Law & Order Special Victims Unit s05e21 Episode Script
Criminal
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.
Every day I drag my marigolds down here.
Every day I drag them back.
I know you guys got a job to do, but come on.
It's been like this for a week.
Sorry, but a crime scene takes priority over your flowers.
Some priority.
I haven't seen a cop around here in days.
Mounted Sergeant to Central.
Who's on the crime scene in the Rambles? Central to mounted post two.
Negative on a crime scene at that location.
Central, it's gotta be.
It's still taped off.
Nothing's been reported there.
Scene's stone cold.
Killer went out of his way to screw us on this one.
He gets points for originality.
Never seen a perp cordon off his own crime scene.
Millions of places you can buy police tape.
My son stuck it across his bedroom door.
Any ID? No.
We know how she died? Strangled, judging by the bruising on her neck.
Probably raped.
But she's been here a while.
Won't know for sure until after the autopsy.
Perp knew what he was doing.
He clipped her fingernails after he killed her.
After he killed her? How do you know that? Same polish on her toes.
It's fresh.
No chips.
No woman I know cuts her nails to the quick after a manicure.
She scratched him.
He cut her fingernails to get rid of the DNA underneath.
He uses crime scene tape and he knows his forensics.
We looking for a cop? Sure looks like it.
Your perp has to be an insider.
He knows too much.
No fluids, no hairs, no prints.
Basically you got nothing.
I didn't say that.
He choked her with one hand, held something over her mouth with the other.
I found a fiber in your victim's trachea.
Oilskin cotton.
She must have aspirated it during the attack.
What's the fiber from? Could be a raincoat, or maybe a pair of gloves.
Check out the bruise pattern.
The thumb is to the right of the fingers which means the perp strangled her with his left hand.
And he used a condom.
You find spermicide? No, rubbing alcohol.
He gave her a rubdown and a douche.
But he missed a small piece of latex.
You can tell the condom broke from the tear pattern.
So our perp knew he had to clean up after himself.
I was able to match the fragment with the brand.
"Twisted Desire.
" We got a match on our victim's prints.
She was arrested last year for obstruction.
Say hello to Rebecca Wheeler.
She lived at Claremont and 107th.
Well, If our perp's a cop, Cragen's gonna be all over this.
I'll call and have him meet us there.
Got a time of death? Some time last week.
But she ate right before she was killed.
I found undigested sushi in her stomach.
Find out when Rebecca had dinner, you'll know when she died.
Got takeout cartons and a credit card receipt from Miss Yoko's sushi restaurant.
Friday night, 8:05.
$42.
That's a lot of sushi for one person.
So she buys dinner for two.
There was no sign of forced entry.
She had take-out with her killer? Could still be a cop.
I mean, check out these posters.
"Stop police brutality.
" "Free Pedro Sanchez.
" She's a walking crusade against the criminal justice system.
And she might've pissed off a lot of people in law enforcement.
Our killer is organized, intelligent, with a good knowledge of forensics.
His post-offense behavior is meticulous.
The nails, the douche, the alcohol rubdown.
Found this turkey baster in the bathtub.
He probably filled it with rubbing alcohol and used it to wash away the DNA.
Why not just dump the body in the river, let the water destroy evidence.
Because he cared about her.
When he left her in the park, he laid her gently on the ground, he posed her, he covered her with leaves.
Why use crime scene tape to keep us from finding the body? To send us a message.
He's smarter than we are.
Could be a Police Academy washout.
Disgraced ex-cop.
Or a criminology student.
Rebecca's schedule.
She was taking graduate courses in Criminal Justice at Wallace University.
Find her advisor.
See if somebody had a grudge against Rebecca.
Nobody had problems with Rebecca.
The whole department loved her.
She was always around when other students needed to talk.
She was missing for a week, Prof.
Vega.
No one found that strange? She was taking time off to finish her thesis.
Did Rebecca have a boyfriend? Maybe an angry ex? I don't think Rebecca dated much.
Whatever free time she had she spent doing research.
Her police record said she was arrested last year for obstruction.
Those charges were dropped.
She was interviewing an ex-con and got caught in a drug sweep.
She hang out with a lot of ex-cons? You say that like they're lepers.
Not at all.
Just wondering what attracted her to this line of work.
Her thesis was on convict reentry.
How most ex-cons end up back in prison because the system sets them up to fail.
Yeah, how so? Well, you should see them when they're discharged from Rikers, Detective.
$5 in their pockets and all the whores and dealers lining up to take it from them.
Rebecca thought they deserved a better chance.
She ever deal with any sex offenders? Rapists are practically impossible to rehabilitate.
She was interested in uneducated screw-ups who wanted to get their lives together.
Mostly junkies.
She helped them get clean, stay clean.
They ever give her trouble? Well, if they did, she never told me.
We're gonna need the inmates' names.
Kyle Luhrmann was working on the research with her.
He'll give them to you.
Crackheads, speed freaks, muggers.
Rebecca interviewed every inmate at Sing Sing within six months of their release.
Are these their current addresses? For those that aren't back in jail or dead.
Can you tell us where you were Friday night? At a department party.
I got so trashed that a couple of friends had to drive me home, pour me into bed.
We're gonna need their names.
Sure.
Is this Rebecca's desk? Yeah.
I haven't touched it.
Mind if I take a look? Good luck finding anything.
Now, did you interview the inmates with Rebecca? No.
I got my share of sob stories interning at Probation last summer.
That's why I crunch the numbers and Rebecca did all the people work.
Any sob stories in particular that got to Rebecca? There was one guy who found out his kid had cancer the day he got out.
Went straight for the needle.
Got wrecked.
Rebecca helped him go cold turkey.
She even crawled into bed with the guy to help him through the DTs.
Where's the guy now? Dead.
Idiot OD'd a week later.
Did Rebecca get close with any other junkies? She said there was one guy that definitely wanted to get close.
Freaking crackhead.
Every time she went out to Sing Sing, he'd throw his arms around her, tell her he loved her.
Creeped me out.
Rebecca feel the same way? She was fine till he tried to kiss her.
She walked out.
Two days later she was back there talking to him.
What's the guy's name? Rudy something.
Last I heard he was still in prison.
Rudy Lemcke.
Burg two, 10 months.
Assault, 18 months.
Possession with intent, two years.
This guy's been using the revolving door at Sing Sing for the last 10 years.
And Rebecca wanted to take care of him like he was a stray cat.
Now, her research partner said she gave Rudy her phone number so he could call her day or night.
Sounds like she got off talking to bad boys.
Hey, warden at Sing Sing says our friend Rudy was paroled two weeks ago with a doting wife waiting for him on the outside.
Find her and bring Rudy in.
I ain't seen Rudy since he got out.
Coming around looking to hit it.
I told him I was with Dre now.
Well, you told the parole board that Rudy could live with you.
What else was I supposed to say? "Keep my husband in jail for another two years.
" I'm a good wife.
Lying about his place of residence is a violation of Rudy's parole.
When we find him, he's going back to prison.
I don't know where he's at.
I was just trying to help him.
If Rudy committed a crime while you were covering for him, that makes you an accessory.
You playing me? You want to find out, or you want to tell me where I can find Rudy? Like I said, I kicked him out.
Told him he had to find a job or sleep with the bums down at St.
Anne's.
Sister Peg, never seen you in the kitchen like this before, you get tired of handing out condoms to the hookers? I go where my girls go.
A lot end up homeless.
The city won't let convicted drug users into public housing anymore.
This guy been around here? Name's Rudy Lemcke.
He was paroled a couple of weeks ago.
Why you looking for him? Think he raped and murdered a woman who was pretty much like you.
You know, just trying to help out ex-cons.
To your right.
The guy with the shopping cart.
Rudy Lemcke? L I didn't do nothing! Yeah? Then what are you running from? Hey, that's my cart.
