unfortunately she was a discipline problem.
Fights? No.
Her hostility was restricted to authority figures.
A rule breaker.
She'd talk back, walk into class 10 minutes after the bell, and we suspected she was defiling her body.
You're talking about her tattoo and piercings? That and she was sent to the nurse's office a few months ago with cuts on her arms.
Wait.
She was cutting herself? Yes.
How often? Just the once that we know of.
If she was cutting, it was a cry for help.
Or a way to make herself feel alive.
Did she have any friends here? It was sad.
She never did manage to fit in.
There's only one girl I ever saw her friendly with.
And where can we find her? Making up for the classes you ditched? Am I in trouble? You were with Tricia Stephens yesterday, weren't you? I can't believe she's dead.
Mary, you need to tell us everything that happened.
I never should have left her.
Left her where? Destination.
I never skip school, I swear.
Trish dragged me along.
To steal a hat? I had no idea she was going to do it.
I was furious, so I took off.
How long had you been friends? Practically since she came here.
We both love the classics.
Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus Tragedies.
We were both very drawn to them.
And why is that? She having boyfriend troubles? No.
Trish never had a boyfriend.
I mean, not really.
Define "really"' Well, there are guys that she wrote to.
Like pen pals? Right.
How many? A bunch.
She didn't think her parents would understand, so all the letters came to my house.
Why was she afraid to tell her parents? They were strict.
They didn't get the real Trish.
She had a good heart.
She was doing God's work.
Reaching out to lost souls.
Who was she writing to? Prisoners.
Funny, for a tragedy buff, I haven't seen any references yet to Hamlet or King Lear.
Wasn't it Shakespeare who wrote, "I want to do you on the stove top"? Where did you find these? Patricia's school locker.
She's been pen-palling with five different convicts.
Ray Dayton, Thomas Gordon.
Dayton went away for murder two.
Gordon, man one.
John Furmen, Louis Knapp, Alden Reed.
Murder, murder, and, what do you know? Murder.
This girl wanted for nothing.
Good family, money, best education.
Now what was she doing writing to killers? It's the ultimate rebellion.
I mean, look at preachers' kids, principals' kids.
Cops' kids.
Hey, good girls go for bad boys.
From what I hear, this girl was nothing but trouble.
Death Row inmates get the most groupies and those whack jobs come from all walks of life.
What years were these five skels convicted? All early '90s.
Time off for good behavior, any one of them could be out on parole.
Why don't you give me that list? I'll have Cabot check in the D.
A"s system.
No.
I'll handle this.
One of your guys is at Sing Sing, three are at Attica and one just got out a week ago.
Which one? Thomas "Bird" Gordon.
Got the max for man one.
Actually did 12 of the 15.
Seems Mr.
Gordon gets a little grabby with women.
Priors include two counts of sex abuse three.
Don, I think you better take a look at this.
See their trial judges? It's Thornburg.
Daddy's a judge and she's seeking out the men he convicted.
What is going on with this girl? What happened here? A guy got shot.
They took him to the hospital.
Said he's a judge.
Judge Thornburg.
Here you go.
Thanks.
How is he? He's still in surgery.
No one will tell me anything.
I know this is difficult.
But can you tell me what happened? I was in the kitchen with Josh and Brian.
The housekeeper was helping me make lunch.
I'd I'd just talked to Walter on his cell, to see if he wanted a sandwich, too.
Take your time.
Let's About five minutes later there was a shot, just like it was outside the door.
And I rushed out there and he was on the ground, bleeding.
Did you see anyone? I didn't look.
AII I could see was Walter.
It doesn't make any sense.
Where was he coming from? Court.
He'd gone in to clear his calendar, then we were going to make funeral arrangements.
Mrs.
Thornburg, is there anybody that you could think of that might want to hurt your husband? No.
I mean I'm sure there are people he's sent to prison that are holding grudges, but we haven't received any threats.
Did you know that your daughter was writing to some of the men that your husband put away? What? We're looking at one of them as a suspect in your daughter's murder.
She ever mention someone called Thomas Gordon? No.
Do you think he's the one who tried to kill my husband? He's been out a week.
Don't tell me he's broken his parole already.
He's looking good for a rape-murder.
That fit your guy? Like a glass slipper.
Right before he got sent up, my little princess was a suspect in a rash of break-in rapes in Brooklyn.
Never enough to arrest.
What's your take on this guy? The guy's got a faulty transmitter.
Doesn't receive signals too clearly.
