Law & Order Special Victims Unit s28e06 Episode Script
Obedience
1
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.
- Hi, Captain.
- Gwen.
Are you waiting for me?
I figured you were about to clock out.
Oh, okay. Is everything all right?
Yeah, I just have a case
I'd like to chat with you about,
if you've got the time.
Okay.
I've been getting letters for years
"Please take a look at his case.
He's innocent."
I finally did.
Okay.
Do you think she's right?
It's possible.
I have some questions.
He's been incarcerated since 1998.
We need answers.
Okay. Well, I'm happy to take a look.
It's the Claire Sobol murder.
Are you are you
kidding me right now?
This is not an ambush.
Gwen, you know that that was my case.
I'm not accusing you of
Of putting an innocent man in prison?
If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be wrong.
But if I'm right,
you might be able to help fix this.
[SCOFFS] Well. Wow.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
This is one of my first cases at SVU.
I was very new.
I'm sorry about the subterfuge.
♪
[SIGHS]
Where is he?
Attica.
I just wanna go through
the investigation with you
one last time.
I tried to reach out
to the other detective
on the case, your old partner.
He hasn't returned my calls.
[SIGHS] Yeah.
[JUMP ROPE THWACKING]
Hey.
Grab another rope.
We can do Double Dutch.
- Ah, so, Elliot
- I know.
I've been off the grid
there for a while,
and I owe you a couple calls.
We got the Claire Sobol case wrong.
Sister Benedicta?
You know,
maybe we did,
maybe maybe we didn't, um
but I wanna open the case back up.
- You want a drink?
- No, I'm good.
And here I thought
you were dropping by
'cause you missed me.
Well, yeah, I do,
but you don't call me back.
I can't force you to talk to me.
I haven't seen you
since Cragen's funeral.
On bereavement leave.
For 18 months?
- Really?
- Yeah.
Time is crazy.
Look, I know it's gonna be difficult
to get back into this case.
But I have some questions.
I'm not wasting my time on some skell
who raped and murdered a nun.
You knock yourself out.
I'll pass.
You know, I wanna be there for you
and I wanna be your friend,
but I gotta tell you,
you make it really, really
difficult sometimes.
Liv.
We're not friends.
Okay.
Well, good luck, Elliot. Good luck.
Liv, Liv, wait a minute.
Look, I didn't mean that.
Okay, I'm looking into this case.
I'd like you to do it with me.
But you keep closing yourself
off and that's your choice.
But I think it's a mistake
based on your current state of mind.
♪
You know, you're the one that
always said we right wrongs.
I think you need
to remember who you are.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
She was 25 years old.
She was from Wisconsin originally,
and she came here to be
a dancer and changed her mind.
Well, that's quite a 180.
Yeah, but by all accounts,
she was beloved.
She was a preschool teacher
and she coached
a youth soccer team
in her community. She
That I would have loved to have seen.
Yeah.
All right, so we just gonna
divide and conquer, see
Guys, no, no, no.
You have enough cases on your plate.
- Seriously.
- It won't take long.
Yeah. Griff and I got this one.
Okay. Thank you.
Hey, so I picked up
this loiterer outside.
Elliot Stabler, this is the newest
version of the SVU squad.
Detective, how are you?
Hey, Amanda.
Curry. Rat squad, right?
Yeah, that's right.
I know all about you,
Detective Stabler.
I'll take that as a compliment.
I wouldn't.
You in?
[SIGHS] Let's take it apart.
He wasn't an angel, absolutely.
He'd gotten caught up
in the crack epidemic
of the early '90s.
We all remember that.
He'd gotten clean.
His parole officer said he had
never missed an appointment.
He had a spotless record
for four years.
And prior to that, he had
a rap sheet standing back
12 years with seven collars.
But none of them
were violent offenses.
And do you know how
many serial rapists
started out as peeping toms?
So look, what we have here
is a scumbag
in a convent full of nuns
with access and opportunity.
Well, that's all true.
And you did find his prints
on the murder weapon.
Yeah, well, Greene claimed
that he pulled it out in an effort
to resuscitate her.
Yeah, well.
You didn't believe that?
No.
His hands were covered in blood.
So was his clothing,
which could have come
from performing CPR.
And it's also very possible
it came from him
stabbing her 28 times.
Let's get down to it.
Why?
'Cause I feel as though you're here
to try and put us on the hook.
Detective, I
seriously, I have no agenda.
I just know that Greene has always
maintained his innocence.
He has never changed his story.
I know that his defense attorney
was notoriously incompetent.
There was no DNA from the rape kit.
And your chief forensic evidence
would be thrown out in today's court.
The bite mark on her shoulder.
That bite mark evidence, as you know,
has been considered junk science
since the early 2000s
and has resulted in 63% rate
of false identifications.
Plus, there's the matter of
the interview after his arrest.
You know, I couldn't
find the videotape.
Did you record it?
[TENSE MUSIC]
No.
Why not?
I can't remember.
Captain, do you?
I was not part of that interrogation.
Oh.
Was that always how you did things?
I kept her out of it.
So you've never
spoken to him, Captain?
No, I have not.
Well, I have, last week.
Made the drive up to Attica.
You might wanna do the same.
♪
I'm not buying it.
Buying what?
She wants us to let this
guy go because one piece
of evidence doesn't hold up?
She's out of her mind.
It's a pretty big piece of evidence.
So is his fingerprints
on the murder weapon.
Liv, we were there. She wasn't.
[KEYS CLACKING]
Are you really going up there?
Yeah, I am.
I have a bunch of personal days saved,
and I can take the day off.
Why are you doing this?
Why aren't you doing this?
You know what? Stay here,
and I'll let you know how it goes.
Curry, you are the ranking officer.
You are in charge
while I'm gone, okay?
I want you to continue
with all the open cases.
And obviously, I'm reachable by phone.
We'll take your car.
Uh
I'm leaving tomorrow morning.
You want some company?
I got the time.
Well, it looks like Stabler's coming.
With respect, Captain,
he's not your partner anymore.
You don't need his buy-in.
