Law & Order

When a jogger stumbles across a woman and her dog who have been brutally attacked and killed in the park, the detectives are called to the scene and determine that the victims were mauled by an animal, possibly another dog. Although they search the park with no luck, they are determined to find the dog, and hold its owner responsible for the deaths. But it is tough to track down the animal, until another innocent victim is attacked. They find the dog, a pit bull, and are finally able to sedate and capture it. The dog has a chip implanted in its ear, which allows them to trace it to a breeding farm. But the breeder says he sold the dog to a company in Brooklyn, along with several others. They find a warehouse where dogs have been tortured and "bred" for fighting, but now all the dogs are dead. Someone has drugged them all.

A man is found stabbed to death in an alley. His hands reveal his profession, he shined shoes. With no identification, it's difficult to figure out who this man is, but autopsy reports show he's in his mid 50's and that his liver is shot as he's clearly been quite ill. Meanwhile, a Chinese gang member is brought in as a possible suspect when a customer of the victim recalls that the man had been roughed up recently by some of the Chinese gangsters. The gang member admits to beating him up in the past but denies the murder. However he does provide some clues. He claims he saw John Doe with two other middle aged white men, getting into a dark blue 4-door sedan Mercedes. Eventually, Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) figure out who their victim is, he's Joseph Eastman and he lived in poverty in Queens. They find an unopened box in his apartment; it has his Bronze Star inside from his tour of duty in Vietnam.

Ronald Buck is found shot to death in a parking lot. He is a career criminal with an extensive rap sheet. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) question his sister, Angela (Maggie Moore), and brother-in-law Tom (Joseph LaRocca), and find out he had a gambling problem and couldn't hold down a job. Checking into his most recent place of employment, they discover he had an argument with a "big guy" who said "he's not welcome at Donahue's anymore." They go to Donahue's, a hangout for bookies, and initially think Buck's murder could be mob related. But a former mobster in prison offers to help, checks out the murder scene and tells the Detectives that a hit of that kind would not have been done in an open parking lot. They are back to square one.

Two people are shot on the sidewalk and a diamond dealer is kidnapped. The suspects escaped in a van and the victims were shot by Uzi machine guns. A black man, whose car blocked off the intersection for the van driver, escaped into a subway station. The deceased are a banker, John Hammins, and a mother of two, who was out shopping for a diamond ring. Hammins also apparently tried to assist the kidnapped victim. The man who was kidnapped is identified as Richard Powell, a diamond dealer. His wife and father anxiously await word from the kidnappers, but they hear nothing. Then they get a call that the van has been found. Powell is dead, his hand severed and his throat cut. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach ) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) are able to recreate Powell's last stops, and realize he met Hammins at a bank near the crime scene.

Virginia Boone looks like a bag lady but lives in a penthouse with a spectacular view on the Upper East Side. She is found stabbed to death inside her apartment building, but robbery is not the motive. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) talk to a tenant in her building, Stefan Havel (Conrad John Schuck), but he doesn't provide much information. They also talk to Martha Taylor (Linda Thorson), who owns the pricey custom dress shop on the ground floor. Taylor, it turns out, not only lives in the building but owns it as well. Virginia worked as a school cafeteria worker and had very little money. Her rent, $362 a month, was unheard of, even though it was rent controlled because she had lived there since 1969. Rents for an apartment like hers in that area run between $6,000 and $8,000 a month. Now the Detectives suspect someone killed her to get her out of the apartment.

Johnny Vega (Gary Busey) used to be a huge singer, and he still gets recognized on the street. He is a regular at Noonan's, a local Irish pub, and has been patronizing the establishment every Friday night for the past ten years. After a routine dinner with his wife Mary Ann, he comes rushing into the restaurant and tells the owner his wife has been shot. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) are on the scene and piece together the timeline. Vega and his wife had left the restaurant around 9:00, then Vega came back to switch a bet he had placed and left again, only to return a few minutes later in shock, saying his wife had been shot. He had a panic attack and was taken home. Briscoe and Green go to Vega's house to question him and find his manager, Arthur Cahill (Joe Piscopo), and grown children, Peter (David Allan Case) and Jason, visiting the panicked singer. Their theory is that Mary Ann was mugged while Vega went back to switch the bet.