Yeah? You use it to carry bodies around, do you? What bodies? Hers.
I never seen her before.
"Elements of Criminology" by Javier Vega.
Rebecca's advisor.
You doing a little light reading there, Rudy? I'm trying to educate myself.
About how to cover up a crime scene? Maybe wash away your DNA? You take him.
I'll wait for CSU to go through his crap.
Just put the cherry on the sundae.
Found the sushi delivery guy.
Says he remembers seeing Rudy at Rebecca's apartment.
Go give him the good news.
You like sushi, Rudy? What? Eyewitness puts you at Rebecca's apartment the night she died.
Says that you smelled.
She bought me dinner.
She was my friend.
She was a student, you're a crackhead.
You're not friends.
She wanted to help me.
Yeah, but you wanted more, didn't you? Just got out of prison, your wife's got a new man.
So you figured you'll take what you need from Rebecca.
No! She resists, you choke her.
Maybe you didn't mean to kill her, the next thing you know, she's not moving.
You got it all wrong, lady.
You're scared.
You panic.
Then you remember the book.
That'll tell you exactly how to clean up.
Come on, Everything that you did is in Prof.
Vega's book, Chapter 11: Crime Scene Forensics.
Remember? I didn't mean to hurt anybody.
Write, Rudy.
Just write.
Maybe you'll see the world again before you die.
Olivia, bring me that book.
Did you talk to this man? It's Rebecca's advisor.
His name is Javier Vega.
I collared him in '76 for killing a woman named Joanna Lewis.
He was coming off a three-day heroin bender looking for some cash when she surprised him ripping off her place.
Doesn't mean that he's our guy.
Vega strangled her with his left hand.
Rudy's right-handed and so high that he would confess to killing his own mother.
Vega's our killer.
He tried to cover his ass with that crime scene gag.
Been laughing at us ever since.
Bring him in.
I'll ask Novak to get a warrant.
He's destroyed enough evidence.
Don't give him the chance to do it again.
Professor? Hit it.
Clear.
Closet's empty.
Nothing's in the dresser.
This guy cleared out of here in a hurry.
Elliot.
Condoms.
Twisted Desire.
Canvassed Rebecca's neighbors.
One of them remembers seeing a 2003 Lexus RX parked outside her place that night of the murder.
Same car Vega drives.
What, this guy has a photographic memory for cars? He's a mechanic.
Talked about the car like it was Paris Hilton.
The same guy saw a man in a black coat and a red scarf stuffing a large bundle into the back of a Lexus.
He said it looked like a big-ass bagful of crap.
This poet make a positive ID on Vega? No, he was too far away to see his face.
Let's get his car out on the teletype and advise Narcotics.
If Vega gets rattled enough, he could be looking to score.
Prison record says he's been clean since '88.
You think he's gonna relapse after all that time? I think he's gonna go back to being who he really is, a thug and a junkie.
It's the only way he knows how to survive.
Did he rape this woman that he killed in '76? Don't know.
He stuffed her in a steel drum.
By the time we found the body, it was partially decomposed.
Come a long way since his junkie days.
He's a professor, for crying out loud.
I mean, why's he gonna screw everything up and kill again? Maybe Rebecca dug up something about his past when she was doing her research about him at Sing Sing.
He killed her to protect his reputation.
Go back through Rebecca's files.
There's gotta be something that points to the Professor.
All of her research is in those containers.
But if Rebecca ever found out about Vega's past, she didn't mention it.
Vega ever mention it to you? Not a word.
No wonder he was such a great teacher.
He knew so much about prison life.
I should've guessed he'd done time.
How'd Rebecca get along with him? Great.
I mean, she came here to study with him.
The three of us used to get together for drinks at his place every week to talk about our research.
But then Then what? Last month she started backing out, making excuses.
Couple of weeks ago she said she had concert tickets.
When I came here after talking to Vega, I found Rebecca crying at her desk.
You ask why? Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me.
I told her if she had a problem with Vega, she'd better deal with it.
But then she got really upset.
So what'd you do? I told her to talk to the Dean.
Javier Vega's a brilliant teacher.
His life in prison gives him a unique perspective on criminology.
So you knowingly hired an ex-con? Who's better qualified to teach criminology than a former criminal? Then why keep his past a secret? Unfortunately, parents and donors aren't so open-minded.
I wouldn't want my children being taught by a murderer.
Vega's a changed man.
Prison is for rehabilitation, Detective.
It's to keep our children safe.
Rebecca Wheeler didn't know how dangerous her advisor was.
Look what happened to her.
Vega couldn't have killed her.
He was her mentor.
Rebecca had no reason to be afraid of him.
That's not what her research partner said.
Kyle Luhrmann told her to talk to you.
Did she? Rebecca had an appointment for next week.
What about? She wanted to change advisors.
Because she found out that he was a murderer and didn't want her career tied to a convicted felon.
I don't believe that Vega murdered her.
But someone did find out about him.
I received this anonymous letter last week demanding that I fire Vega for covering up his past.
We'll take this and a copy of his personnel file.
Do you really think it's impossible to rehabilitate murderers? I don't know, but why risk it? Once a killer, always a killer.
You're a good Catholic.
I thought Jesus taught forgiveness.
Jesus was perfect.
I'm not.
Hey, hold on a second.
Vega's got a daughter, Gabrielle.
Where is she? Here.
She's a law student.
She gets free tuition 'cause Daddy's a professor.
I don't know where my father is, but I do know he didn't kill anyone.
So why would he run? Because he knew the moment you would find out about his record, all you would see is an ex-con.
Gabrielle, your father is a convicted murderer.
I don't know that person, Detective.
My father found out about me after my mother died.
I went to see him in prison.
That's why he got clean and he started going to school.
So now he's a saint.
He wrote to me every day.
After he got out, he worked his ass off so that we can have a good life.
He made a stupid mistake when he was a kid, and he paid for it.
Murder is not a stupid mistake, Gabrielle.
He was a different person when he was high.
He's been clean for 16 years.
But you don't care about that, do you? You want to know what we care about? We care about the truth.
And if your father didn't kill Rebecca Wheeeler, then we need to find him so we can clear him.
I'm a law student, Detective.
I know how cops lie to get information.
Even if I knew where he was, I wouldn't tell you.
Maybe your colleagues will be a little more cooperative.
Listen up.
Has anyone seen this man? Name is Javier Vega.
Bastard.
Search all you want.
He left the country.
Gabrielle's lying.
She loves her dad.
She's not going to give him up.
She says he left the country and thinks what, we'll just stop looking? No reports of him at the Canadian border.
He's not on any passenger manifests for flights leaving the Tri-State.
My gut? He's still in the city.
Why the hell would he stay here when he knows we're looking for him? Because he and Gabrielle seem pretty tight.
Probably didn't want to leave her behind.
You think she'd be dumb enough to try to hide her father? I think she'd do anything to protect her father.
Then she's an accessory.
Bring her in.
I'll talk to her myself.
You sure that's a good idea? Is there something you want to say to me? Just that you seem a little involved.
Vega raped and murdered an innocent young woman.
Of course I'm involved.
Captain.
Sector car out in Queens just spotted Vega's car.
Vega driving? No sign of him.
Captain, we can handle it.
So can I.
Engine's cold.
Nothing.
He was traveling with an older woman.
How you get that? Take a whiff.
Lilies and roses.
No woman under 60 wears this perfume.
Maybe Gabrielle has old-fashioned tastes.
Gabrielle wears sandalwood and bergamot.
Women notice these things.
You notice that? What? Bus stop.
Vega dumped the car and hopped a bus with his lady friend? You live in Queens.
Where's this bus go? No idea.
Let's find out.
We go right on Van Dam along then cut through the cemeteries to Maspeth.
Cemeteries.
