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"Dominance"
SVU, Episode 4.20
Production number: E3123
First aired: 4 April 2003
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Dave Duethorn Fin Dominance
Written By
Robert F. Campbell & Jonathan Greene

Directed By
Steve Shill

Several couples are beaten, raped, and murdered. The body count rises fast so homicide Detective Duethorn teams up with SVU to catch the spree killer.

Summary[]

When an engagement celebration dinner ends in sexual assault and a gruesome quadruple homicide, the search is on for a violent killer looking for revenge through the domination of his victims.

Plot[]

A couple on their way to their friend Evan's dinner party argues about why they're late. They walk inside and discover the entire dinner party is dead. Homicide Detective Duethorn calls in Stabler and Fin. They examine the crime scene and discuss possibilities. The medical examiner exclaims that the men were also raped, not just the women, In the medical examiner's office, Warner says that the DNA suggests the perp forced the men to rape the women and then each other before killing them. Back at the precinct, Huang gives some insight and confirms the suspect will likely kill again.

After confirming that there was a missing party guest, Fin and Duethorn talk to Evan's father Earl to identify the missing guest, Paul Dumont. The editor at the magazine company Paul works for says he received a call from Paul's mother that he was in an accident and is at the hospital. The doctor is suspicious of the circumstances of his accident and says Paul's injuries are more consistent with an attack and not a drunken fall like the responding officers thought. Fin says Dumont was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and the perp attacked him to gain access to the house. Munch gets off the phone and says 2 more bodies were discovered at a park, just like the attacks at Evan's dinner party. Duethorn says they have a spree killer on their hands.

At the precinct, Olivia says the hospital called and Paul Dumont died. Huang suggests that the killer is taking trophies of sentimental value because he has a poor home life. Duethorn and Fin revisit the crime scene at the park and have trouble finding witnesses until a woman comes up to them on the sidewalk saying she saw a man and a woman standing next to a car and saw the man in the drivers seat follow the couple into the park. She remembers the color and the last two numbers of the license plate. At the precinct the woman is working with someone to identify the make and model of the car. She confirms it is a Contour and Fin finds the car because it was reported stolen.

The car belongs to Al Baker, a building superintendent. Fin and Duethorn ask him about the circumstances of the cars theft. They say they'll keep investigating and get back to him. In the hallway they catch up with Al's sons Charlie and Billy and ask about the car but Charlie and Billy don't seem to care about it. Fin receives a call, they found the car and 2 more bodies. This time 2 men. Cragen thinks the perp got spooked and left in his victims car, an SUV. They find out that one of the victims had 2 women with him, who are missing. At the precinct, Stabler receives a call saying that the lab found something. At the crime lab, the tech tells Fin and Duethorn the perps shoe size and height and type of boot he's been wearing. She also tells them she found traces of metal shavings and lumber which suggests the perp works around home improvement items on a daily basis. The lab tech then receives word that the missing SUV was found with a drunk man sleeping inside of it.

Back at the precinct, Olivia gets a description of the suspect from the drunk found in the back of the missing SUV. They go to a home improvement store and find out that one of Al's son, Billy works there. They deduce that the Contour was never stolen, Billy just took it and then ditched it in the park when he no longer needed it.

They get the car back to the Bakers and stake out their home. They follow Billy to an ATM where they find him using a stolen ATM card. They get a warrant to the Baker's home and Charlie says that Billy has been spending a lot of time in the basement. The detectives search the basement and find the trophies and the boots.

In the interrogation room, Fin and Duethorn confront Billy with the evidence. Duethorn is trying to get him to tell them where the girls are but he just wants to see his brother. Charlie goes in to talk to Billy. Charlie tells Billy that the cops want to know where the girls are but Billy says he can't. Charlie then tells Billy to do the right thing, be strong and be a man and that he's always there for him. Charlie leaves the interrogation room and apologizes for not being able to get anything out of him. Cragen comes in right as Charlie leaves and says they found 2 more bodies.

They examine the crime scene and notice that the MO is way off and think it may be a copycat or a partner. Duethorn confirms the partner theory by checking the footprints which suggest the perp walked with a limp, just like Charlie. Fin and Duethorn go to talk to Al to try and find Charlie. Al points them in the direction of Charlie's girlfriend Marie who turns out to be his ex-girlfriend. She says she broke up with him 6 months ago because he was weird and Charlie asked her to have sex with his brother. At one point, they had a threesome that turned into a twosome with just Charlie and his brother. This news horrifies detectives as Marie reveals Billy didn't want to, but Charlie forced him. Al came in and caught them but Charlie threatened to kill them all if they ever told anyone.

They question Al and Al confirms that Charlie raped Billy and that Charlie has been beating him. Al also points the detectives to an empty apartment in his building where he thinks Charlie might be. The detectives get there and Charlie tries to run but they catch up to him and cuff him. Charlie callously says they'll "never find those bitches". Fin and Duethorn are interrogating Charlie, trying to get him to tell them where the girls are. But Charlie won’t budge until Al and Billy enter the interrogation room. Al, Fin, and Duethorn tell Billy that Charlie set him up by planting the evidence in a place that would incriminate Billy. Billy does not buy it initially but after convincing he feels betrayed by Charlie who tries to silence his brother while Billy tells the detectives that Charlie forced him to do all the things and he tells the detectives where the girls are: a water tower on the roof of their building. With this, Fin quickly leaves the room to go find them.