James Foley is found dead in his apartment from head trauma. There is no sign of forced entry, but it's obvious he had an altercation with someone, which resulted in his head being split open when hitting the TV set. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) start the interrogation process by checking out the mother of Foley's child. Foley had been errant in his child support and the mother's new boyfriend, Terry Fullmer, was seen arguing with him. But he has an alibi for the night of the murder.

An apartment building, under construction at the former site of a well-liked community park, is ablaze. The charred naked body of a woman is found in one of the back apartments. Arson is suspected because of the chemicals found at the scene. Conventional wisdom is the arsonist didn't know someone was in the building, but now this is a murder investigation. It takes awhile, but they finally ID the victim - Karen Fried, a local elementary school teacher. She was last seen with Eric Shollar (Michael Leydon Campbell), the father of one of her students, but he's married and hesitant to talk to the cops when they approach him at home. Eric admits that he and Karen were having an affair and he brought her to the building under construction. He claims she was waiting for him while he ran out to buy condoms and the building blew before he got back.

The red-hot Mega-Fly Club is in full swing, it's packed and wannabes are turned away at the door by an officious bouncer. Suddenly, shots are fired inside and clubber Jerome Cabey is killed. The Detectives try and piece together what is a shaky case. There was so much activity, no one really knows what happened. They deduce the following - Cabey said something to G-Trane (Cyrus Farmer), also known as Darryl Collins, one of today's top rap artists. His girlfriend, Allie Lawrence (Kerry Washington), is a star in her own right, a young black woman in her mid 20's who disappeared the day after the incident to a movie set in Mexico. From there she was headed to L.A. to record her next record. The cops question G-Trane's bodyguard James (David Aron Damane). He finally admits to having a gun, but tests on his clothing prove that he wasn't the one who fired the shots.

Thomas Reddick, an African-American CEO of a publishing company, is found dead in a stairwell on the Upper West Side. He had been shot point blank in the chest. His grieving widow tells Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) that her husband was working long hours, and was most likely shopping for a present for their anniversary. So Briscoe and Green search for leads at the office of Pavilion Publishing where he worked. Reddick left his building around 7:30, and had just come out of a meeting with attorneys (his company had just acquired several new publications and with those new publications, came numerous lawsuits). The detectives start by running down some of the plaintiffs in these suits, but one that catches their attention is the boyfriend of a woman who was suing Pavilion because they were going to publish pornographic pictures of his girlfriend. But his alibi checks out and they're back to square one.

Father Grady, a priest at the Don Bosco Church, is found murdered in the confessional booth. The Detectives have few leads but start by investigating some of the more difficult boys who attend the adjacent parochial school. One suspect is Tim Boswell, a wild student who was suspended. When they go to his apartment to question him, his mother has clearly been beaten up. She says she tripped on the stairs. The Detectives find Tim with some neighborhood hoodlums and bust him on a drug charge. He eventually admits to being at the school the day of the murder, but claims he was only there to pick up drugs from his locker. He also says that Father Grady had instigated a relationship with his mother, which infuriated his father.

Warren Slater is found dead by a street sweeper on Riverside Drive. He had told his wife he was working late but when he didn't come home she was extremely worried. After questioning a local homeless man, who the police later learn is innocent, they trace the victim's final hours. A stamp on his hand that says "Click" leads them to an art gallery which held a special exhibit the night of the murder. They talk to the artist Slater had been visiting, and she says she was working on a surprise video montage for his wife's 50th birthday party. She tells police when Slater left her he was headed towards Tenth Avenue to catch a cab. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) talk to the people at Slater's office, The Fairhaven Group (an insurance company), and also question workers on Tenth Avenue, where he was last seen. One of the workers says they saw someone who could have been Slater arguing with a guy and then getting into a cable van.