Queens is lousy with them.
Can I borrow your newspaper? There you go.
Roses and lilies.
It's not perfume, it's flowers.
Where's he going with them? Rebecca's funeral was this morning.
Avondale Cemetery.
He's going to Rebecca's grave.
Thank you.
Javier Vega.
Don't move.
Now, stand up.
Passport.
Been a long time, Vega.
Do I know you? Lt'll come back to you.
Javier Vega, you are under arrest for the murder of Rebecca Wheeler.
You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Cragen.
I should've known you were behind this.
You put yourself in the jackpot.
I didn't kill Rebecca.
But you ran.
What choice did I have? The minute your cops heard I was an ex-con, I went from professor to cold-blooded murderer.
Well, you are a cold-blooded murderer.
You killed Joanna Lewis.
Somebody set me up.
He must know you pretty well.
Rebecca was strangled by a lefty, raped using your brand of condoms and dumped by a man driving your car.
Same M.
O.
Same perp.
I spent the last 20 years studying crime.
If I was going to kill somebody, don't you think I'd cover my tracks a little better? You tried.
Why would I kill Rebecca? I loved her.
She loved me.
We were going to be married.
Wake up.
She was so terrified of you she was going to change advisors.
I told her to.
A student sleeping with her professor looks bad to everybody.
We were protectin' our careers.
Then why was she trying to end yours? We lifted her prints off a letter to Dean Busch outing you as a murderer.
She couldn't have written that.
Then how'd her prints get all over it? You tell me.
She had no reason to write that, and I had no reason to kill her.
I told her everything about my past months ago.
I remember you, Vega.
When I collared you after we found that poor woman's stinking corpse, you cried like a baby.
You denied it then, but we had your prints all over that oil drum.
You lied then like you're lying now.
I will never forget what I did to Joanna Lewis.
Her face will haunt me until the day I die.
But my past is my past.
I'm a different man now, just like you.
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember you.
You were drunk.
The stench of booze was all over you.
But you changed, didn't you, Captain? You think you're the only one who can? All right, I'm listening.
I was at Rebecca's the night she died.
When I left, she was alive.
that's the best you can do? Ask Rudy Lemcke.
He was at Rebecca's that night.
I dropped him off at the Lydia Motel to crash for the night.
Rudy'll tell you.
When we left Rebecca's, she was alive.
Vega's lying through his teeth.
Nobody at the Lydia Motel remembers seeing him or Rudy.
I should've known.
Why the hell did I even listen to him? We've gotta find Rudy.
Shoot some holes in Vega's alibi.
Elliot, you check the homeless shelter where Rudy was staying? Nobody's seen or heard from Rudy since we busted him.
Fin put the word out.
Every crackhead and dealer knows we're looking for him.
So all the evidence we have against Vega is circumstantial.
We have the fiber and the condom from inside Rebecca that proves Vega was the murderer.
We've got means, motive, opportunity.
And the fact that he strangled another woman exactly the same way That's only admissible if Judge Petrovsky allows me to bring up Vega's prior bad acts.
Proves an M.
O.
Shouldn't be a problem for you.
I'm not saying I can't win.
I just wish I had Rudy Lemcke.
You will.
Can I talk to you a minute? Is there a problem? Vega's priors.
June 1975, Grand Theft Auto.
He got probation because his arresting officer recommended leniency to the DA.
It was you.
Why'd you do it? He was a kid.
He was high.
When he came down, he seemed serious about cleaning up his act.
Except he wasn't.
He got high again and killed Joanna Lewis while on probation.
What does this have to do with Rebecca Wheeler? Vega's already crying frame job.
You two have history.
I just need you to tell me there's nothing personal going on here.
All I want is for the bastard to rot in jail.
Because the evidence points to him.
Because he's guilty.
Yes, I killed Joanna Lewis.
I was a 19-year-old heroin addict.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I went to prison and served my time.
For the last seven years, you've donated $500 a month to what cause? The Joanna Lewis Memorial Fund.
Did the court order you to make restitution? No.
But it's the right thing to do.
So you've paid your debt to society by serving your sentence.
And now you're paying a debt to your victim's families.
Tell us, Professor, why do you teach criminology? To atone for what I did.
I hope I can use my mistakes to teach others to prevent crime.
Like you taught Rebecca Wheeler.
Yes.
She was a brilliant student and a generous woman.
That's why I fell in love with her.
That's why I could never have killed her.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
Do you recognize this photograph? No.
This is Joanna Lewis' neck after you raped and strangled her in 1976.
I never raped her.
But you did kill her, didn't you? Yes.
What about this? I don't recognize it.
Now, this is Rebecca Wheeler's neck.
They look the same, don't they? I didn't kill Rebecca.
This is a fragment of a condom recovered from inside Rebecca Wheeler.
The same brand of condoms was found at your apartment.
This is a fiber recovered from Rebecca's trachea.
Your coat was made from the same material.
And do you recognize this? This is the letter Rebecca wrote to the University demanding that you be fired.
Rebecca didn't write that letter.
But her prints are on it.
So if she didn't write it, who did? Why don't you ask the cops? Are you implying that the police planted evidence? It wouldn't be the first time.
So the police knew your brand of condom, took a fragment, and placed it inside Rebecca.
Then they took a fiber from your coat and jammed it down her throat.
Yes.
You're an intelligent man, Professor.
Isn't the most logical explanation that you killed Rebecca? I didn't kill her.
I did not kill her! Jury took less than an hour.
Guilty on all counts.
That's my kind of jury.
Detectives, is it true you're looking for Rudy Lemcke? We were.
Trial's over.
Why? You know where he is? Maybe.
You want to arrest him? No.
He was an alibi witness.
Where is he, Sister? Hiding from you.
When you interrogated him, you pushed him over the edge.
He didn't deserve that.
He was a suspect in a murder case.
He was innocent.
Now he's terrified.
You've been telling every drug dealer in town you're looking for him.
They think he's a rat.
We just wanted to talk to him.
Yeah.
Well, he came to me for help.
He's afraid he's gonna get killed.
We will straighten things out on the street after we talk to him.
You give me your word you're just gonna talk, I'll take you to him.
Professor ain't lying.
He gave me some money and dropped me off at a motel the night Rebecca died.
What time? I don't got a watch.
Maybe 7:00.
We got a sushi delivery guy who puts you at Rebecca's at 8:00 p.
m.
Okay, maybe, it was uh, Come on, Rudy.
You gotta think.
Oh, it was definitely 9:00.
Definitely 9:00.
'Cause that was, uh, right after Rebecca and the Professor, they they finished duking it out.
So you heard them arguing.
Yeah, about me.
Rebecca said I could crash on her on her sofa.
And the Professor says no way he's gonna let a crackhead sleep on his girlfriend's couch.
His girlfriend? Yeah, they were lovey-dovey.
They were gonna get married.
You're sure about that? Uh, maybe not.
I don't know.
Rudy, this is important.
Rudy, Rudy, listen to me.
Who told you that they were getting married? Um, Rebecca.
Yeah.
Think.
What time did the Professor drop you off at that motel? I don't know, man.
But I do remember that, uh, it stopped raining on our way over there.
Checked with the Weather Service.
The rain stopped at 9:22 p.
m.
You know, it's possible that Vega dropped Rudy off and then came back and killed Rebecca.
It's more than possible.
Neighbor saw Vega's car in front of Rebecca's at 11:30.
So Vega was telling the truth about Rudy.
He'll use that to appeal his conviction.
I don't want Vega wriggling out of this.
Go back to the neighbor.
See exactly what time he saw that car.
I told the other detectives it was 11:30.
Right.
And you're sure about that? Positive.
The Simpsons just ended.
I got up to close my window before I went to sleep.
That's my apartment right there.
I seen a guy in a coat put a big-ass bundle in a Lexus.