It doesn't matter.
Some partnerships don't end,
even when they do.
[SNORING]
- Resting my eyes.
- [CHUCKLES]
You good?
Oh, I'm fine.
Your your snoring is special.
You sound just like Kathy.
How's your mom doing?
Getting worse.
Sometimes she's there.
Most of the time, she's not.
It's so brutal watching somebody
you love go through that.
I'm sorry.
She was never the same
after my brother.
Why do you have an IAB captain
on your squad?
Elliot, what's going on with you?
I always used to be so sure, you know.
My gut, my instinct,
I could rely on that.
Like I was invincible.
Now
You you come to me and tell me
I was wrong about the case.
- That's not what I said.
- I know that. I
I'm only interested in finding out
what really happened.
And if we did make a mistake,
then I wanna fix it.
[SIGHS]
I never understood why
you wanted to become captain.
Sitting behind a desk all day,
pushing papers, shaking hands
instead of, you know
you let the other people go out
and do the real work.
Is that what you've been
doing for the last 18 months?
Have you been doing the real work?
- Don't be mad. Don't be mad.
- I'm not mad.
I wasn't even referring to you.
Look at you. You're out. You're out.
You get out.
Like now, on this wild goose chase.
Wild goose chase. Here we go.
So if you don't wanna go,
I'm fine with that.
That's not what I'm saying.
I will pull over at the next exit,
and you can take an Uber
back to the city.
- I mean it.
- Cows.
- What?
- Cows.
I like cows.
I didn't know that.
[DOOR BUZZER BLARES]
[DOOR OPENS]
Charles, you remember us?
Wow.
You guys look different.
Yeah, my scalp agrees with you.
So we understand that
you spoke with Gwen Sharpe
- about your case.
- Yeah, nice lady.
What'd you talk about?
What happened when
I found Sister Benedicta.
Oh, yeah?
And how's your memory 30 years later?
Burned in there, man.
Never gonna forget it.
So will you tell us what happened?
I told him.
So tell me.
Hmm?
She was always nice.
Some of the sisters didn't trust me.
I was an ex-junkie, did time,
but she didn't care.
[SIGHS]
Wasn't even supposed
to be there that late.
But this light was out
in the courtyard
and I wanted to fix it.
She was on her back.
Clothes were all ripped up.
Her eyes were open.
There was blood all around her.
And the knife, it was just
sticking out of her chest.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I wasn't thinking.
I just grabbed it,
and I tried to stop the blood,
but it was everywhere.
I yelled for help.
Tried to bring her back.
You did, what, CPR?
Didn't really know how.
She was already gone.
So the body was cold?
Still warm. She wasn't dead that long.
Yeah, well, that testimony
was at your trial.
I told you that when we talked.
You didn't write it down.
♪
So the gates
the gates were locked?
They always were.
So no sign of forced entry.
So if it wasn't you, Charles,
are you suggesting
one of the nuns raped
and stabbed Sister Benedicta?
I don't know who did it,
but it wasn't me.
I would never hurt her.
Was Sister Benedicta
liked by everyone?
I heard her arguing with somebody
a couple of nights before
it happened another lady.
I tried to ask her about it,
but she wouldn't say.
Well, that didn't come out
in the investigation.
Is this something that
you're remembering right now?
I told him.
He wrote it down.
♪
Okay.
Okay. Thank you, Charles.
[DOOR BUZZES]
God, we were so young
back then, right?
All those years just gone.
You took 'em from me.
[DOOR OPENS]
I'm never getting them back.
♪
Yeah, we'll just take that check.
Thank you.
Did you find your notes?
Argument, women, two nights prior.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
[SIGHS]
Wow.
Okay.
What are you thinking?
♪
I'm thinking I'm with you.
[SIGHS]
I'll, uh,
I'll call Carisi
and see what he can do.
It's still not gonna
make things right.
Elliot, we can start by finding out
who really did this.
[PHONE BUZZES]
Hey, Curry.
We found the Mother Superior
from the Solemnity of Mary convent.
She's still alive.
She's living in a retirement
home for nuns up in Queens.
We're about to head out for a chat.
Okay, so ask her
if she remembers Claire
getting into an argument
at the convent
a couple of days before the murder.
Okay, will do.
We also found another nun
who was living
at the convent at the same time
as Claire Sobol.
Sister Petronilla, AKA Sandra Garza.
She gave you guys
a statement back then.
Yeah, I remember her.
She was very close with Claire.
Okay, well, she left the convent
not long after the murder.
She's living as a civilian now.
You feel like taking
a detour to Pulaski, New York?
That is in the middle of nowhere.
But you're closer.
Mother Eusebia?
And you are?
I'm Captain Curry, and this
is Detective Griffin from SVU.
Can we speak with you?
Give us a minute, Sister Grace.
So we wanted to talk to you
about Claire Sobol,
- Sister Benedicta.
- What about her?
Well, some questions
have come up about the man
convicted of her murder.
Questions?
Like maybe the wrong man is in prison.
Oh.
That sounds like an astounding level
of incompetence
on the part of the NYPD.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Did you know her well?
Of course I did.
Do you have any opinion
about who could have done it?
I spoke to the detectives at the time
and told them everything I knew.
I did not see who killed her
and I didn't hear anything
on the night it happened.
Well, we heard that
she may have had an argument
a few nights before the murder.
Do you know anything about that?
- Who told you that?
- Charles Greene.
The man in prison for her
murder, and you believe him?
I don't know.
That's why we're asking you.
Look at that. You won.
Sister Benedicta never
truly accepted her vows.
As such, she invited strife
into her life
and into our community.
Her death destroyed everything
we'd worked so hard to build.
And you think it was her fault?
I think God's will cannot be undone.
Sister Petronella.
Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler.
I don't know if you remember us.
We're with the NYPD.
NYPD. You're far from home.
That's true.
Nice up here. Nice place. Quiet.
What's this about?
Sister Benedicta,
we're taking another look
at her murder case.
Mm.
I go by Sandra now.
Come on in.
I joined the Solemnity of Mary
as an escape
as much as anything.