Ladies say "no," he hears "yes"' But he never killed one of them.
How'd your girl buy it? Bottle to the head.
Tumbled down a flight of stairs.
Deja vu.
Tommy's manslaughter convictions stem from a bar fight.
Severed a guy's carotid.
With what? His version? The other guy threw himself on the broken beer bottle he just happened to be holding.
Where's he at? He was paroled to his sister's address in Queens.
Works at her husband's garage.
What do you want with Tommy? We need to have a little chat with him.
Why don't you leave a card and I'll have him give you a call? and he's done for the day? So much for Employee of the Month, huh? He's on parole.
You need to tell us where he is.
Tell me what you want with him.
The judge who sent your brother up, someone took a potshot at him.
Good, because that judge had it out for Tommy from the beginning.
Tommy did not do it.
Did he come to work yesterday? Yeah.
He comes to work every day.
Is that true, Mr.
Degalio? My wife, she dotes on that worm.
The second he shows up, I find things to do in the attic.
Tony! Shut up, Sharlene.
Yeah, he showed up.
Just long enough to ask for the morning off.
What for? The guy's a sludge.
He's been in prison a long time.
He said he was getting a piece of tail.
What, is there a law against that? Did he mention this piece of tail by name? Yeah.
"Sweet young thing"' The way he goes on, she's burning hot for him.
Cat-in-heat hot.
Wants to do these things Okay, they get the picture.
What time did he clock back in? See, that's the thing.
He not only doesn't show up for the rest of the day, he never returns my van, that low-life loser.
You're telling me he didn't come home last night? Of course he did.
Sir? No, he didn't.
Describe the van.
'97 Ford E-150.
Customized it myself.
Hydraulic camshaft, Just need a plate number.
BQY-2064.
And maybe a color? Gold four-tone paint job with flames.
Thanks for your help.
Got uniforms on the judge and his wife round the clock.
Good.
Yeah, you heard me right.
Gold with flames.
Tommy have any friends? None who made the trip upstate to visit.
Other than Sis, no living relatives.
Well, he's out there, people, and according to ballistics from the judge's shooting, armed with a.
380 semi-automatic.
He simmered in the cage for 12 years, building up hate, planning his revenge.
He's out one week, we already like him for attempted murder, rape-homicide.
High stress on the run.
He's not going down easy.
Well, I say he's going to get back to his comfort zone.
We know any of his old haunts? Well, he was busted for drunk and disorderly at a place called O'Malley's.
His sex charges stem from playing grab-ass with some stripper down in the Bowery.
Split up.
Hit them all.
Seen this ugly mug around? Oh, yeah, that's Bird.
He used to come in back when I was performing.
Prison didn't teach him no manners.
He still can't keep his hands to himself.
When was the last time he was in here? A couple days ago.
He was pounding them down all afternoon.
Keeps trying to hit on Sheila over there.
Suddenly he jumps up on the stage and starts doing the hump dance with her.
Tossed him out on his head, told him never to come back.
You think I could talk to Sheila? Twenty bucks will get you three minutes.
So, Tommy Bird, did he ever get violent with any of the girls? Not that I heard of.
But the more sloshed he gets, the more touchy-feely.
Looks like a cop.
She's cool.
Wants to know about the humpmeister.
Bad tipper.
So, you had a conversation with him? Yeah.
I say, "Leave me alone," he don't listen.
He keeps after me to hook up after work.
Did he have a place in mind? Yeah, some bar up the street.
Falcone's.
Hello, Thomas.
I've been sitting on the van.
Any sign of him? No, but I found something very interesting while I was waiting.
You got a warrant? That's all I'm waiting for to make it legal for me to take this.
There's our.
380.
Recently fired.
Let's do it.
Sit down.
What's going on? Arresting your punk ass.
For what? Parole violation.
Oh, man.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can Can I just finish my beer? He's clean.
Let's go.
You got a right to attorney.
You puke in my car I'm going to kill your ass.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be Tommy, we got you.
Your DNA matches the fluids we found in Patricia Stephens.
Never heard of her.
Oh, come on, your sweet young thing.
The one with the floppy hat? If that bitch is saying rape, she's Iying.
Oh, Tommy, she's not saying anything.
She's dead.
What? No way.
She was alive when I left her.
You raped her, you beat her to a bloody pulp and you left her to die while you tracked down her old man.
No, no, no, no.
Yeah, yeah! Sweetheart, we matched the bullet to your gun.