At the water tower on the roof, the women are rescued and the paramedics said they were lucky to be found or else they would have froze to death the next day. Duethorn asks Fin what they should do now. Fin says "Go to the hospital, get their statements, get some sleep."

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

  • 20th Precinct
  • G & C Home Improvement Center
  • Hava Java Cafe
  • Parkplace Apartments
  • Tenafly, New Jersey
  • Daniel Braverman (victim)
  • Iris Braverman (victim)
  • Evan Briggs (victim)
  • Diane Combs (victim)
  • Adam Darling (victim)
  • Paul Dumont (victim)
  • Craig Fischetti (victim)
  • Dean McCarren (victim)
  • Claudia Smullen (victim)
  • Regina Valerio (victim)
  • Darlene Weston (victim)
  • Russell Weston (victim)
  • Melissa Ziman (victim)
  • Son of Sam

Quotes[]

Duethorn: Yo, Lucates. Take this couple up to Homicide and have Kroling get their statements, alright?
Stabler: [walking from behind] Detective, Missed dinner with my wife and kids; this better be good.
[they begin walking to the home]
Duethorn: Two naked women; fluids everywhere; both raped and shot in the head.
Tutuola: That's our bread and butter.
Duethorn: So, I guess the two head-shot naked guys with them are nothing special, right?
[they enter and Stabler looks back at Fin as a response to Duethorn's statement]

Duethorn: What do y'think?
Stabler: Looks like the party from hell.
Duethorn: Dinner party, to be exact.
Tutuola: With an orgy for dessert.
Duethorn: Except they never made it to the appetizer. [points] Dining room table's still set. And check that out.
Stabler: [reads] "Happy Engagement; share wonderful lives together." There's no signature; who's the unlucky couple here?
Duethorn: Evan Briggs and his fiancee Melissa Ziman. Other two are Dean McCarren and Regina Valerio. The couple who found them made the IDs. Evan and Melissa invited some grad school friends over to celebrate.
Tutuola: Not the type of evening you expect to turn into a sexual free-for-all.
Duethorn: I'm thinkin' home invasion. Doorbell rings, victim opens door, wacko busts in and robs 'em.
Tutuola: You got four victims. Got to be at least two perps.
Stabler: What did they take?
Warner: All the victims' jewelry. Marks on the men's wrists indicate they wore watches. The women wore necklaces.
Duethorn: Their wallets and IDs are also gone, along with Ms. Ziman's two-and-a-half carat engagement ring. The couple who found them told me she got it last week. Oh, and there's something else, right, Doc?
Warner: [bent down by a body] Both men were beaten, probably with the business end of an automatic.
Tutuola: Something must have set them off.
Stabler: Pummeled the men and raped the women.
Warner: Not just the women.
Duethorn: Excuse me?
Warner: [turns to look at Duethorn] The men were raped, too.

Tutuola: Ready for this? We're looking for one perp. Lab found a bunch of bloody footprints all made by the same pair of shoes. And I checked VICAP; nobody's active with a similar M.O.
Cragen: It's hard to believe this sadistic son of a bitch just suddenly popped up on the radar screen.
Dr. Huang: Guy like this was probably in the system before. Sexual assault, rape, burglary, maybe a few street holdups.
Duethorn: Pretty big step from there to making four people sodomize each other and then whacking them. What set 'em off, doc?
Dr. Huang: Probably one of the victims said or did something to challenge his masculinity. The sodomy was to humiliate them. Killing them was the ultimate power trip.
Munch: Is this nut job gonna hit again?
Dr. Huang: If he is a sadist, he enjoyed it, and he'll want more.

Tutuola: We got six murders in two days. Dumont dies, that makes seven.
Duethorn: We got ourselves a spree killer.

Benson: Add Paul Dumont to the loss column. Hospital called; he died an hour ago.
Cragen: Seven victims. Except for Mr. Dumont, they were all robbed, sexually assaulted, and then shot. Both scenes were within twenty blocks. This guy has killed as many people in two days as Son of Sam did in four months. Now, you all have your assignments. Let's get this guy.

Dave Duethorn: This city's a three-ring circus, and SVU's the freak show.
Odafin Tutuola: And you want to be the ringmaster.
Dave Duethorn: I want to know what makes them freaks.

Odafin Tutuola: You had a threesome?
Maria: Yeah, until it became a twosome... and I wasn't one of the two.

Charlie Baker: You told them where I was. You bastard! I'll kill you!
Al Baker: I should have killed you. For what you did to Billy.
Charlie Baker: Billy hates you more than I do!!

Background information and notes[]

  • This episode was originally scheduled to air on March 28, 2003.
  • This episode opens with an advisory for adult content.
  • Detective Deuthorn mentions that he's from Yonkers during a conversation. Erik Palladino was in fact born and raised in Yonkers, New York.
  • Detective Deuthorn spent five years in the 48th precinct as a patrol officer prior to becoming a homicide detective.
  • Jason Ritter is the son of television legend John Ritter, who appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Monogamy."
  • Based on the "Wichita Massacre" in Kansas in 2000 where the Carr Brothers killed 5 people.
  • The scar on Al Baker's head changes throughout the interrogation scene between him and the Detectives.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Residence of Earl Briggs
113 West 86th Street
Tuesday, March 18

Parkplace Apartments
220 Central Park West
Thursday, March 20

Central Park
Thursday, March 20

G & C
Home Improvement Center
107 Amsterdam Avenue
Friday, March 21

Hava Java Cafe
2023 Broadway
Saturday, March 22

Previous episode:
"Appearances"
"Dominance"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 4
Next episode:
"Fallacy"
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