I mean, my father was, um
he was a drunk.
He was violent.
So when I turned 18,
I just ran to the convent.
Claire, though
I mean, she was a true believer.
Just a kind, gentle soul.
She loved kids.
She loved being a nun.
She had this unshakeable faith.
And she could tell a dirty joke
better than anybody I ever met.
I remember how well liked
she was by everyone.
I could reminisce about her all day,
but I don't think
that's why you're here.
Hmm.
Uh, in the course of the investigation
of, um,
Claire's murder
mistakes were made.
I made mistakes.
Um,
so we're here we're here, uh,
because we need your help.
So, Sandra, we we heard that Claire
had a loud argument with somebody
a couple of nights before her murder.
And so we're hoping that
you could tell us who
Claire had that argument with.
We never spoke of it,
but I would guess
that she was arguing
with Mother Eusebia about
about Father Anthony.
Who who was he?
That's Anthony Lazzaro.
He was the convent chaplain
who said our masses,
listened to our confessions.
He said it was penance,
you know, that we were to
[TENSE MUSIC]
Purify our souls
by purifying our body, and
♪
So sometimes, it was
performing oral sex on him
or receiving it.
And it was on occasion,
it was intercourse.
And it was always presented as
holy, you know, as sanctioned
and whatever depraved thing
he could come up with just
so you have to understand
that many of us,
we were completely naive.
We came to this life
right from our family's home,
right to the convent.
And we didn't have
any sexual experience.
We didn't have any experience at all.
He knew that.
He knew that and he used that.
♪
How many others do you think?
Dozen
that I know about.
And Claire.
Mm-mm, no.
He knew better than
to try that with her.
But she knew what was happening,
and she told the mother.
The Mother Superior knew?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She knew.
And she had us all sit down
and write letters to her,
describing exactly what he'd done.
Well, then what happened?
[SCOFFS]
Nothing?
Sandra,
do you think that this Father Lazzaro
was the one who murdered Claire?
I don't know.
But the thought of Charles in prison
all these years,
it never left my mind.
But I didn't have
any evidence, you know.
I didn't see anything at all.
So I couldn't help.
That's not your job.
That's our responsibility.
And you have been so incredibly brave
and generous
with telling us your story.
So thank you.
It's too late.
It's actually not.
We're gonna get justice for you
and for Claire
and for all of them.
♪
- Hey, Rollins.
- I think I found Lazzaro.
Where?
He's a priest at Holy Shepherd
up in the Bronx.
We can make it there
right after evening mass,
unless you want us to wait for you.
No, this guy has been getting
away with it for 28 years.
We're not giving him another second.
Look, we're gonna find
some place up here to stay,
and we'll head back
first thing in the morning.
- Thanks, Amanda.
- Yeah.
Evening, Father.
Hello.
Can I help you?
Yeah, we're looking
for Father Anthony Lazzaro.
What's this all about?
It's really important we speak to him.
- What's your name?
- Father Dave.
And I'm sorry to say,
Father Anthony isn't available.
He's on sabbatical.
Oh, man.
- I love a good sabbatical.
- Me too.
Feels like it'd be so enriching.
Sure.
Personal growth, quiet contemplation.
- Good for him.
- Yeah.
You just tell us where he is,
we'll be out of your hair.
I'm not able to do that.
I'm sorry.
Father Dave.
I don't think you wanna be seen
as hindering or interfering
with a police matter.
I can't help you.
Any further questions can be
directed to the archdiocese.
Good night.
[PEN FALLS, CLATTERS]
Honestly, I never wanna hear
any snoring complaints
from you ever again.
- Lies.
- [CHUCKLES]
What time is it?
Just after midnight.
I was I was just reading
[CLEARS THROAT]
- Through a statement.
- Which one?
Sister Augusta.
And she said more than once
that we should talk to Father Anthony.
She was trying to tell us,
and we missed it.
We missed it.
I don't remember talking to him.
- Do you?
- No, he didn't live there.
Well, we should have.
He just would have lied
and I would have believed him.
Why?
[SIGHS]
'Cause he was a damn priest,
and I'm Catholic.
And my faith
I just think it blinded me.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
I made a mistake.
My mistake
is that I let you shut me out.
And I have to learn from that.
What do you mean, shut you out?
You interrogated Greene
alone without me.
So what?
- We were partners, Elliot.
- Yeah.
Doesn't mean we're joined at the hip.
We do things separately sometimes.
Elliot, you didn't want me
in the interrogation
because I told you that I didn't think
that Greene was right for it.
I don't remember that.
Well, I did.
And I have to live with that.
Your mistake is that you were right.
That's the burden you bear.
No, I have to live with the fact
that I didn't do the right thing
because I was new,
that I didn't follow my instinct
because I thought you knew better,
which is my fault.
So is this you telling me
that you've been holding
on to this for 30 years?
No, I've been letting it go
for 30 years.
And, you know,
maybe that is the biggest
difference between us.
What's that?
Maybe you're right, Elliot.
Maybe we're not friends.
Maybe we can't be.
♪
Sonny, welcome.
Please, have a seat.
Gonna have to make this brief.
I'm sitting down with the bishop.
But I always make time to meet
with the district attorney's office.
Well, thank you, Peter.
We won't be long.
Now, who do we have here?
- Aidan Hawkins, sir.
- He's my associate.
- I'm training him up.
- Good for you.
- You're in good hands.
- Yes, indeed.
My assistant said you were
asking about a convent.
I am.
And really, what we want
to understand is process.
Yeah. Hold on one second.
Katie, what time's the car coming?
It's seven minutes out.
What do you wanna know
in seven minutes?
In the late '90s,
how would the archdiocese
handle complaints made against
priests that came from,
say, nuns?
Well, the church would
definitely do an investigation.
Okay, what would
that investigation entail?
Depends.
It could be a committee or a tribunal.
Who's on the committee?
Again, it depends.
- Priests?
- Yes.
What about legal counsel?
Uh, counsel would be provided
either by me
or another partner here.
And are victims allowed to attend
or observe this committee?