Two young women are found murdered in their apartment. A party was in progress across the hall and the police question several possible suspects, but eventually realize their killer is still at large. One of the victims liked to party and was actually scoring heroin for a friend earlier that night, but those leads also turn up empty. The detectives then realize that whoever committed this heinous crime must have had access to the building because no one was "buzzed" in prior to the murders. One of the tenants says he saw a man in a workman's type uniform leaving the building, so the detectives question the super's assistants who have done work in some of the apartments giving them access to keys, but that doesn't pan out. They start to check out local locksmiths in the area, and they find one where all the employees wear the same type uniforms as the super's assistants.

Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) are called to the scene to investigate the disappearance of a young, bright, and attractive intern named Lisa Edwards. Lisa has been missing a week, and her parents have been frantically searching for her. When the Detectives arrive at her apartment they find what appears to be all her possessions packed up in boxes as if she was moving, but her wallet and credit cards are still there. Briscoe and Green wonder why they are involved in this case since there is no body, but apparently the girl's parents have friends in high places. They find out that Lisa had just left her job at the Office of Business Development and was working on trying to get a position with the State Gaming Board, researching gaming in upstate New York. Lisa and the head of the Board, Ted Weldon (Brian Kerwin), are from the same small town upstate and when she went missing, her parents called him to help. With no body or evidence, the case is difficult.

Tracy Conley is found stabbed to death and buried under piles of garbage in front of an apartment building. The detectives eventually discover that she had spent her last hours with her Little Sister, a 15-year-old girl named Monique (Yaani King) who had discipline problems. It turns out Monique had set up Tracy to be mugged by a drug dealer. The Detectives believe the dealer, Arnold (Haasan Iniko Johnson), killed Tracy. But he claims he only took her purse, and says that a man jumped in to rescue her so he took off. In the meantime, the Detectives are suspicious of one of Tracy's colleagues, Dr. Craig Gerring, who is caught trying to steal Tracy's laptop.

Paula Weston is found dead near the swings in Central Park. A joint is found near the body, and the police suspect she's the victim of foul play. Her grieving mother Janet (Wendy Makkena), who reported her missing, says she could have been trying to sneak across the park to visit her friend Alice Danielson (Bailey Slattery), but Alice says she had no plans to see Paula. The joint, it turns out, belonged to some students on a nighttime field trip to the planetarium. The kids snuck away from the group and admit they found Paula in the park, but claim she was already dead. They say they didn't call the cops because they didn't want to get in trouble for sneaking off and doing drugs. Meanwhile, Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) question Janet's ex-husband, who says that Paula was not his child.

Julie Cade, a high school student, is found dead in the laundry room of her upscale apartment building. It appears she hit her head on one of the washing machines, but the blow is too severe to be ruled an accident. The Detectives question the doorman who says someone entered the building while he was helping a tenant get on the school bus. Although he didn't see the person's face, he told the cops the person was wearing a dark jacket with gold stripes. The only other evidence the cops have to work with is a partial shoe print found at the crime scene that came from a pair of Nike sneakers. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) question Julie's friends, starting with her best friend Alicia Milford (Caroline Dhavernas). It turns out, there was a website called Cherry, run by some of the popular jocks at school, which chronicled sexual information about the students. Julie was appalled by the website and was very vocal about it.

A well-dressed businessman is found dead near a ferry landing. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) have a tough time identifying him because his wallet has been stolen, but a rare cigar leads them to a cigar bar where he apparently spent his last hours. Through a credit card receipt, they learn the victim is John Cooper, an analyst at Dreisner Investments. At first, they think the killer could have been one of his ferry buddies with whom he had a poker group. John owed one of them, Peter O'Mann (Lawrence David Kopp), fifty thousand dollars. O'Mann admits he met John the night of the murder, but claims he cannot disclose their conversation because he was John's attorney and their meeting is protected under attorney-client privilege.