He was parked right there.
Vega doubled back.
You see that guy? He just blew through the intersection.
Red light cam caught the whole thing.
Maybe it caught Vega, too.
City's making a bundle.
A lot of people run that light.
We got one at 7:46, That's Vega's car.
The white Lexus.
Next photo's 9:02.
And the car's gone.
That's when Vega said he took Rudy to that motel.
What time does he come back? The Lexus returns at 11:07.
So Vega returned to murder Rebecca.
Blow that up.
Show me that license plate.
Enhancing.
"JMM-8120.
" Let's double check.
Bring up one of the earlier photos.
"MAL-5047.
" We got two different cars.
It's a Lexus RX.
DMV has it registered to this agency.
We're looking for who rented on the night of February 20.
Here you go.
Rental agreement and renter information.
Well, first of all, the license is fake.
New York drivers' licenses have all numbers.
This has three letters.
And you can't even make out the picture.
I'm sorry.
I don't know how this could have happened.
Yeah, I bet.
You don't want us to bust you for renting cars to unlicensed drivers, do you? Maybe we can work something out.
We're listening.
We put GPS trackers on the deluxe models in case they're stolen.
That way, we can find them.
How long do you keep those records? Six months.
Show us the location of the car the night of February 20.
This is where we are.
He took Houston to the West Side Highway.
Got off at 96th Street.
Over to Claremont and 107th.
That's Rebecca's apartment.
From Rebbeca's apartment, into Central Park where the body was found.
We need to know where that car is right now.
Whoever rented that car killed Rebecca Wheeler.
And an innocent man's in prison.
We put him there.
Somebody went to a lot of trouble to frame Vega for Rebecca's murder.
And I bought it.
And you weren't the one who set him up.
But I was the one who made him a suspect.
He was a convicted murderer.
All the evidence pointed to him.
Not to mention he ran.
What were we supposed to think? Get the rental car over to the lab.
Have them tear it apart.
I'll talk to Vega.
A mistake? That's the best you can say, "We made a mistake"? I'm sorry.
I'll talk to the ADA.
Get you out of here right away.
My hero.
I want to make things right.
There's nothing you can do.
I can try.
Can you bring Rebecca back to life? Can you give me back my career? Get out of my face.
You're using again.
Not even trying to hide it.
It makes the time go quicker.
You need to get clean.
I can get you help.
Your help put me here.
You change your mind, you know where to find me.
On the gate.
Who killed Rebecca? Somebody who wanted to hurt you.
Any ideas? Besides NYPD? No.
So this guy rented a car like mine? Yeah.
Where from? A place on Houston.
I'll keep you posted.
I won't hold my breath.
Captain, you should've told me you were coming.
I would've tidied up.
When is Vega getting out? I'm on my way to court now.
We'll have him released first thing tomorrow morning.
That's not soon enough.
We need to do it now.
Why? Is he in some sort of danger? Just from himself.
He's using again.
Not much I can do.
Rikers can't get him down to court till morning.
I'll call in a favor, have Vega produced by the end of business if you can get your motion on the calendar by then.
Yeah, okay.
You know, this isn't your fault.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.
You didn't put the needle on Vega's arm.
No, I just torpedoed on his career and locked him up with a bunch of junkies.
You were doing your job.
Maybe the brass'll give me a medal.
In light of this evidence, the People and the Defense are filing jointly to dismiss all charges against Prof.
Vega.
Anything you'd like to add, Mr.
Seaver? Just how pleased we are that the People recognize the error of their ways.
Duly noted.
The court hereby grants the motion to set aside the conviction of Prof.
Vega in the interests of justice.
You're free to go with the court's apologies.
Any leads yet? We're working on it.
Do you own a home, Captain? I'm sorry? A home.
Stocks.
Any assets that we should know about? Consider yourself served.
We're going after the city, the Police Department, and you, sir.
We're seeking $12 million in compensatory damages.
You want to go out the back way? No.
Been working on the cars two hours now.
Dusted every surface.
No prints.
They check the rear-view? Yep.
Nothing.
What about the seat adjustment button? A lot of times perps wipe down everything else, forget they moved the seat.
Uh, we've done this a couple of times before, Captain.
Wait, hold on.
Nail clippers.
Is that a fingernail clipping? With red nail polish.
Same color as Rebecca's.
Let's see if we have a latent.
I think we got something.
Judy, how much longer? Done.
Your guy doesn't have a criminal record.
Sorry, Captain.
Expand the search.
Guy who did this had to know Vega and Rebecca.
Run prison guards, cops, anybody who works in the criminal justice system.
You got something? Computer doesn't make the final match.
I do.
Same ridge line, identical whorl.
It's only a 7-point match, but Whose? Student intern.
Probation.
Worked there the summer of 2003.
Name's Kyle Luhrmann.
Bastard's gone.
Didn't even have time to finish his coffee.
Captain, take a look at these.
What is it? Pictures.
All of them of Vega.
With Rebecca, getting into his car, wearing his coat.
Luhrmann was stalking the guy.
You got pictures of Vega's condoms, too? He wouldn't need to.
Vega used to invite his students over to his apartment once a week for drinks.
Luhrmann could have found them just snooping around.
And Luhrmann worked with Rebecca.
Easy to steal a blank piece of paper with her prints on it, forge the letter.
Where is the son of a bitch? Look, once he'd heard that Vega had been cleared, he'd run.
And so fast he forgot his coat and scarf.
Anybody spots Luhrmann, I want to be the first on scene.
Capt.
Cragen, I have to talk to you, sir.
I can't.
You have to help him.
You and your father are suing me.
I can't talk to you without my attorney present.
Please.
He left he left this note for me.
I think he's going to kill himself.
You gotta read this.
"I can't ask you to save me again, "and I can't save myself.
"I've made my bed, and now it's time for me to lie down.
" He's suicidal.
He's homicidal, too.
"I hope you can forgive me one final sin in the name of justice.
" He wants to get even.
Think he'll come after you? Hold on a second.
He's talking about Rebecca.
"Not for justice for me, but for the woman I loved.
" Luhrmann didn't leave in a hurry.
Vega kidnapped him.
How did he figure out Luhrmann killed her? Son of a bitch.
He asked me where the car was rented from and I told him.
The rental agency is only two blocks from the sociology library where Luhrmann hangs out.
Vega put it together.
So why not just kill him? Vega wants him to suffer the way Luhrmann made Rebecca suffer.
Okay, so where did he take him? Someplace that's emotionally significant.
Rebecca's apartment.
Wallace University.
Too many people around.
Avondale Cemetery.
He would never desecrate Rebecca's grave.
But Central Park, where he left Rebecca's body to rot.
Call ESU.
Tell them to set up a perimeter around the murder scene.
I'm on my way.
Vega's got a gun at Luhrmann's head.
He's using him as a shield so we can't get a clear shot.
Is Vega talking? Just to Luhrmann.
The line of fire is that tree to that rock.
Got it.
SWAT team leader, have the team into position.
You've got to help me! He's crazy! He's gonna kill me! I don't blame him! Let him go, Vega.
He killed Rebecca! I didn't do anything to her, I swear! Tell him what you did or I'll blow your head off! I killed her.
Why? What'd she do to you? I loved her.
But she told me she was marrying you.
I went to her apartment.
I gave her one last chance.
She blew it.
You're dead.
Put the gun down.
You got your confession.
You shoot him, you're dead.
You kill him, you lose your daughter, too.
Gabrielle's better off without me.
She came to see me.
She begged me to bring you home.
The only way I'm leaving here is in a body bag.
Not if you let him live.
He confessed to murder.
He's finished.
Let me help you.
Nobody can help me.
You're still thinking like a junkie.
Fine.
Go ahead, kill him.
Show me you're still a murderer, too.