All right, look.
Maybe I took a shot at the judge, but he sabotaged my defense.
He blocked my parole.
Twelve prime years wasted in prison? I'd want someone dead.
Yeah, but not too quick.
I'd want to torture him first, maybe rape and kill the stepdaughter.
What are you talking about? I didn't even know they were related till yesterday.
Hey, you got to believe me! This shooting thing, it wasn't my idea.
It was that stupid slut got me all revved up! Tommy! Weak, very weak.
Hey, I didn't go looking for her.
She wrote to me first.
I got the letters to prove it.
So why you, Tommy? Why did she pick you? Chicks.
One day I'm sitting in my cell, she writes to me out of the blue.
Promises me sex beyond my wildest dreams.
You must've done something really good in a previous life.
I thought I finally found my dream girl.
She said she'd do anything, anytime, anywhere.
Get me anything I needed.
And what did you need? I got a condition requires Percocet.
She said she could bring me some, but that turned out to be a lie, too.
Whatever.
What happened? I get to the hotel, I'm primed and ready, if you know what I mean and all of sudden she's got a headache.
So you raped her! No.
I was past the point of no return, so I seduced her.
Hey, she knew what she was doing.
She got me all worked up.
Then came the catch.
And what was that? Kill her step-daddy.
That's bull.
We've got the letter she sent him.
He kept all of them, even though she wrote on each one "please destroy"' So you have, in writing, her request to kill her stepfather? No.
I didn't think so.
Did she even mention who her stepfather was? She does mention a favor.
She can't say what it is until she sees him in person.
So you're buying the ex-con murdering rapist's version? It's the same charge whether it's his idea or somebody else's.
Why would he lie? That's what they do.
But, Captain, you got to admit Patricia was doing a lot of questionable things.
Let's just say, for argument's sake, that he's not Iying.
Why would she want him to do it? I don't know.
She was a sick girl.
I think as far as the Captain is concerned, this case is closed.
Well, not for me.
I want to know what made her so sick.
Patricia was not very popular.
Mrs.
Thornburg and the boys.
Mrs.
Thornburg.
Wait.
Oh, sorry.
We thought you were I'm her sister, Erin.
Brook's still at the hospital.
This is Detective Benson.
I'm Detective Stabler.
We were working Tricia's case.
We came by to pay our respects.
Maybe if we could talk, at a more appropriate time, of course.
Thank God somebody is here with Tricia's interests at heart.
I'm sorry.
You know? Why don't I look after them for you? I've got a lot of experience wrangling kids.
Patricia and the judge didn't get along? Oil and water.
That must have been hard on your sister.
Oh, please.
Her first husband abandoned them when Trish was five.
Brook got a job as a court reporter, met the meal ticket.
Judge Thornburg.
And she wasn't going to let Trish muck it up.
That's why Trish started acting out.
That was his excuse to get rid of her, start his own family.
The second she was gone, they get married.
Adopt Brian six months later, get pregnant with Josh immediately after that.
Instant new family.
And no room for Trish, who's now conveniently tucked away at boarding school.
Trish never went to boarding school.
I don't understand.
I thought Do you know what a PINS petition is? Person In Need of Supervision.
Yeah.
Just before she turned 12 he swore out one of those.
Had her sent to kiddy prison.
No offense.
You really believe she belonged in a place like this? She'd been chronically truant, shoplifting, breaking curfew.
It was a legitimate call.
For someone with no other options.
These people had money.
We don't discriminate.
These kids are inner-city throwaways.
They could have put Trish in a boarding school, a military school.
Hell, even a charm school.
Money buys choices.
It is unusual for a family with means to go through the family court system.
We're talking a judge here.
He knew exactly what he was throwing her into.
Abused kids, mentally ill, straight-out violent head cases.
Which one was Trish? In her three years here, she never once opened up in therapy.
Serious trust issues.
What was the root of it? We suspected sexual abuse.
Based on? The usual symptoms.
Hypervigilance, exaggerated startled response, insomnia, the fact that she'd never talk about the baby, somatic reactions like nausea, poor appetite Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What baby? Mrs.
Thornburg, could we talk to you for a moment? I was just taking the boys to the hospital to see their father.
We just have a few questions, but they'd be better asked in private.
Ida, can you put Josh in the car? What is it? Why didn't you tell us about Patricia's pregnancy? What are you talking about? I think you know.
The real reason that you sent her off to boot camp.
She was 12 years old and pregnant.