A young man is found stabbed to death outside a pizza parlor, with no identification. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) soon learn, however, that he is Andrew Hatcher, an NYU student. Hatcher's grieving parents claim they got a call from him on his cell phone hours after the estimated time of death, but it turns out someone else made the call. Tracing the cell phone, they find a drug dealer named Jimmy Gaines (Gregory Russell Cook), who has Andrew's watch too. But he insists that he found Andrew's possessions in a dumpster. The police then find a blue denim shirt with blood on it nearby, but there is no trace of Jimmy's DNA or prints on it, so he is in the clear. They did find bovine blood on the shirt though, and the M.E reports that Andrew was stabbed with a six inch butcher's knife. They deduce that the killer worked in the nearby meat packing district.

Kate Hollis Snyder, an attractive 28-year-old woman, has plunged to her death. Her new husband, Don Snyder (William Atherton), is a powerful and rich businessman. Kate lived with Don and his two children on the Upper East Side but kept her old apartment to use as an art studio, which became the scene of the crime. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) realize Kate's death was no accident, she was pushed. After finding out that Kate was spending her new husband's money to renovate their apartment and hired her ex-boyfriend as the contractor, they question her husband. He initially gives an alibi but then admits that he was at the apartment the night of her death, but swears he didn't see her. Since his DNA doesn't match the perpetrators DNA from under her fingernails, he's off the hook. Next they question Gary Phillips (Joseph Murray), the contractor and her ex-boyfriend. His DNA is under her fingernails, but he says it's from an encounter they had earlier in the day when he tried to kiss her. Then the medical examiner makes an important discovery that changes the direction of the investigation.

Mike Drucker, a private investigator, is found shot to death in a vacant apartment in Washington Heights. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) look at his cases to see who might want him dead. Initially they suspect a real estate magnate whose wife hired Drucker to uncover her husband's unreported net worth, but the husband has an alibi and is off the hook. Next they make a connection between Drucker and a local businessman, Frank Leahy (Jon Seda), who runs a local little-league all-star baseball team. The coach of a Westchester-based team had hired Drucker to check into Leahy's team because their star first baseman, Ramiro Benitez, looks a lot older than 12. They are on to something.

Marjorie Jensen, the well-to-do wife of successful defense attorney Harold Jensen, is shot point blank in her car as she's leaving her apartment building. At first, Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) think it could have been a car-jacking but only the hood ornament was stolen. Because of her husband's line of work, the next concern is that since the car has tinted windows, the killer may have accidentally hit the wrong target. The Detectives investigate some of Harold's (Peter Friedman) more dangerous clients, and his assistant points them toward Leon Griggs (Lord Jamar), a client who went to jail and who sent Harold a slew of threatening letters. But Leon has an alibi.

The body of a scantily clad woman is found on the Upper East Side. Because of her attire, it is initially presumed that she could be a high-class escort, especially after promiscuous behavior is uncovered by the medical examiner. The detectives uncover a seven-digit number on a slip of paper inside her pocket, which turns out to be a hack driver's ID. They track down the cab driver who claims he dropped the woman off on 60th St. and there was a black Infiniti waiting for her. But she died 33 blocks uptown. The Detectives retrace her steps and discover she had been at a "swingers" party where she got into a fight with another woman, Alexandra Shabtai (Caprice Benedetti). Alexandra works at a nightclub and ID's the dead woman as Eliza Glaser, a cosmetic dermatologist who was providing her with the narcotic Oxycodone.

A tenement building explodes and the lone victim is Joseph Haden. The building was rent controlled and there had been a tenant strike, so the police initially suspect arson. But the landlord doesn't have insurance, ruling out their arson theory, and the medical examiner discovers that Haden's neck was broken and he was tied up before the explosion happened. Trying to figure out Haden is even more difficult. He didn't appear to have a family or a girlfriend and never got any substantial mail. He worked at the Jiffy Job service station making minimum wage, yet had $90,000 in the bank. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) do some more digging and find out that Haden was using an alias, and his real name was Juseff Haddad.