Written By Robert F Campbell and Jonathan Greene
Directed by Constantine Makris
When Jessica Blaine-Todd (Mary Beth Hurt), the wife of a restaurateur, is found brutally attacked in her home, SVU suspects that she may be the victim of a serial rapist when they discover a similar attack against a woman, Denise Johansen (Sherri Parker Lee); but the evidence ends up leading to a sinister plot at the hands of Jessica's husband, Edwin (Henry Winkler), who is not what he appears to be.
Tropes:
- Didn't Think This Through: Edwin and Denise almost committed the perfect crime by marrying their victims, even going so far as to confess the entire plan to their marks, knowing that legally they cannot testify against them in court. However, it turns out Edwin and Denise got married in Mexico, but did not divorce before marrying their targets. Thus, their marriages to the victims aren't legally binding, nullifying Spousal Privilege.
- Marrying the Mark: A con man steals the identity of a rich restaurateur to marry a rich widow, and he funnels the money she loans him to open a new restaurant into his own offshore accounts. His ultimate plan involves his partner beating the wife so she'll be dependent and he can steal all of her money, and possibly kill her for it. (The partner has married her own mark - she uses her husband's semen to make the beating look like an attack by a serial rapist.)
- Spousal Privilege: Edwin and Denise confess to their victims to render their testimony inadmissible. Unfortunately for Edwin and Denise, they overlooked one detail.
