Law & Order: Criminal Intent Episode 8.11 Lady's Man

Seven years ago BOZ BURMAN narrowly dodged a murder conviction thanks to the DA's bungled handling of the case. A born survivor, he parlayed his notoriety into a successful TV crime show. He has a lot to celebrate on his birthday, but when he washes up dead and castrated on the banks of the East River, Detectives Goren and Eames must track down a killer's killer.

Boz Burnam's murder brings the past into the present for Detective Eames, who worked the failed Burnam murder trial years ago. The DA who lost that trial, KEVIN MULROONEY, is also on the case, though now demoted to ADA. Goren notes that the evidence supports two criminal profiles: the clear shot in the head from a distance reflects a cool, practiced hand, but the rough removal of all of the genitals suggests an emotional and unpracticed psychology.

The detectives start their investigation by speaking with Boz's friends, MAX and CRAIG. They were supposed to meet Boz at dawn at Atlantic Beach for his annual birthday swim. But neither Max or Craig met Boz: Max headed to the emergency room following a crank call telling that his son had been in an accident, and Craig woke up in a hotel room after a failed one-night-stand. Both deceptions were carried out by a woman, and she becomes the detectives main suspect.

A visit to the crime scene suggests that the killer used a dune buggy to move the body. The detectives trace the rental and find that the likely killer, GABBY ROTH, paid for the rental using a credit card with the billing address the same as the home of Detective Eames.

The heat ratchets up further for Eames when Captain Ross wants to pull her off the case due to her history with the derailed Burnham trial. Eames realizes the request is coming from the DA's office and confronts Kevin Mulrooney.

Mulroony admits he was uncomfortable working again with Eames on the case. It becomes evident that he has feelings for Eames, and we learn that they were involved with one another during the trial. But when the trial went south, so did their nascent affair.

An examination of the motel room where Craig got stood up uncovers a red blouse that's uncannily similar to the one missing from Eames' closet. The detectives also find a piece of evidence that leads to a bar Eames knows from the time of the Burnham trial.

While Eames is hard at work, a fetishistic but obscured woman goes through Eames' lingerie.

Goren begins to think that the answer to this murder lies in the past. He dives into the evidence from the Burnham trial and confronts Eames with the issues that killed the case. Eames tells that she found a letter from Burnham's dead wife that pointed to Boz as her killer. The letter, she tells Goren, was found to be fraudulent and it was widely believed that Eames planted the letter. Goren also calls Eames out on her personal relationship with Mulrooney. She admits that they were briefly involved at the time, as it was her first case following the death of her husband. It was a particularly vulnerable time and Kevin was a good listener. Goren observes that the trial left Boz Burnham a national player hosting his own television show, while it wrecked the career of then-rising star DA Kevin Mulrooney.

A quick visit to Mulrooney's father confirms that Kevin had a special interest in Eames. It also tells that Kevin had an overly close relationship with his mother, who often brought gifts back from her native Ireland for Kevin.

Goren heads to the bar and buddies up with Mulrooney, who sits among female power lawyers. Goren comments on them and Mulrooney dismisses them as scared little girls hiding behind Versace. Goren works Mulrooney about the Burnham trial. Mulrooney confides that Eames' testimony lost the case for him. She would not corroborate a key witness testimony, because that witness had changed her statement several times. The testimonial was the lynchpin of the case and they lost big.

Goren examines all the evidence from the Burnham trial. He finds the critical letter Eames mentioned. It doesn't match any of the Burnham's stationery. In fact, it's written on paper imported from Ireland.

In the aria of the show, Goren brings down Kevin as an imposter who wrecked the Burnham trial with fabricated evidence. He also reveals Kevin as a cross-dressing killer who shot and then emasculated the man who ended his career. The women's clothes represented the aggregate of all the women in his life who had left their mark, his mother and Eames, and he used their clothing as a mean of drawing on their strength.