Gentlemen, the church
takes any allegations
and accusations seriously.
You know that.
And their process is legal.
I know that.
Well, I would expect
nothing less from you, Peter.
But if there were investigations,
I imagine there'd be files
on those investigations?
- Yes.
- Okay.
So can I see some of those?
[SIGHS]
Specifically all personnel files
for Father Anthony Lazzaro
for the Solemnity of Mary convent,
all investigative files
related to Father Anthony
in the convent, any and all complaints
made about Father Anthony,
all administrative records
for the convent from 1995
through its closing.
And I'm forgetting something.
What am I forgetting?
Oh, and anything disclosing
Father Anthony's current location.
Fellas, that's all protected.
Those are internal church files.
I can't just hand them over.
You'd have to get a subpoena.
Well, I just got one of those
from a grand jury this morning.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
- What the hell is this?
- Carisi?
Hey, welcome back.
- This is from the archdiocese?
- Oh, yeah.
And there's about 30 more coming.
Looks like they just took everything,
threw it up in the air,
and put it all in boxes.
It's an old tactic.
They wanna bury us in paper.
Yeah, they turned over
what we asked for.
We'll just never be able to find it.
This will take a month to go through.
Well, we're gonna go through
every single page
'cause I'm not leaving
till we get what we need.
I'll be in the conference room.
Mother Eusebia.
Hello.
Remember us?
What is it you want?
Well, we have some reading
we'd like you to do,
letters from your spiritual sisters.
No?
That's okay.
How about I read it to you?
"I am begging your
forgiveness, Mother,
"and the forgiveness of God
for the sin
"that has been laid upon me.
[TENSE MUSIC]
"Father Anthony has forced me
to perform unspeakable acts.
"And I can no longer
live with the secret.
"I am in despair and praying
for the Lord to take my life,
which I know is a sin."
♪
It goes on to say that Father Anthony
raped her on Easter morning.
And there are about a dozen more here
from women who
just wanted to dedicate
their lives to God.
And you did nothing.
Just let it happen. You protected him.
I sent the letters to the bishop.
That's why you're
in possession of them now.
Wait, wait. No, no, no.
No, no, we're not doing that.
You passed the buck.
You forgot about it,
and then nothing happened.
So let's not paint ourselves
as a saint here.
What do you want?
See you die in prison.
But short of that,
tell us what you know
about Father Anthony.
Testify against him.
- You've arrested him?
- We don't know where he is.
I do.
There's a so-called "treatment" center
for priests dealing with sexual sins.
Mm.
Write down everything you know.
There's something else.
In 1999, a novice named
Christina joined our community.
She hadn't yet chosen
her religious name.
That winter, she went missing.
The story was
she left the religious life
and ran off with a man.
That is not what happened.
I know where she is.
[SIRENS WAILING]
♪
Is it a woman?
Absolutely.
And she was pregnant.
♪
[SIRENS WAILING]
You can't be here.
This is a private facility.
Well, more like a camp for perverts,
and we're looking
for one in particular.
I'm not allowed to disclose
the identity of residents
- Okay, arrest him.
- What?
Put him in your car and
bring him back to the city.
Next stop for you is Rikers.
Wait, wait.
- Who are you looking for?
- Anthony Lazzaro.
He's out on the lake.
Well, tell him
to row his ass back to shore.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Anthony!
Anthony!
[DOOR OPENS]
Your camp looked fun.
- It wasn't camp.
- Oh.
It was it was treatment.
What are you being treated for?
I've committed the sin of lust.
Mm-hmm.
And what cures that, pickleball?
[SIGHS]
My sins are between me and the Lord.
What about the sin of rape?
I haven't raped anyone.
My sins of the flesh were consensual.
What about this?
I didn't do that.
The man is in prison who did this.
Deny, deny, deny.
It's a good strategy.
I mean, it almost worked.
I mean, we could have
been out of luck.
Until we found Christine.
[TENSE MUSIC]
And the baby.
♪
Science is truly amazing.
They were able to pull the DNA
from the fetus in about
I think they said four hours?
Tops.
We'll be able to find out
who the father is.
So, Father,
if you have anything to say,
now would be the time to do it.
♪
God forgives all sins
if you're truly repentant.
Whatever you do to me here
is meaningless.
My reward will be in heaven.
Well, until then, Father,
your life's gonna be hell.
♪
Bring it here.
Guys, Lazzaro's being booked,
so go home.
We are gonna finish this later.
Well, we found more victims
who are still alive.
Two of them are in Florida.
We can reach out.
I'd like to go after the higher ups,
okay, everyone who helped
cover this up.
That's the goal.
Carisi, what can we do to make sure
that Charles Greene is released
as soon as possible?
I already have a call in
to the AG's office,
so once this is all processed,
Greene should be released immediately.
That's great.
That's great. Thank you.
Well, I am going home.
I'm gonna take my son to dinner
and I'm gonna sleep in my bed.
So get out of here.
[SIGHS] Okay.
Kind of makes me miss the place.
- [SCOFFS] I'm not hiring.
- No, yeah.
No, you got a great crew.
I wouldn't wanna blow up the vibe.
They want me to come back.
To OCCB?
Yeah.
Are
are you gonna?
No.
I'm gonna drive to Arizona.
What's in Arizona?
Maureen and the kids.
- They moved there.
- Oh.
Might be a nice place to
spend some time in the winter,
you know.
The winter? What do you mean? Wow.
What?
Are you retiring?
No, I don't think so.
No, I just don't know
what I wanna do yet.
But I'm not done.
Good, 'cause I'm not either.
Well, I know that.
- So another road trip.
- Mm.
You have to see the Grand Canyon.
- Oh, is that out there?
- No, I'm serious.
It's supposed to be amazing.
Why don't you come with me?
Oh, you're funny.
I'm serious.
You said you got personal time.
Use it.
[LAUGHS]
What?
I-I'm not coming with you to Arizona.
- Why?
- Because I have Noah.
Have him come with us.
Send me a postcard.
Goodbye, Cap.
[MUFFLED INDISTINCT CHATTER]
sync & corrections awaqeded
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
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.