Gun! Let's go see your daughter.
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.
Every day I drag my marigolds down here.
Every day I drag them back.
I know you guys got a job to do, but come on.
It's been like this for a week.
Sorry, but a crime scene takes priority over your flowers.
Some priority.
I haven't seen a cop around here in days.
Mounted Sergeant to Central.
Who's on the crime scene in the Rambles? Central to mounted post two.
Negative on a crime scene at that location.
Central, it's gotta be.
It's still taped off.
Nothing's been reported there.
Scene's stone cold.
Killer went out of his way to screw us on this one.
He gets points for originality.
Never seen a perp cordon off his own crime scene.
Millions of places you can buy police tape.
My son stuck it across his bedroom door.
Any ID? No.
We know how she died? Strangled, judging by the bruising on her neck.
Probably raped.
But she's been here a while.
Won't know for sure until after the autopsy.
Perp knew what he was doing.
He clipped her fingernails after he killed her.
After he killed her? How do you know that? Same polish on her toes.
It's fresh.
No chips.
No woman I know cuts her nails to the quick after a manicure.
She scratched him.
He cut her fingernails to get rid of the DNA underneath.
He uses crime scene tape and he knows his forensics.
We looking for a cop? Sure looks like it.
Your perp has to be an insider.
He knows too much.
No fluids, no hairs, no prints.
Basically you got nothing.
I didn't say that.
He choked her with one hand, held something over her mouth with the other.
I found a fiber in your victim's trachea.
Oilskin cotton.
She must have aspirated it during the attack.
What's the fiber from? Could be a raincoat, or maybe a pair of gloves.
Check out the bruise pattern.
The thumb is to the right of the fingers which means the perp strangled her with his left hand.
And he used a condom.
You find spermicide? No, rubbing alcohol.
He gave her a rubdown and a douche.
But he missed a small piece of latex.
You can tell the condom broke from the tear pattern.
So our perp knew he had to clean up after himself.
I was able to match the fragment with the brand.
"Twisted Desire.
" We got a match on our victim's prints.
She was arrested last year for obstruction.
Say hello to Rebecca Wheeler.
She lived at Claremont and 107th.
Well, If our perp's a cop, Cragen's gonna be all over this.
I'll call and have him meet us there.
Got a time of death? Some time last week.
But she ate right before she was killed.
I found undigested sushi in her stomach.
Find out when Rebecca had dinner, you'll know when she died.
Got takeout cartons and a credit card receipt from Miss Yoko's sushi restaurant.
Friday night, 8:05.
$42.
That's a lot of sushi for one person.
So she buys dinner for two.
There was no sign of forced entry.
She had take-out with her killer? Could still be a cop.
I mean, check out these posters.
"Stop police brutality.
" "Free Pedro Sanchez.
" She's a walking crusade against the criminal justice system.
And she might've pissed off a lot of people in law enforcement.
Our killer is organized, intelligent, with a good knowledge of forensics.
His post-offense behavior is meticulous.
The nails, the douche, the alcohol rubdown.
Found this turkey baster in the bathtub.
He probably filled it with rubbing alcohol and used it to wash away the DNA.
Why not just dump the body in the river, let the water destroy evidence.
Because he cared about her.
When he left her in the park, he laid her gently on the ground, he posed her, he covered her with leaves.
Why use crime scene tape to keep us from finding the body? To send us a message.
He's smarter than we are.
Could be a Police Academy washout.
Disgraced ex-cop.
Or a criminology student.
Rebecca's schedule.
She was taking graduate courses in Criminal Justice at Wallace University.
Find her advisor.
See if somebody had a grudge against Rebecca.
Nobody had problems with Rebecca.
The whole department loved her.
She was always around when other students needed to talk.
She was missing for a week, Prof.
Vega.
No one found that strange? She was taking time off to finish her thesis.
Did Rebecca have a boyfriend? Maybe an angry ex? I don't think Rebecca dated much.
Whatever free time she had she spent doing research.
Her police record said she was arrested last year for obstruction.
Those charges were dropped.
She was interviewing an ex-con and got caught in a drug sweep.
She hang out with a lot of ex-cons? You say that like they're lepers.
Not at all.
Just wondering what attracted her to this line of work.
Her thesis was on convict reentry.
How most ex-cons end up back in prison because the system sets them up to fail.
Yeah, how so? Well, you should see them when they're discharged from Rikers, Detective.
$5 in their pockets and all the whores and dealers lining up to take it from them.
Rebecca thought they deserved a better chance.
She ever deal with any sex offenders? Rapists are practically impossible to rehabilitate.
She was interested in uneducated screw-ups who wanted to get their lives together.
Mostly junkies.
She helped them get clean, stay clean.
They ever give her trouble? Well, if they did, she never told me.
We're gonna need the inmates' names.
Kyle Luhrmann was working on the research with her.
He'll give them to you.
Crackheads, speed freaks, muggers.
Rebecca interviewed every inmate at Sing Sing within six months of their release.
Are these their current addresses? For those that aren't back in jail or dead.
Can you tell us where you were Friday night? At a department party.
I got so trashed that a couple of friends had to drive me home, pour me into bed.
We're gonna need their names.
Sure.
Is this Rebecca's desk? Yeah.
I haven't touched it.
Mind if I take a look? Good luck finding anything.
Now, did you interview the inmates with Rebecca? No.
I got my share of sob stories interning at Probation last summer.
That's why I crunch the numbers and Rebecca did all the people work.
Any sob stories in particular that got to Rebecca? There was one guy who found out his kid had cancer the day he got out.
Went straight for the needle.
Got wrecked.
Rebecca helped him go cold turkey.
She even crawled into bed with the guy to help him through the DTs.
Where's the guy now? Dead.
Idiot OD'd a week later.
Did Rebecca get close with any other junkies? She said there was one guy that definitely wanted to get close.
Freaking crackhead.
Every time she went out to Sing Sing, he'd throw his arms around her, tell her he loved her.
Creeped me out.
Rebecca feel the same way? She was fine till he tried to kiss her.
She walked out.
Two days later she was back there talking to him.
What's the guy's name? Rudy something.
Last I heard he was still in prison.
Rudy Lemcke.
Burg two, 10 months.
Assault, 18 months.
Possession with intent, two years.
This guy's been using the revolving door at Sing Sing for the last 10 years.
And Rebecca wanted to take care of him like he was a stray cat.
Now, her research partner said she gave Rudy her phone number so he could call her day or night.
Sounds like she got off talking to bad boys.
Hey, warden at Sing Sing says our friend Rudy was paroled two weeks ago with a doting wife waiting for him on the outside.
Find her and bring Rudy in.
I ain't seen Rudy since he got out.
Coming around looking to hit it.
I told him I was with Dre now.
Well, you told the parole board that Rudy could live with you.
What else was I supposed to say? "Keep my husband in jail for another two years.
" I'm a good wife.
Lying about his place of residence is a violation of Rudy's parole.
When we find him, he's going back to prison.
I don't know where he's at.
I was just trying to help him.
If Rudy committed a crime while you were covering for him, that makes you an accessory.
You playing me? You want to find out, or you want to tell me where I can find Rudy? Like I said, I kicked him out.
Told him he had to find a job or sleep with the bums down at St.
Anne's.
Sister Peg, never seen you in the kitchen like this before, you get tired of handing out condoms to the hookers? I go where my girls go.
A lot end up homeless.
The city won't let convicted drug users into public housing anymore.
This guy been around here? Name's Rudy Lemcke.
He was paroled a couple of weeks ago.
Why you looking for him? Think he raped and murdered a woman who was pretty much like you.
You know, just trying to help out ex-cons.
To your right.
The guy with the shopping cart.
Rudy Lemcke? L I didn't do nothing! Yeah? Then what are you running from? Hey, that's my cart.