You being a good Catholic, an abortion's out of the question.
You didn't send her to an RTC to straighten her out, you sent her there to conceal her condition.
You don't know what you're saying.
Your adopted son, Brian.
We know he's Tricia's.
How We did the math.
Tricia had her baby four years ago.
Brian's just the right age.
I need to be with my husband.
Mrs.
Thornburg, who's the father? Who's the father of Tricia's baby? She told me she didn't even know.
They lied about the boarding school.
Which timelines with her pregnancy.
Hospital records just came in.
Tricia's unnamed baby has the same birth date as Brian.
I'm sorry, Captain.
Adopting your underaged, unwed daughter's baby is not a crime.
It is if you're the one who knocked her up.
Judge Thornburg? One of the most respected jurists in the state.
Which doesn't mean squat to me if he raped an 11-year-old girl.
Judge Thornburg.
I can't think of a judge who is tougher on child molesters.
Maybe he's a self-loather.
Liv? There's only one way to prove it.
We have Tricia's DNA from the ME's office and Judge Thornburg's from the crime scene.
All we need is Brian's.
You guys had better be right.
Let me get this straight.
You want me to let you take this to a judge to sign a blood order, so that you can take a DNA sample of one of their esteemed colleagues' four-year-old son based on nothing more than a wild theory? If you'll just look at the attached exhibits.
Does anyone allege that this man was having sex with his stepdaughter? No, but we have a pattern of conduct.
I have a signed affidavit from a clerk who made Tricia's most recent shoplifting charge disappear, at the request of Judge Thornburg.
Ever get a colleague to fix a ticket for you, Alex? In the past, he manipulated the system against her.
So why is he covering for her now? She was holding something over him.
Five years ago, he used the court to hide his crime, bypass the system.
Got a crony to push through the detention order.
Had another colleague falsify Brian's adoption papers and his birth certificate.
Uh-huh.
But no proof of sex.
No.
Yet, you're willing to risk your future and my reputation.
Need I remind you that I am responsible for the integrity of this entire bureau? A judge has used the power of the court to further his own agenda.
If the light we shine on him isn't brighter than the light we shine on the public, then this bureau has no integrity.
I wouldn't want to be you if he's not the father.
How are you feeling? Not much like talking, Don.
I'm afraid I have extended all the professional courtesy I can.
I'm sure Brook told you we ran a paternity test on Brian.
He's yours, Walter.
You raped that little girl.
Don't ask me for an explanation.
I've searched the depths of my soul, and I can't for the life of me find one.
What happened? Did she threaten to expose you? Is that why you killed her? You have the person that killed her, the scum who shot me.
You just don't get it, do you, Walter? It's over.
And the least you could do is give me the courtesy of the truth.
You can't really believe that I killed her? I was your last hold-out, but I had to check.
You didn't take the bench until noon that day.
I was in chambers.
That can be easily proved.
I'm expecting a call from the crime lab, which, I hope to God, proves me wrong, Walter.
Come on, that's good enough.
Hold on.
It's just going to take another You're done.
Okay.
It just needs to dry completely.
Or I could give it the old college try.
Okay, he used it like a club, so why don't you start with the neck? Oh, my God.
I think it actually worked.
What do you want now? Have you talked to your husband? Of course I have.
So you know what happened.
Tricia seduced him.
She was 11 years old.
She was a very disturbed girl.
She wouldn't leave him alone.
And you believe him? Yes, I do.
Do you also believe he had nothing to do with her murder? There's no doubt in my mind.
You're right.
We found a fingerprint on the bottle that struck Tricia.
It wasn't your husband's.
See? It was yours.
You're wrong.
When the school called, that was the last straw, wasn't it? She'd been in so much trouble before, you had to find out what she was up to.
So you went looking for her.
I thought it had to be drugs.
I went and looked in her room.
What did you find? A slip of paper by the phone.
It had a hotel, date and time.
I knew she was going to have sex.
You went there to save her? Yes, but I was too late.
She was just coming out.
You're her mother.
You confronted her.
She just walked away.
I knew she'd been with that man, the one who got her pregnant.
So you followed her, you demanded to know.
She finally told you, didn't she? She turned on me.
She said, "You want to know who the father is? "It's your husband"' That must have been unbearable.
I slapped her.
She pushed me back and I fell.
I didn't even know there was a bottle on the ground.
I must have picked it up.
You hit her with the bottle.
You know, she just She gave me this look, like I was the one who had betrayed her.