Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode 14.12 Criminal Hatred

The detectives track a vicious criminal who preys on closeted gay men with secrets to hide.

Benson and Amaro arrive at the scene of the crime to find that their culprit has struck again. Back in the squad room, the detectives review the evidence: so far, three victims have been identified, but all of them are reluctant to testify in court against their attacker due to the secrecy surrounding their homosexual tendencies. Benson and Amaro visit Charles Murphy in the hospital, but Murphy won't talk for fear of blowing his cover.

Fin and Rollins discover that one of Murphy's credit cards was stolen. They head to a local head shop where their missing suspect bought a water pipe with Murphy's card. The head shop owner reluctantly agrees to cooperate and heads to the police station to help the detectives draw up a sketch of the suspect.

While performing another sweep of the nightclub, Rollins and Fin talk with a man who almost spent the night with their suspect. The man gives them a detailed description of the suspect and tells them that he just left with another bar patron. They track the potential victim to a nearby hotel, only to discover that he has been murdered. Their assault investigation has officially become a murder investigation.

Benson and Amaro visit Charles Murphy at his home in an attempt to convince him to testify against his attacker. Murphy is reluctant. He knows that his cooperation will blow his secret and destroy his entire life. Murphy tells the detectives that he recognized his attacker from a local strip club. Fin and Rollins head to the strip club and procure a name and address from the club's owner.

Fin and Rollins track down Jeremy Jones at his apartment, where he is hanging out with his husband. They place him under arrest, but Jeremy's husband believes he's innocent. He tells the detectives that Jeremy has sexual rendezvous with women who shower him with gifts. The detectives tell him that Jeremy assaults men and steals valuables from them, but Jeremy's husband refuses to believe it.

Charles Murphy agrees to participate in a line-up to identify his attacker, Jeremy Jones. Jeremy's lawyer, Counselor Efron, shows up to keep tabs on the investigation. Efron is a cheap lawyer, but she still knows her stuff. She tells the detectives that the testimony from Jeremy's husband is inadmissible in court, and she's right. They'll have to figure out another way to pin the murder on Jeremy.

In court, Barba tries to charge Jeremy with hate crimes, since all of his victims were gay men. Barba may not be able to pin the murder on Jeremy, but he can certainly increase his sentence for assault if he labels the acts as hate crimes. After some contention from Efron, the judge decides to throw out the hate crime charges.

The detectives track down the wife of Jeremy's murder victim, and they discover that her husband was killed on the night of his anniversary. Amaro begins to put the pieces together: all the items that Jeremy stole from his victims and presented to his husband as gifts were in fact anniversary gifts for his victims' wives.

The detectives trace the financial activity of their murder victim and discover that he purchased a platinum bracelet as an anniversary gift for his wife. Jeremy later presented the bracelet to his husband as a gift. Now, the detectives have established a tie between Jeremy and their murder victim.

Back in court, the jury has been deliberating for three days. Eventually, the jury decides to convict Jeremy for wrongful imprisonment, but Barba's assault charges don't hold up. Jeremy thinks he is getting off easy, but Benson and Amaro stop him before he can leave the courtroom and arrest him for the murder, citing the bracelet as evidence. Jeremy realizes that his husband betrayed him, but it's too late. He's placed under arrest, and the detectives finally get their man.