- Hi, Captain.
- Gwen.
Are you waiting for me?
I figured you were about to clock out.
Oh, okay. Is everything all right?
Yeah, I just have a case
I'd like to chat with you about,
if you've got the time.
Okay.
I've been getting letters for years
"Please take a look at his case.
He's innocent."
I finally did.
Okay.
Do you think she's right?
It's possible.
I have some questions.
He's been incarcerated since 1998.
We need answers.
Okay. Well, I'm happy to take a look.
It's the Claire Sobol murder.
Are you are you
kidding me right now?
This is not an ambush.
Gwen, you know that that was my case.
I'm not accusing you of
Of putting an innocent man in prison?
If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be wrong.
But if I'm right,
you might be able to help fix this.
[SCOFFS] Well. Wow.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
This is one of my first cases at SVU.
I was very new.
I'm sorry about the subterfuge.
♪
[SIGHS]
Where is he?
Attica.
I just wanna go through
the investigation with you
one last time.
I tried to reach out
to the other detective
on the case, your old partner.
He hasn't returned my calls.
[SIGHS] Yeah.
[JUMP ROPE THWACKING]
Hey.
Grab another rope.
We can do Double Dutch.
- Ah, so, Elliot
- I know.
I've been off the grid
there for a while,
and I owe you a couple calls.
We got the Claire Sobol case wrong.
Sister Benedicta?
You know,
maybe we did,
maybe maybe we didn't, um
but I wanna open the case back up.
- You want a drink?
- No, I'm good.
And here I thought
you were dropping by
'cause you missed me.
Well, yeah, I do,
but you don't call me back.
I can't force you to talk to me.
I haven't seen you
since Cragen's funeral.
On bereavement leave.
For 18 months?
- Really?
- Yeah.
Time is crazy.
Look, I know it's gonna be difficult
to get back into this case.
But I have some questions.
I'm not wasting my time on some skell
who raped and murdered a nun.
You knock yourself out.
I'll pass.
You know, I wanna be there for you
and I wanna be your friend,
but I gotta tell you,
you make it really, really
difficult sometimes.
Liv.
We're not friends.
Okay.
Well, good luck, Elliot. Good luck.
Liv, Liv, wait a minute.
Look, I didn't mean that.
Okay, I'm looking into this case.
I'd like you to do it with me.
But you keep closing yourself
off and that's your choice.
But I think it's a mistake
based on your current state of mind.
♪
You know, you're the one that
always said we right wrongs.
I think you need
to remember who you are.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
She was 25 years old.
She was from Wisconsin originally,
and she came here to be
a dancer and changed her mind.
Well, that's quite a 180.
Yeah, but by all accounts,
she was beloved.
She was a preschool teacher
and she coached
a youth soccer team
in her community. She
That I would have loved to have seen.
Yeah.
All right, so we just gonna
divide and conquer, see
Guys, no, no, no.
You have enough cases on your plate.
- Seriously.
- It won't take long.
Yeah. Griff and I got this one.
Okay. Thank you.
Hey, so I picked up
this loiterer outside.
Elliot Stabler, this is the newest
version of the SVU squad.
Detective, how are you?
Hey, Amanda.
Curry. Rat squad, right?
Yeah, that's right.
I know all about you,
Detective Stabler.
I'll take that as a compliment.
I wouldn't.
You in?
[SIGHS] Let's take it apart.
He wasn't an angel, absolutely.
He'd gotten caught up
in the crack epidemic
of the early '90s.
We all remember that.
He'd gotten clean.
His parole officer said he had
never missed an appointment.
He had a spotless record
for four years.
And prior to that, he had
a rap sheet standing back
12 years with seven collars.
But none of them
were violent offenses.
And do you know how
many serial rapists
started out as peeping toms?
So look, what we have here
is a scumbag
in a convent full of nuns
with access and opportunity.
Well, that's all true.
And you did find his prints
on the murder weapon.
Yeah, well, Greene claimed
that he pulled it out in an effort
to resuscitate her.
Yeah, well.
You didn't believe that?
No.
His hands were covered in blood.
So was his clothing,
which could have come
from performing CPR.
And it's also very possible
it came from him
stabbing her 28 times.
Let's get down to it.
Why?
'Cause I feel as though you're here
to try and put us on the hook.
Detective, I
seriously, I have no agenda.
I just know that Greene has always
maintained his innocence.
He has never changed his story.
I know that his defense attorney
was notoriously incompetent.
There was no DNA from the rape kit.
And your chief forensic evidence
would be thrown out in today's court.
The bite mark on her shoulder.
That bite mark evidence, as you know,
has been considered junk science
since the early 2000s
and has resulted in 63% rate
of false identifications.
Plus, there's the matter of
the interview after his arrest.
You know, I couldn't
find the videotape.
Did you record it?
[TENSE MUSIC]
No.
Why not?
I can't remember.
Captain, do you?
I was not part of that interrogation.
Oh.
Was that always how you did things?
I kept her out of it.
So you've never
spoken to him, Captain?
No, I have not.
Well, I have, last week.
Made the drive up to Attica.
You might wanna do the same.
♪
I'm not buying it.
Buying what?
She wants us to let this
guy go because one piece
of evidence doesn't hold up?
She's out of her mind.
It's a pretty big piece of evidence.
So is his fingerprints
on the murder weapon.
Liv, we were there. She wasn't.
[KEYS CLACKING]
Are you really going up there?
Yeah, I am.
I have a bunch of personal days saved,
and I can take the day off.
Why are you doing this?
Why aren't you doing this?
You know what? Stay here,
and I'll let you know how it goes.
Curry, you are the ranking officer.
You are in charge
while I'm gone, okay?
I want you to continue
with all the open cases.
And obviously, I'm reachable by phone.
We'll take your car.
Uh
I'm leaving tomorrow morning.
You want some company?
I got the time.
Well, it looks like Stabler's coming.
With respect, Captain,
he's not your partner anymore.
You don't need his buy-in.
It doesn't matter.
Some partnerships don't end,
even when they do.
