Law & Order: Los Angeles Episode 1.15 Hayden Tract

Against the backdrop of Hayden Tract's post-modern office buildings, State Senator Celeste Kelman stages a meet-and-greet with her constituents, near the headquarters for gaming company Helix 8, her last civilian job. She's just plugging the recent revitalization of the area, LA's Silicon Valley, when a man yells out, "What have you done with my daughter?" Multiple gunshots ensue. People scatter and hit the ground. Later, Sergeant Cobb explains that the lone gunman, a white male, killed seven people including Senator Kelman and 10-year-old Jenny. Morales orders all cell phones and video cameras gathered up as evidence, while TJ postulates that continuous shooting means the killer had an extended magazine.

The cops question survivor Phillip John, who's comforting his shell-shocked son. Phil describes what the shooter was wearing, which includes checkered skateboard shoes. The detectives return to RHD to watch several videos of the shooting. It looks like the gunman used a Glock with a 33-round mag, and a pair of checkered sneakers are seen leaving the scene through a nearby building. The head of security for the building explains that an unsecured maintenance closet serves as a shortcut to a fire exit. Security guard Darrell pipes up: a week ago, he found a messenger in the closet, claiming to be lost.

TJ and Morales proceed to B&C Westside Messenger to talk to dispatcher Hannah, who explains that John Freeman hasn't been into work in a week. She hands over a copy of his license in hopes the cops have good news for John about his missing daughter Ariel, who disappeared on her way to school. Her disappearance broke up John's marriage, and he was always handing out flyers. Morales can't find any record of Ariel in the national registry of missing children, but her name comes up on websites about missing children, indicating John traveled widely in search of her. TJ gets a hit - Freeman was picked up last month for trespassing at the Mormon Temple in West LA. A temple official tells them Freeman came looking for the people who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart, believing they might have his daughter.

Back at RHD, Morales gets word that the Salt Lake City police arrested someone outside the courthouse for approaching Elizabeth Smart's parents. It's John, but his real name is Lawrence Sheppard; and he's from Lodi, California, on record for the purchase of a Glock 26 three years ago. TJ and Morales team up with the Lodi police to check out the house, where they're met by Sheppard's sister Cindy and her two little kids. She hasn't seen her brother in eight months, but she does have surprising news. Larry doesn't have a daughter; he hasn't even had a girlfriend in the last 10 years. He was diagnosed schizophrenic in college and had a vasectomy in 2002. Since Larry may pose a threat to Cindy and her kids, Morales orders a watch on the house, warning her to let them know if she hears anything.

It turns out that Sheppard is a freelance programmer. A few months ago, he attended a business luncheon with the senator that was videotaped. During the Q and A, Sheppard asked a cryptic question about the encampment, a patch and degraded image rendition. The audience was restless, but Kelman recognized a question about Shadow Hills and referred him to the helpline. Morales and Gonzales are clueless, but TJ knows they're referring to the interactive video game Shadow Hills, made by Kelman's old company Helix 8. An inquiry at the company reveals that Kelman was instrumental in developing the game. When Joy, the Helix 8 rep, realizes Kelman's murderer may be living the game, she doesn't want to say anything else without a lawyer. But when Morales explains that schizophrenia doesn't wait for lawyers, she loosens up...

Apparently Helix 8 had one rabid fan who was trying to get into the architecture behind Shadow Hills, eventually hacking past two levels of encryption and into their mainframe. Later, back at RHD, TJ opens an email from a contact at the DEA featuring photos of Cesar Vargas (Winters' murderer) at a barbecue in Caborca, Mexico. TJ focuses in on the hot young woman sitting next to Vargas, who has a distinctive skull tattoo on her shoulder. He writes back asking for a local contact, then slams his laptop shut as Morales approaches. TJ's found three messages on a Shadow Hills chat forum that could be from Sheppard, indicating he's still on the hunt. And he seems to have a fan. Sam2U is full of encouragement and offers of help. Having tracked the hack attempt at Helix 8, Morales wonders if Sam2U might hail from the same IP address in Fontana.