Yeah? You use it to carry bodies around, do you? What bodies? Hers.
I never seen her before.
"Elements of Criminology" by Javier Vega.
Rebecca's advisor.
You doing a little light reading there, Rudy? I'm trying to educate myself.
About how to cover up a crime scene? Maybe wash away your DNA? You take him.
I'll wait for CSU to go through his crap.
Just put the cherry on the sundae.
Found the sushi delivery guy.
Says he remembers seeing Rudy at Rebecca's apartment.
Go give him the good news.
You like sushi, Rudy? What? Eyewitness puts you at Rebecca's apartment the night she died.
Says that you smelled.
She bought me dinner.
She was my friend.
She was a student, you're a crackhead.
You're not friends.
She wanted to help me.
Yeah, but you wanted more, didn't you? Just got out of prison, your wife's got a new man.
So you figured you'll take what you need from Rebecca.
No! She resists, you choke her.
Maybe you didn't mean to kill her, the next thing you know, she's not moving.
You got it all wrong, lady.
You're scared.
You panic.
Then you remember the book.
That'll tell you exactly how to clean up.
Come on, Everything that you did is in Prof.
Vega's book, Chapter 11: Crime Scene Forensics.
Remember? I didn't mean to hurt anybody.
Write, Rudy.
Just write.
Maybe you'll see the world again before you die.
Olivia, bring me that book.
Did you talk to this man? It's Rebecca's advisor.
His name is Javier Vega.
I collared him in '76 for killing a woman named Joanna Lewis.
He was coming off a three-day heroin bender looking for some cash when she surprised him ripping off her place.
Doesn't mean that he's our guy.
Vega strangled her with his left hand.
Rudy's right-handed and so high that he would confess to killing his own mother.
Vega's our killer.
He tried to cover his ass with that crime scene gag.
Been laughing at us ever since.
Bring him in.
I'll ask Novak to get a warrant.
He's destroyed enough evidence.
Don't give him the chance to do it again.
Professor? Hit it.
Clear.
Closet's empty.
Nothing's in the dresser.
This guy cleared out of here in a hurry.
Elliot.
Condoms.
Twisted Desire.
Canvassed Rebecca's neighbors.
One of them remembers seeing a 2003 Lexus RX parked outside her place that night of the murder.
Same car Vega drives.
What, this guy has a photographic memory for cars? He's a mechanic.
Talked about the car like it was Paris Hilton.
The same guy saw a man in a black coat and a red scarf stuffing a large bundle into the back of a Lexus.
He said it looked like a big-ass bagful of crap.
This poet make a positive ID on Vega? No, he was too far away to see his face.
Let's get his car out on the teletype and advise Narcotics.
If Vega gets rattled enough, he could be looking to score.
Prison record says he's been clean since '88.
You think he's gonna relapse after all that time? I think he's gonna go back to being who he really is, a thug and a junkie.
It's the only way he knows how to survive.
Did he rape this woman that he killed in '76? Don't know.
He stuffed her in a steel drum.
By the time we found the body, it was partially decomposed.
Come a long way since his junkie days.
He's a professor, for crying out loud.
I mean, why's he gonna screw everything up and kill again? Maybe Rebecca dug up something about his past when she was doing her research about him at Sing Sing.
He killed her to protect his reputation.
Go back through Rebecca's files.
There's gotta be something that points to the Professor.
All of her research is in those containers.
But if Rebecca ever found out about Vega's past, she didn't mention it.
Vega ever mention it to you? Not a word.
No wonder he was such a great teacher.
He knew so much about prison life.
I should've guessed he'd done time.
How'd Rebecca get along with him? Great.
I mean, she came here to study with him.
The three of us used to get together for drinks at his place every week to talk about our research.
But then Then what? Last month she started backing out, making excuses.
Couple of weeks ago she said she had concert tickets.
When I came here after talking to Vega, I found Rebecca crying at her desk.
You ask why? Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me.
I told her if she had a problem with Vega, she'd better deal with it.
But then she got really upset.
So what'd you do? I told her to talk to the Dean.
Javier Vega's a brilliant teacher.
His life in prison gives him a unique perspective on criminology.
So you knowingly hired an ex-con? Who's better qualified to teach criminology than a former criminal? Then why keep his past a secret? Unfortunately, parents and donors aren't so open-minded.
I wouldn't want my children being taught by a murderer.
Vega's a changed man.
Prison is for rehabilitation, Detective.
It's to keep our children safe.
Rebecca Wheeler didn't know how dangerous her advisor was.
Look what happened to her.
Vega couldn't have killed her.
He was her mentor.
Rebecca had no reason to be afraid of him.
That's not what her research partner said.
Kyle Luhrmann told her to talk to you.
Did she? Rebecca had an appointment for next week.
What about? She wanted to change advisors.
Because she found out that he was a murderer and didn't want her career tied to a convicted felon.
I don't believe that Vega murdered her.
But someone did find out about him.
I received this anonymous letter last week demanding that I fire Vega for covering up his past.
We'll take this and a copy of his personnel file.
Do you really think it's impossible to rehabilitate murderers? I don't know, but why risk it? Once a killer, always a killer.
You're a good Catholic.
I thought Jesus taught forgiveness.
Jesus was perfect.
I'm not.
Hey, hold on a second.
Vega's got a daughter, Gabrielle.
Where is she? Here.
She's a law student.
She gets free tuition 'cause Daddy's a professor.
I don't know where my father is, but I do know he didn't kill anyone.
So why would he run? Because he knew the moment you would find out about his record, all you would see is an ex-con.
Gabrielle, your father is a convicted murderer.
I don't know that person, Detective.
My father found out about me after my mother died.
I went to see him in prison.
That's why he got clean and he started going to school.
So now he's a saint.
He wrote to me every day.
After he got out, he worked his ass off so that we can have a good life.
He made a stupid mistake when he was a kid, and he paid for it.
Murder is not a stupid mistake, Gabrielle.
He was a different person when he was high.
He's been clean for 16 years.
But you don't care about that, do you? You want to know what we care about? We care about the truth.
And if your father didn't kill Rebecca Wheeeler, then we need to find him so we can clear him.
I'm a law student, Detective.
I know how cops lie to get information.
Even if I knew where he was, I wouldn't tell you.
Maybe your colleagues will be a little more cooperative.
Listen up.
Has anyone seen this man? Name is Javier Vega.
Bastard.
Search all you want.
He left the country.
Gabrielle's lying.
She loves her dad.
She's not going to give him up.
She says he left the country and thinks what, we'll just stop looking? No reports of him at the Canadian border.
He's not on any passenger manifests for flights leaving the Tri-State.
My gut? He's still in the city.
Why the hell would he stay here when he knows we're looking for him? Because he and Gabrielle seem pretty tight.
Probably didn't want to leave her behind.
You think she'd be dumb enough to try to hide her father? I think she'd do anything to protect her father.
Then she's an accessory.
Bring her in.
I'll talk to her myself.
You sure that's a good idea? Is there something you want to say to me? Just that you seem a little involved.
Vega raped and murdered an innocent young woman.
Of course I'm involved.
Captain.
Sector car out in Queens just spotted Vega's car.
Vega driving? No sign of him.
Captain, we can handle it.
So can I.
Engine's cold.
Nothing.
He was traveling with an older woman.
How you get that? Take a whiff.
Lilies and roses.
No woman under 60 wears this perfume.
Maybe Gabrielle has old-fashioned tastes.
Gabrielle wears sandalwood and bergamot.
Women notice these things.
You notice that? What? Bus stop.
Vega dumped the car and hopped a bus with his lady friend? You live in Queens.
Where's this bus go? No idea.
Let's find out.
We go right on Van Dam along then cut through the cemeteries to Maspeth.
Cemeteries.
Queens is lousy with them.