[SNORING]
- Resting my eyes.
- [CHUCKLES]
You good?
Oh, I'm fine.
Your your snoring is special.
You sound just like Kathy.
How's your mom doing?
Getting worse.
Sometimes she's there.
Most of the time, she's not.
It's so brutal watching somebody
you love go through that.
I'm sorry.
She was never the same
after my brother.
Why do you have an IAB captain
on your squad?
Elliot, what's going on with you?
I always used to be so sure, you know.
My gut, my instinct,
I could rely on that.
Like I was invincible.
Now
You you come to me and tell me
I was wrong about the case.
- That's not what I said.
- I know that. I
I'm only interested in finding out
what really happened.
And if we did make a mistake,
then I wanna fix it.
[SIGHS]
I never understood why
you wanted to become captain.
Sitting behind a desk all day,
pushing papers, shaking hands
instead of, you know
you let the other people go out
and do the real work.
Is that what you've been
doing for the last 18 months?
Have you been doing the real work?
- Don't be mad. Don't be mad.
- I'm not mad.
I wasn't even referring to you.
Look at you. You're out. You're out.
You get out.
Like now, on this wild goose chase.
Wild goose chase. Here we go.
So if you don't wanna go,
I'm fine with that.
That's not what I'm saying.
I will pull over at the next exit,
and you can take an Uber
back to the city.
- I mean it.
- Cows.
- What?
- Cows.
I like cows.
I didn't know that.
[DOOR BUZZER BLARES]
[DOOR OPENS]
Charles, you remember us?
Wow.
You guys look different.
Yeah, my scalp agrees with you.
So we understand that
you spoke with Gwen Sharpe
- about your case.
- Yeah, nice lady.
What'd you talk about?
What happened when
I found Sister Benedicta.
Oh, yeah?
And how's your memory 30 years later?
Burned in there, man.
Never gonna forget it.
So will you tell us what happened?
I told him.
So tell me.
Hmm?
She was always nice.
Some of the sisters didn't trust me.
I was an ex-junkie, did time,
but she didn't care.
[SIGHS]
Wasn't even supposed
to be there that late.
But this light was out
in the courtyard
and I wanted to fix it.
She was on her back.
Clothes were all ripped up.
Her eyes were open.
There was blood all around her.
And the knife, it was just
sticking out of her chest.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I wasn't thinking.
I just grabbed it,
and I tried to stop the blood,
but it was everywhere.
I yelled for help.
Tried to bring her back.
You did, what, CPR?
Didn't really know how.
She was already gone.
So the body was cold?
Still warm. She wasn't dead that long.
Yeah, well, that testimony
was at your trial.
I told you that when we talked.
You didn't write it down.
♪
So the gates
the gates were locked?
They always were.
So no sign of forced entry.
So if it wasn't you, Charles,
are you suggesting
one of the nuns raped
and stabbed Sister Benedicta?
I don't know who did it,
but it wasn't me.
I would never hurt her.
Was Sister Benedicta
liked by everyone?
I heard her arguing with somebody
a couple of nights before
it happened another lady.
I tried to ask her about it,
but she wouldn't say.
Well, that didn't come out
in the investigation.
Is this something that
you're remembering right now?
I told him.
He wrote it down.
♪
Okay.
Okay. Thank you, Charles.
[DOOR BUZZES]
God, we were so young
back then, right?
All those years just gone.
You took 'em from me.
[DOOR OPENS]
I'm never getting them back.
♪
Yeah, we'll just take that check.
Thank you.
Did you find your notes?
Argument, women, two nights prior.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
[SIGHS]
Wow.
Okay.
What are you thinking?
♪
I'm thinking I'm with you.
[SIGHS]
I'll, uh,
I'll call Carisi
and see what he can do.
It's still not gonna
make things right.
Elliot, we can start by finding out
who really did this.
[PHONE BUZZES]
Hey, Curry.
We found the Mother Superior
from the Solemnity of Mary convent.
She's still alive.
She's living in a retirement
home for nuns up in Queens.
We're about to head out for a chat.
Okay, so ask her
if she remembers Claire
getting into an argument
at the convent
a couple of days before the murder.
Okay, will do.
We also found another nun
who was living
at the convent at the same time
as Claire Sobol.
Sister Petronilla, AKA Sandra Garza.
She gave you guys
a statement back then.
Yeah, I remember her.
She was very close with Claire.
Okay, well, she left the convent
not long after the murder.
She's living as a civilian now.
You feel like taking
a detour to Pulaski, New York?
That is in the middle of nowhere.
But you're closer.
Mother Eusebia?
And you are?
I'm Captain Curry, and this
is Detective Griffin from SVU.
Can we speak with you?
Give us a minute, Sister Grace.
So we wanted to talk to you
about Claire Sobol,
- Sister Benedicta.
- What about her?
Well, some questions
have come up about the man
convicted of her murder.
Questions?
Like maybe the wrong man is in prison.
Oh.
That sounds like an astounding level
of incompetence
on the part of the NYPD.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Did you know her well?
Of course I did.
Do you have any opinion
about who could have done it?
I spoke to the detectives at the time
and told them everything I knew.
I did not see who killed her
and I didn't hear anything
on the night it happened.
Well, we heard that
she may have had an argument
a few nights before the murder.
Do you know anything about that?
- Who told you that?
- Charles Greene.
The man in prison for her
murder, and you believe him?
I don't know.
That's why we're asking you.
Look at that. You won.
Sister Benedicta never
truly accepted her vows.
As such, she invited strife
into her life
and into our community.
Her death destroyed everything
we'd worked so hard to build.
And you think it was her fault?
I think God's will cannot be undone.
Sister Petronella.
Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler.
I don't know if you remember us.
We're with the NYPD.
NYPD. You're far from home.
That's true.
Nice up here. Nice place. Quiet.
What's this about?
Sister Benedicta,
we're taking another look
at her murder case.
Mm.
I go by Sandra now.
Come on in.
I joined the Solemnity of Mary
as an escape
as much as anything.
I mean, my father was, um
he was a drunk.