TJ and Morales find young, somewhat damaged Samantha in Fontana. She claims to be a computer dummy, but cracks easily, claiming she did nothing other than support Sheppard in his search for his daughter. She begs them not to stop his search because they don't know what it's like for Ariel. Morales immediately asks if Samantha was abducted. She was - kept in a cabin for two years - and no one came to rescue her. When Morales tells her the truth about Sheppard, Samantha agrees to set up a meeting. That night, a cop disguised as Samantha waits for Sheppard in a desolate parking lot. Sheppard catches on quick, backhands the cop and makes a run for it. When TJ and Morales catch up to him, he puts his gun to his head, but Morales talks him down, convincing him to stay alive to find Ariel.

In arraignment court, a young public defender is just entering a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity for Sheppard, when high-profile TV lawyer Max Hearn blows into court to take over the case. If Sheppard doesn't want to say he's insane, he doesn't have to plead that way. Dekker announces he'll be seeking the death penalty, so the judge requests a 1368 exam to determine Sheppard's competence to stand trial. After the judge decides to hold Sheppard without bail, Hearn saunters over to taunt the DDAs - Sheppard didn't shoot anyone, stay tuned. Shocked, Rubirosa insists NGI was the right plea, as Morales arrives with more bad news. The Glock Sheppard was carrying wasn't the same one he bought three years ago. Rubirosa doesn't see the problem, but then again, she's never experienced Max Hearn.

Over the weekend, TJ drives to Mexico with his own Glock on the front seat, hidden under a map leading to Caborca. On edge, he meets with a man at a sketchy cantina, who sets up a meeting with Lucia, the woman in the photo with Vargas. Apparently Vargas shot up another birthday party, killing her parents. Satisfied that he's "serious," she leaves TJ with her number - when he's ready, he should call. Meanwhile, Hearn has wasted no time, telling reporters that the DAs have the wrong gun, and Sheppard's just a patsy. Rubirosa's disgusted by Hearn's exploitation of his client, but Dekker reminds that insane people can commit crimes for sane reasons, which disqualifies them for the insanity plea. Their job is to keep Sheppard off the streets by any legal means possible.

Rubirosa visits Dr. Rice at the medical unit at Chino State Prison to ask more questions about his report, which declared Sheppard competent to assist in his own defense. Sheppard's clearly paranoid schizophrenic, but whether he fits the guidelines for the insanity plea depends on motive - which wasn't within the scope of Rice's investigation. When Rubirosa asks about what kind of treatment Sheppard will get in state prison, Rice takes her to the group therapy room, which is filled with cages, shielded with plastic sheets. Group therapy in prison consists of playing "Kumbaya" for an hour while trying to stay out of range of spitting and urination. If Sheppard's found not guilty by reason of insanity, he'll go to Patton State Hospital, where he would actually get proper treatment.

At the preliminary hearing, Hearn disrupts Morales' testimony about the shooting, claiming the people's case has more loose ends than a shag rug. After Hearn refuses to change Sheppard's plea, the judge decides to proceed to trial. Rubirosa's appalled that Hearn isn't acting in his client's best interest and suggests making a proffer, but Dekker refuses to interfere. Outside the courthouse, Rubirosa finds a worried Cindy, who explains her brother's state of mind. If people think he's crazy, they won't look for Ariel. Rubirosa advises Cindy to talk to her brother and get a second opinion. The DA's office would be open to a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity; that way Sheppard would get treatment in a hospital where he couldn't hurt anyone. Later, Dekker finds out about the offer and hits the roof. How dare Rubirosa make a proffer without consulting him? Is she a loose cannon?

Two Latino thugs lay in wait for TJ in his parking garage. Reacting quickly, TJ kills the first guy with two shots, then has a prolonged battle with the second. Finally, TJ gets the guy in a chokehold... which he's about to push all the way. At the brink, TJ pulls back and handcuffs the guy to his car. It's not long before Gonzales, Morales and a bunch of teams are on the scene. Apparently, the thugs were planning to abduct TJ, per the duct tape, plastic ties and secret compartment in their car. Both Gonzales and Morales have an inkling that TJ's after Vargas. Morales is just trying to force a confession when TJ panics, finding Casey's address in one of the thug's wallets. TJ and Morales rush to Casey's house to warn her to leave town immediately. By way of explanation, TJ says, "I started something... I have to finish it."