Can I borrow your newspaper? There you go.
Roses and lilies.
It's not perfume, it's flowers.
Where's he going with them? Rebecca's funeral was this morning.
Avondale Cemetery.
He's going to Rebecca's grave.
Thank you.
Javier Vega.
Don't move.
Now, stand up.
Passport.
Been a long time, Vega.
Do I know you? Lt'll come back to you.
Javier Vega, you are under arrest for the murder of Rebecca Wheeler.
You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Cragen.
I should've known you were behind this.
You put yourself in the jackpot.
I didn't kill Rebecca.
But you ran.
What choice did I have? The minute your cops heard I was an ex-con, I went from professor to cold-blooded murderer.
Well, you are a cold-blooded murderer.
You killed Joanna Lewis.
Somebody set me up.
He must know you pretty well.
Rebecca was strangled by a lefty, raped using your brand of condoms and dumped by a man driving your car.
Same M.
O.
Same perp.
I spent the last 20 years studying crime.
If I was going to kill somebody, don't you think I'd cover my tracks a little better? You tried.
Why would I kill Rebecca? I loved her.
She loved me.
We were going to be married.
Wake up.
She was so terrified of you she was going to change advisors.
I told her to.
A student sleeping with her professor looks bad to everybody.
We were protectin' our careers.
Then why was she trying to end yours? We lifted her prints off a letter to Dean Busch outing you as a murderer.
She couldn't have written that.
Then how'd her prints get all over it? You tell me.
She had no reason to write that, and I had no reason to kill her.
I told her everything about my past months ago.
I remember you, Vega.
When I collared you after we found that poor woman's stinking corpse, you cried like a baby.
You denied it then, but we had your prints all over that oil drum.
You lied then like you're lying now.
I will never forget what I did to Joanna Lewis.
Her face will haunt me until the day I die.
But my past is my past.
I'm a different man now, just like you.
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember you.
You were drunk.
The stench of booze was all over you.
But you changed, didn't you, Captain? You think you're the only one who can? All right, I'm listening.
I was at Rebecca's the night she died.
When I left, she was alive.
that's the best you can do? Ask Rudy Lemcke.
He was at Rebecca's that night.
I dropped him off at the Lydia Motel to crash for the night.
Rudy'll tell you.
When we left Rebecca's, she was alive.
Vega's lying through his teeth.
Nobody at the Lydia Motel remembers seeing him or Rudy.
I should've known.
Why the hell did I even listen to him? We've gotta find Rudy.
Shoot some holes in Vega's alibi.
Elliot, you check the homeless shelter where Rudy was staying? Nobody's seen or heard from Rudy since we busted him.
Fin put the word out.
Every crackhead and dealer knows we're looking for him.
So all the evidence we have against Vega is circumstantial.
We have the fiber and the condom from inside Rebecca that proves Vega was the murderer.
We've got means, motive, opportunity.
And the fact that he strangled another woman exactly the same way That's only admissible if Judge Petrovsky allows me to bring up Vega's prior bad acts.
Proves an M.
O.
Shouldn't be a problem for you.
I'm not saying I can't win.
I just wish I had Rudy Lemcke.
You will.
Can I talk to you a minute? Is there a problem? Vega's priors.
June 1975, Grand Theft Auto.
He got probation because his arresting officer recommended leniency to the DA.
It was you.
Why'd you do it? He was a kid.
He was high.
When he came down, he seemed serious about cleaning up his act.
Except he wasn't.
He got high again and killed Joanna Lewis while on probation.
What does this have to do with Rebecca Wheeler? Vega's already crying frame job.
You two have history.
I just need you to tell me there's nothing personal going on here.
All I want is for the bastard to rot in jail.
Because the evidence points to him.
Because he's guilty.
Yes, I killed Joanna Lewis.
I was a 19-year-old heroin addict.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I went to prison and served my time.
For the last seven years, you've donated $500 a month to what cause? The Joanna Lewis Memorial Fund.
Did the court order you to make restitution? No.
But it's the right thing to do.
So you've paid your debt to society by serving your sentence.
And now you're paying a debt to your victim's families.
Tell us, Professor, why do you teach criminology? To atone for what I did.
I hope I can use my mistakes to teach others to prevent crime.
Like you taught Rebecca Wheeler.
Yes.
She was a brilliant student and a generous woman.
That's why I fell in love with her.
That's why I could never have killed her.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
Do you recognize this photograph? No.
This is Joanna Lewis' neck after you raped and strangled her in 1976.
I never raped her.
But you did kill her, didn't you? Yes.
What about this? I don't recognize it.
Now, this is Rebecca Wheeler's neck.
They look the same, don't they? I didn't kill Rebecca.
This is a fragment of a condom recovered from inside Rebecca Wheeler.
The same brand of condoms was found at your apartment.
This is a fiber recovered from Rebecca's trachea.
Your coat was made from the same material.
And do you recognize this? This is the letter Rebecca wrote to the University demanding that you be fired.
Rebecca didn't write that letter.
But her prints are on it.
So if she didn't write it, who did? Why don't you ask the cops? Are you implying that the police planted evidence? It wouldn't be the first time.
So the police knew your brand of condom, took a fragment, and placed it inside Rebecca.
Then they took a fiber from your coat and jammed it down her throat.
Yes.
You're an intelligent man, Professor.
Isn't the most logical explanation that you killed Rebecca? I didn't kill her.
I did not kill her! Jury took less than an hour.
Guilty on all counts.
That's my kind of jury.
Detectives, is it true you're looking for Rudy Lemcke? We were.
Trial's over.
Why? You know where he is? Maybe.
You want to arrest him? No.
He was an alibi witness.
Where is he, Sister? Hiding from you.
When you interrogated him, you pushed him over the edge.
He didn't deserve that.
He was a suspect in a murder case.
He was innocent.
Now he's terrified.
You've been telling every drug dealer in town you're looking for him.
They think he's a rat.
We just wanted to talk to him.
Yeah.
Well, he came to me for help.
He's afraid he's gonna get killed.
We will straighten things out on the street after we talk to him.
You give me your word you're just gonna talk, I'll take you to him.
Professor ain't lying.
He gave me some money and dropped me off at a motel the night Rebecca died.
What time? I don't got a watch.
Maybe 7:00.
We got a sushi delivery guy who puts you at Rebecca's at 8:00 p.
m.
Okay, maybe, it was uh, Come on, Rudy.
You gotta think.
Oh, it was definitely 9:00.
Definitely 9:00.
'Cause that was, uh, right after Rebecca and the Professor, they they finished duking it out.
So you heard them arguing.
Yeah, about me.
Rebecca said I could crash on her on her sofa.
And the Professor says no way he's gonna let a crackhead sleep on his girlfriend's couch.
His girlfriend? Yeah, they were lovey-dovey.
They were gonna get married.
You're sure about that? Uh, maybe not.
I don't know.
Rudy, this is important.
Rudy, Rudy, listen to me.
Who told you that they were getting married? Um, Rebecca.
Yeah.
Think.
What time did the Professor drop you off at that motel? I don't know, man.
But I do remember that, uh, it stopped raining on our way over there.
Checked with the Weather Service.
The rain stopped at 9:22 p.
m.
You know, it's possible that Vega dropped Rudy off and then came back and killed Rebecca.
It's more than possible.
Neighbor saw Vega's car in front of Rebecca's at 11:30.
So Vega was telling the truth about Rudy.
He'll use that to appeal his conviction.
I don't want Vega wriggling out of this.
Go back to the neighbor.
See exactly what time he saw that car.
I told the other detectives it was 11:30.
Right.
And you're sure about that? Positive.
The Simpsons just ended.
I got up to close my window before I went to sleep.
That's my apartment right there.
I seen a guy in a coat put a big-ass bundle in a Lexus.