He was violent.
So when I turned 18,
I just ran to the convent.
Claire, though
I mean, she was a true believer.
Just a kind, gentle soul.
She loved kids.
She loved being a nun.
She had this unshakeable faith.
And she could tell a dirty joke
better than anybody I ever met.
I remember how well liked
she was by everyone.
I could reminisce about her all day,
but I don't think
that's why you're here.
Hmm.
Uh, in the course of the investigation
of, um,
Claire's murder
mistakes were made.
I made mistakes.
Um,
so we're here we're here, uh,
because we need your help.
So, Sandra, we we heard that Claire
had a loud argument with somebody
a couple of nights before her murder.
And so we're hoping that
you could tell us who
Claire had that argument with.
We never spoke of it,
but I would guess
that she was arguing
with Mother Eusebia about
about Father Anthony.
Who who was he?
That's Anthony Lazzaro.
He was the convent chaplain
who said our masses,
listened to our confessions.
He said it was penance,
you know, that we were to
[TENSE MUSIC]
Purify our souls
by purifying our body, and
♪
So sometimes, it was
performing oral sex on him
or receiving it.
And it was on occasion,
it was intercourse.
And it was always presented as
holy, you know, as sanctioned
and whatever depraved thing
he could come up with just
so you have to understand
that many of us,
we were completely naive.
We came to this life
right from our family's home,
right to the convent.
And we didn't have
any sexual experience.
We didn't have any experience at all.
He knew that.
He knew that and he used that.
♪
How many others do you think?
Dozen
that I know about.
And Claire.
Mm-mm, no.
He knew better than
to try that with her.
But she knew what was happening,
and she told the mother.
The Mother Superior knew?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She knew.
And she had us all sit down
and write letters to her,
describing exactly what he'd done.
Well, then what happened?
[SCOFFS]
Nothing?
Sandra,
do you think that this Father Lazzaro
was the one who murdered Claire?
I don't know.
But the thought of Charles in prison
all these years,
it never left my mind.
But I didn't have
any evidence, you know.
I didn't see anything at all.
So I couldn't help.
That's not your job.
That's our responsibility.
And you have been so incredibly brave
and generous
with telling us your story.
So thank you.
It's too late.
It's actually not.
We're gonna get justice for you
and for Claire
and for all of them.
♪
- Hey, Rollins.
- I think I found Lazzaro.
Where?
He's a priest at Holy Shepherd
up in the Bronx.
We can make it there
right after evening mass,
unless you want us to wait for you.
No, this guy has been getting
away with it for 28 years.
We're not giving him another second.
Look, we're gonna find
some place up here to stay,
and we'll head back
first thing in the morning.
- Thanks, Amanda.
- Yeah.
Evening, Father.
Hello.
Can I help you?
Yeah, we're looking
for Father Anthony Lazzaro.
What's this all about?
It's really important we speak to him.
- What's your name?
- Father Dave.
And I'm sorry to say,
Father Anthony isn't available.
He's on sabbatical.
Oh, man.
- I love a good sabbatical.
- Me too.
Feels like it'd be so enriching.
Sure.
Personal growth, quiet contemplation.
- Good for him.
- Yeah.
You just tell us where he is,
we'll be out of your hair.
I'm not able to do that.
I'm sorry.
Father Dave.
I don't think you wanna be seen
as hindering or interfering
with a police matter.
I can't help you.
Any further questions can be
directed to the archdiocese.
Good night.
[PEN FALLS, CLATTERS]
Honestly, I never wanna hear
any snoring complaints
from you ever again.
- Lies.
- [CHUCKLES]
What time is it?
Just after midnight.
I was I was just reading
[CLEARS THROAT]
- Through a statement.
- Which one?
Sister Augusta.
And she said more than once
that we should talk to Father Anthony.
She was trying to tell us,
and we missed it.
We missed it.
I don't remember talking to him.
- Do you?
- No, he didn't live there.
Well, we should have.
He just would have lied
and I would have believed him.
Why?
[SIGHS]
'Cause he was a damn priest,
and I'm Catholic.
And my faith
I just think it blinded me.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
I made a mistake.
My mistake
is that I let you shut me out.
And I have to learn from that.
What do you mean, shut you out?
You interrogated Greene
alone without me.
So what?
- We were partners, Elliot.
- Yeah.
Doesn't mean we're joined at the hip.
We do things separately sometimes.
Elliot, you didn't want me
in the interrogation
because I told you that I didn't think
that Greene was right for it.
I don't remember that.
Well, I did.
And I have to live with that.
Your mistake is that you were right.
That's the burden you bear.
No, I have to live with the fact
that I didn't do the right thing
because I was new,
that I didn't follow my instinct
because I thought you knew better,
which is my fault.
So is this you telling me
that you've been holding
on to this for 30 years?
No, I've been letting it go
for 30 years.
And, you know,
maybe that is the biggest
difference between us.
What's that?
Maybe you're right, Elliot.
Maybe we're not friends.
Maybe we can't be.
♪
Sonny, welcome.
Please, have a seat.
Gonna have to make this brief.
I'm sitting down with the bishop.
But I always make time to meet
with the district attorney's office.
Well, thank you, Peter.
We won't be long.
Now, who do we have here?
- Aidan Hawkins, sir.
- He's my associate.
- I'm training him up.
- Good for you.
- You're in good hands.
- Yes, indeed.
My assistant said you were
asking about a convent.
I am.
And really, what we want
to understand is process.
Yeah. Hold on one second.
Katie, what time's the car coming?
It's seven minutes out.
What do you wanna know
in seven minutes?
In the late '90s,
how would the archdiocese
handle complaints made against
priests that came from,
say, nuns?
Well, the church would
definitely do an investigation.
Okay, what would
that investigation entail?
Depends.
It could be a committee or a tribunal.
Who's on the committee?
Again, it depends.
- Priests?
- Yes.
What about legal counsel?
Uh, counsel would be provided
either by me
or another partner here.
And are victims allowed to attend
or observe this committee?
Gentlemen, the church
takes any allegations
and accusations seriously.