Back in court, Sheppard has changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, much to Hearn and Dekker's disappointment. But Dekker's got a trick up his sleeve and gains permission to question Sheppard about his plea, planting seeds of doubt. When he tries to force Sheppard to admit he doesn't have a daughter, the judge steps in, calendering the trial until Sheppard can have a complete psychiatric evaluation. Rubirosa's upset with Dekker's course, but he's hell-bent on keeping Sheppard out of the mental hospital, since eventually he'll be released. Citing People v. Stress - Sheppard is insane only if he acted in the sincere belief that shooting people would rescue Ariel - Dekker acknowledges that burden of proof is now theirs. Thus he's putting Rubirosa in charge of their team of experts. If they can convince a loose cannon like her that Sheppard wasn't motivated by insanity, they should be able to convince a jury.

Later, Rubirosa watches a tape of Sheppard's examination with Dr. Rice. Sheppard claims that despite the danger to his own life, "they" were going to sell his daughter Ariel as a child bride, which he learned from clues in the Shadow Hills game. The clues also told him that Kelman's death would set the children free. According to Sheppard, Ariel's mother almost lost her in the second trimester; she had to have an IV alcohol drip to stop labor. Rice stops the tape, pointing out that Sheppard has articulated a motive. But Rubirosa's curious about the mention of the alcohol IV, which hasn't been used for 10 years - when Sheppard would have been in college in Northern California - and when he was first diagnosed with schizophrenia.

It's not long before Dekker and Rubirosa are in Portland, Oregon visiting with Sondra Miller, Sheppard's college girlfriend. Sondra really doesn't want to talk about him, but when Rubirosa hands her a flyer with Ariel's photo on it she's stunned. It's a photo of Sondra as a young girl, and Ariel was the name of their unborn child. When she got pregnant, she and Larry were talking about marriage until she almost miscarried, and his behavior started to change. After this crisis, he was never the same, and she knew she couldn't be tied to him for the rest of her life. She had an abortion, which made Sheppard furious. When he started writing letters threatening murder, she moved out of state. Dekker asks for a copy of the letters, hoping to show Sheppard shot Kelman out of anger for standing between him and his daughter, thus negating the insanity defense.

Later, the DDAs meet with Hearn and Sheppard at the county jail to show him a sonogram of Sondra's daughter Ariel at 18 weeks. When they bring up the abortion, Sheppard quickly flies off the handle, accusing Sondra of murder. Dekker reads one of Sheppard's letters threatening to "smash to dust" anyone who comes between him and his child, then starts stoking his anger for Senator Kelman. It doesn't take more than a poke for Sheppard to admit he killed her out of anger. Sheppard's yelling brings the guards, who drag him away, as he rants, swearing to find his daughter no matter what. Hearn can't deny that Dekker's made his point - any jury would give this man the death penalty. Hearn proposes a deal, life without parole. Dekker's about to say no, but he promises to think about it, telling Rubirosa to gather the survivors and their families together.

Dekker and Rubirosa meet with the survivors in the conference room; clearly, they're all still in the thick of their own hellish aftermaths. Dekker explains he can get life without parole for Sheppard without going to trial; but if they want the death penalty, there will be a trial, and some of them will have to testify. As a group, the survivors prefer to avoid trail. Later in court, Sheppard is sentenced to life without parole in front of the survivors. In the event that Sheppard ever comes up for release and in lieu of testimony from the survivors, Dekker asks permission for Coroner Nishizawa to read the autopsies of the victims into the record. Back at RHD, Gonzales notices TJ's empty chair. Morales claims he had sick days coming, but he's worried. His call goes unanswered as the camera closes in on TJ's cellphone, left behind in a Mexican hotel room.