He was parked right there.
Vega doubled back.
You see that guy? He just blew through the intersection.
Red light cam caught the whole thing.
Maybe it caught Vega, too.
City's making a bundle.
A lot of people run that light.
We got one at 7:46, That's Vega's car.
The white Lexus.
Next photo's 9:02.
And the car's gone.
That's when Vega said he took Rudy to that motel.
What time does he come back? The Lexus returns at 11:07.
So Vega returned to murder Rebecca.
Blow that up.
Show me that license plate.
Enhancing.
"JMM-8120.
" Let's double check.
Bring up one of the earlier photos.
"MAL-5047.
" We got two different cars.
It's a Lexus RX.
DMV has it registered to this agency.
We're looking for who rented on the night of February 20.
Here you go.
Rental agreement and renter information.
Well, first of all, the license is fake.
New York drivers' licenses have all numbers.
This has three letters.
And you can't even make out the picture.
I'm sorry.
I don't know how this could have happened.
Yeah, I bet.
You don't want us to bust you for renting cars to unlicensed drivers, do you? Maybe we can work something out.
We're listening.
We put GPS trackers on the deluxe models in case they're stolen.
That way, we can find them.
How long do you keep those records? Six months.
Show us the location of the car the night of February 20.
This is where we are.
He took Houston to the West Side Highway.
Got off at 96th Street.
Over to Claremont and 107th.
That's Rebecca's apartment.
From Rebbeca's apartment, into Central Park where the body was found.
We need to know where that car is right now.
Whoever rented that car killed Rebecca Wheeler.
And an innocent man's in prison.
We put him there.
Somebody went to a lot of trouble to frame Vega for Rebecca's murder.
And I bought it.
And you weren't the one who set him up.
But I was the one who made him a suspect.
He was a convicted murderer.
All the evidence pointed to him.
Not to mention he ran.
What were we supposed to think? Get the rental car over to the lab.
Have them tear it apart.
I'll talk to Vega.
A mistake? That's the best you can say, "We made a mistake"? I'm sorry.
I'll talk to the ADA.
Get you out of here right away.
My hero.
I want to make things right.
There's nothing you can do.
I can try.
Can you bring Rebecca back to life? Can you give me back my career? Get out of my face.
You're using again.
Not even trying to hide it.
It makes the time go quicker.
You need to get clean.
I can get you help.
Your help put me here.
You change your mind, you know where to find me.
On the gate.
Who killed Rebecca? Somebody who wanted to hurt you.
Any ideas? Besides NYPD? No.
So this guy rented a car like mine? Yeah.
Where from? A place on Houston.
I'll keep you posted.
I won't hold my breath.
Captain, you should've told me you were coming.
I would've tidied up.
When is Vega getting out? I'm on my way to court now.
We'll have him released first thing tomorrow morning.
That's not soon enough.
We need to do it now.
Why? Is he in some sort of danger? Just from himself.
He's using again.
Not much I can do.
Rikers can't get him down to court till morning.
I'll call in a favor, have Vega produced by the end of business if you can get your motion on the calendar by then.
Yeah, okay.
You know, this isn't your fault.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.
You didn't put the needle on Vega's arm.
No, I just torpedoed on his career and locked him up with a bunch of junkies.
You were doing your job.
Maybe the brass'll give me a medal.
In light of this evidence, the People and the Defense are filing jointly to dismiss all charges against Prof.
Vega.
Anything you'd like to add, Mr.
Seaver? Just how pleased we are that the People recognize the error of their ways.
Duly noted.
The court hereby grants the motion to set aside the conviction of Prof.
Vega in the interests of justice.
You're free to go with the court's apologies.
Any leads yet? We're working on it.
Do you own a home, Captain? I'm sorry? A home.
Stocks.
Any assets that we should know about? Consider yourself served.
We're going after the city, the Police Department, and you, sir.
We're seeking $12 million in compensatory damages.
You want to go out the back way? No.
Been working on the cars two hours now.
Dusted every surface.
No prints.
They check the rear-view? Yep.
Nothing.
What about the seat adjustment button? A lot of times perps wipe down everything else, forget they moved the seat.
Uh, we've done this a couple of times before, Captain.
Wait, hold on.
Nail clippers.
Is that a fingernail clipping? With red nail polish.
Same color as Rebecca's.
Let's see if we have a latent.
I think we got something.
Judy, how much longer? Done.
Your guy doesn't have a criminal record.
Sorry, Captain.
Expand the search.
Guy who did this had to know Vega and Rebecca.
Run prison guards, cops, anybody who works in the criminal justice system.
You got something? Computer doesn't make the final match.
I do.
Same ridge line, identical whorl.
It's only a 7-point match, but Whose? Student intern.
Probation.
Worked there the summer of 2003.
Name's Kyle Luhrmann.
Bastard's gone.
Didn't even have time to finish his coffee.
Captain, take a look at these.
What is it? Pictures.
All of them of Vega.
With Rebecca, getting into his car, wearing his coat.
Luhrmann was stalking the guy.
You got pictures of Vega's condoms, too? He wouldn't need to.
Vega used to invite his students over to his apartment once a week for drinks.
Luhrmann could have found them just snooping around.
And Luhrmann worked with Rebecca.
Easy to steal a blank piece of paper with her prints on it, forge the letter.
Where is the son of a bitch? Look, once he'd heard that Vega had been cleared, he'd run.
And so fast he forgot his coat and scarf.
Anybody spots Luhrmann, I want to be the first on scene.
Capt.
Cragen, I have to talk to you, sir.
I can't.
You have to help him.
You and your father are suing me.
I can't talk to you without my attorney present.
Please.
He left he left this note for me.
I think he's going to kill himself.
You gotta read this.
"I can't ask you to save me again, "and I can't save myself.
"I've made my bed, and now it's time for me to lie down.
" He's suicidal.
He's homicidal, too.
"I hope you can forgive me one final sin in the name of justice.
" He wants to get even.
Think he'll come after you? Hold on a second.
He's talking about Rebecca.
"Not for justice for me, but for the woman I loved.
" Luhrmann didn't leave in a hurry.
Vega kidnapped him.
How did he figure out Luhrmann killed her? Son of a bitch.
He asked me where the car was rented from and I told him.
The rental agency is only two blocks from the sociology library where Luhrmann hangs out.
Vega put it together.
So why not just kill him? Vega wants him to suffer the way Luhrmann made Rebecca suffer.
Okay, so where did he take him? Someplace that's emotionally significant.
Rebecca's apartment.
Wallace University.
Too many people around.
Avondale Cemetery.
He would never desecrate Rebecca's grave.
But Central Park, where he left Rebecca's body to rot.
Call ESU.
Tell them to set up a perimeter around the murder scene.
I'm on my way.
Vega's got a gun at Luhrmann's head.
He's using him as a shield so we can't get a clear shot.
Is Vega talking? Just to Luhrmann.
The line of fire is that tree to that rock.
Got it.
SWAT team leader, have the team into position.
You've got to help me! He's crazy! He's gonna kill me! I don't blame him! Let him go, Vega.
He killed Rebecca! I didn't do anything to her, I swear! Tell him what you did or I'll blow your head off! I killed her.
Why? What'd she do to you? I loved her.
But she told me she was marrying you.
I went to her apartment.
I gave her one last chance.
She blew it.
You're dead.
Put the gun down.
You got your confession.
You shoot him, you're dead.
You kill him, you lose your daughter, too.
Gabrielle's better off without me.
She came to see me.
She begged me to bring you home.
The only way I'm leaving here is in a body bag.
Not if you let him live.
He confessed to murder.
He's finished.
Let me help you.
Nobody can help me.
You're still thinking like a junkie.
Fine.
Go ahead, kill him.
Show me you're still a murderer, too.
Gun! Let's go see your daughter.