You know that.
And their process is legal.
I know that.
Well, I would expect
nothing less from you, Peter.
But if there were investigations,
I imagine there'd be files
on those investigations?
- Yes.
- Okay.
So can I see some of those?
[SIGHS]
Specifically all personnel files
for Father Anthony Lazzaro
for the Solemnity of Mary convent,
all investigative files
related to Father Anthony
in the convent, any and all complaints
made about Father Anthony,
all administrative records
for the convent from 1995
through its closing.
And I'm forgetting something.
What am I forgetting?
Oh, and anything disclosing
Father Anthony's current location.
Fellas, that's all protected.
Those are internal church files.
I can't just hand them over.
You'd have to get a subpoena.
Well, I just got one of those
from a grand jury this morning.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
- What the hell is this?
- Carisi?
Hey, welcome back.
- This is from the archdiocese?
- Oh, yeah.
And there's about 30 more coming.
Looks like they just took everything,
threw it up in the air,
and put it all in boxes.
It's an old tactic.
They wanna bury us in paper.
Yeah, they turned over
what we asked for.
We'll just never be able to find it.
This will take a month to go through.
Well, we're gonna go through
every single page
'cause I'm not leaving
till we get what we need.
I'll be in the conference room.
Mother Eusebia.
Hello.
Remember us?
What is it you want?
Well, we have some reading
we'd like you to do,
letters from your spiritual sisters.
No?
That's okay.
How about I read it to you?
"I am begging your
forgiveness, Mother,
"and the forgiveness of God
for the sin
"that has been laid upon me.
[TENSE MUSIC]
"Father Anthony has forced me
to perform unspeakable acts.
"And I can no longer
live with the secret.
"I am in despair and praying
for the Lord to take my life,
which I know is a sin."
♪
It goes on to say that Father Anthony
raped her on Easter morning.
And there are about a dozen more here
from women who
just wanted to dedicate
their lives to God.
And you did nothing.
Just let it happen. You protected him.
I sent the letters to the bishop.
That's why you're
in possession of them now.
Wait, wait. No, no, no.
No, no, we're not doing that.
You passed the buck.
You forgot about it,
and then nothing happened.
So let's not paint ourselves
as a saint here.
What do you want?
See you die in prison.
But short of that,
tell us what you know
about Father Anthony.
Testify against him.
- You've arrested him?
- We don't know where he is.
I do.
There's a so-called "treatment" center
for priests dealing with sexual sins.
Mm.
Write down everything you know.
There's something else.
In 1999, a novice named
Christina joined our community.
She hadn't yet chosen
her religious name.
That winter, she went missing.
The story was
she left the religious life
and ran off with a man.
That is not what happened.
I know where she is.
[SIRENS WAILING]
♪
Is it a woman?
Absolutely.
And she was pregnant.
♪
[SIRENS WAILING]
You can't be here.
This is a private facility.
Well, more like a camp for perverts,
and we're looking
for one in particular.
I'm not allowed to disclose
the identity of residents
- Okay, arrest him.
- What?
Put him in your car and
bring him back to the city.
Next stop for you is Rikers.
Wait, wait.
- Who are you looking for?
- Anthony Lazzaro.
He's out on the lake.
Well, tell him
to row his ass back to shore.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Anthony!
Anthony!
[DOOR OPENS]
Your camp looked fun.
- It wasn't camp.
- Oh.
It was it was treatment.
What are you being treated for?
I've committed the sin of lust.
Mm-hmm.
And what cures that, pickleball?
[SIGHS]
My sins are between me and the Lord.
What about the sin of rape?
I haven't raped anyone.
My sins of the flesh were consensual.
What about this?
I didn't do that.
The man is in prison who did this.
Deny, deny, deny.
It's a good strategy.
I mean, it almost worked.
I mean, we could have
been out of luck.
Until we found Christine.
[TENSE MUSIC]
And the baby.
♪
Science is truly amazing.
They were able to pull the DNA
from the fetus in about
I think they said four hours?
Tops.
We'll be able to find out
who the father is.
So, Father,
if you have anything to say,
now would be the time to do it.
♪
God forgives all sins
if you're truly repentant.
Whatever you do to me here
is meaningless.
My reward will be in heaven.
Well, until then, Father,
your life's gonna be hell.
♪
Bring it here.
Guys, Lazzaro's being booked,
so go home.
We are gonna finish this later.
Well, we found more victims
who are still alive.
Two of them are in Florida.
We can reach out.
I'd like to go after the higher ups,
okay, everyone who helped
cover this up.
That's the goal.
Carisi, what can we do to make sure
that Charles Greene is released
as soon as possible?
I already have a call in
to the AG's office,
so once this is all processed,
Greene should be released immediately.
That's great.
That's great. Thank you.
Well, I am going home.
I'm gonna take my son to dinner
and I'm gonna sleep in my bed.
So get out of here.
[SIGHS] Okay.
Kind of makes me miss the place.
- [SCOFFS] I'm not hiring.
- No, yeah.
No, you got a great crew.
I wouldn't wanna blow up the vibe.
They want me to come back.
To OCCB?
Yeah.
Are
are you gonna?
No.
I'm gonna drive to Arizona.
What's in Arizona?
Maureen and the kids.
- They moved there.
- Oh.
Might be a nice place to
spend some time in the winter,
you know.
The winter? What do you mean? Wow.
What?
Are you retiring?
No, I don't think so.
No, I just don't know
what I wanna do yet.
But I'm not done.
Good, 'cause I'm not either.
Well, I know that.
- So another road trip.
- Mm.
You have to see the Grand Canyon.
- Oh, is that out there?
- No, I'm serious.
It's supposed to be amazing.
Why don't you come with me?
Oh, you're funny.
I'm serious.
You said you got personal time.
Use it.
[LAUGHS]
What?
I-I'm not coming with you to Arizona.
- Why?
- Because I have Noah.
Have him come with us.
Send me a postcard.
Goodbye, Cap.
[MUFFLED INDISTINCT CHATTER]
sync & corrections awaqeded
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]