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"Soulless"
SVU, Episode 4.25
Production number: E3127
First aired: 16 May 2003
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Stabler Benson Soulless
Written By
Dawn DeNoon & Lisa Marie Petersen

Directed By
Chad Lowe

After a rape victim is abducted from the hospital and later found murdered, the detectives discover that one of the multiple suspects is a psychopath with a juvenile conviction for rape, torture and murder.

Summary[]

A rape victim is brought into the hospital one night with a bar stamp on her hand, and when Detective Benson tries to interview her, she insists that she wasn't raped after all and that she was drunk. A short time later, the nurse announces that the rapist snatched the victim from the hospital. The victim is later found deceased and one of the suspects involved in her death turns out to be a sociopath with a history of murder.

Plot[]

A rape victim, Chloe Dutton, is brought into the hospital one night with a bar stamp on her hand, and when Benson tries to interview her, she insists that she wasn't raped after all and that she was drunk; then she refuses to accept Benson's help. A short time later, the nurse announces that the rapist snatched Chloe from the hospital. The detectives locate the bar that the stamp is from, and they find that the ID that Chloe used to sign in belongs to Jenna Sterling.

It is discovered her sister Vienna stole her ID and that it was used by Chloe to get into the bar. Chloe's murdered body is found washed up on a riverbank and Warner determines that she was drowned in a toilet and gang-raped by four people. Checking the hospital's phone records, its determined that Chloe called Vienna and a flurry of phone calls went between her and three boys named Andrew, Seth and Davis who the squad figures to be three of the rapists.

After letting Seth go to Washington D.C. and arresting him as a suspect for a crime committed there, the detectives are able to take his DNA thanks to Virginia law and he is proven to be one of the rapists and quickly turns on the other two, making a deal. The other two confess and make deals, saying another young man named Max Van Horn got them in on the rape after Chloe passed out and they were too drunk to realize what was going on.

Benson and Stabler arrest Max, whose real name is Mitch Wilkens and is a parking attendant they encountered earlier in the case. He claims the other three pulled him in on the rape, he was just trying to fit in and Seth is the killer. Evidence is found that apparently proves this fact and Seth is put on trial, but a woman named Mrs. Leggatt approaches them and fingers Mitch as the killer.

According to her, Mitch, who, at the time, went by another alias: Eric Wayne Proctor, brutally murdered her son when he was ten and her son was three, and he was tried as a juvenile and his record was expunged after he got released three years before. Once confronted, Mitch is very arrogant about things and believes that he is untouchable. His mother is in denial about his actions until Benson realizes that a bracelet she is wearing is the same Chloe is wearing in the hospital security photo.

Afterward, Mitch's mother testifies against her son, no longer able to deny what she has known deep inside all along. She begs the judge and jury to convict and the jury finds Mitch guilty of Chloe's kidnapping, rape, and murder. Benson and Stabler confront him as the brownstone apartment he lives in once belonged to an elderly woman named Emily Owens with no family or friends, and Owens is missing, leading them to believe he may have been responsible for her disappearance. They try to convince him to tell them where she is, but he has no knowledge of her whereabouts and leaves for death row.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Vera Galeano: I comply with all codes. Even this new, pain-in-the-ass no smoking ban. See?
Benson: I think the Liquor Board might be more interested with how many patrons are rolled out of here with acute alcohol poisoning.
Vera Galeano: I don't know anything about that.
Stabler: Lady, you've got your own ambulance waiting for them outside.
Benson: I wonder how many girls leave here with GHB in them? You know, a date rape drug isn't taken voluntarily.
Vera Galeano: I know clubs have had people die in the time it takes to call 911. That's why I go that extra mile to protect my clients.
Stabler: You did a piss-poor job of protecting this one.

Jenna Sterling: I haven't been to a men's room since Daddy dragged us to Hong Kong and my Cantonese was still choppy.

Kracker: Chill, y'all! I gotta lay it down when I'm chillin'. Ya know what I'm sayin'?
Munch: Not a single word.

[Talking to Vienna, the girl who last saw the victim]

Stabler: You were at AirBar with her.
Vienna Sterling: No I wasn't.
Benson: Really?
[grabs Vienna's hand and shines UV light on it to reveal an elephant stamp]
Vienna Sterling: What are you doing?
Benson: Well, Elephant says you were.
Stabler: And they never forget.

[about Chloe Dutton]
Cragen: Our girl still MIA?
Tutuola: She didn't show up for school yesterday, but apparently that's par for the course.
Cragen: Well, they didn't even bother to call the parents?
Benson: Her mother's out of town staying at some fat farm and the housekeeper said that Chloe's staying at her father's this week.
Stabler: Her father, Phillip Dutton is across town in merger negotiations. His assistant's trying to get word to him, but he swears it's the mother's week.
Cragen: Let me guess, an acrimonious divorce?

Benson: Look, all I'm saying is that this girl was raped and kidnapped, and nobody in her family even noticed.

[after Benson's card is discovered in the victim's mouth]
Benson: Please tell me this guy was stupid enough to leave his name.
Warner: No. Yours.

Benson: [to Stark after showing a picture of Chloe] Is this how you like it, you little freak?

Cabot: Doesn't put them in the men's room.
Cragen: Three words, Alex: Max Factor heir. These kids have the means to flee the country.

[Arresting a suspect in Virginia]
Munch: Your car is ready, Mr. Walford.
Tutuola: Traffic's light and it's a fine day for an extradition.
Seth Wolfford III: You. Set me up.
Munch: I assure you, a local bank was indeed robbed. And a guard was shot.
Seth Wolfford III: Wasn't me and you know it.
Munch: One of the perps was a six foot tall white man. Makes you a viable suspect.
Seth Wolfford III: That's bull.
Tutuola: That's racial profiling. Sucks, don't it?
Seth Wolfford III: This is insane, I'm innocent.
Munch: Well, maybe the bank job, but in accordance with the law, Arlington PD ran your DNA through the national databank.
Tutuola: And you're a dead match for one of Chloe's rapists.
Seth Wolfford III: You had no right to take my DNA!
Munch: Yeah, well, write to your congressman.

Andrew Kenworthy: You don't know Vienna. It's all about her.
Benson: Oh, what is it with you people? What is wrong with you? Do you have a conscience? You raped and killed a little girl!

Benson: You're either born with a conscience or you're not.
Stabler: No no no, it's all in how you're raised.

[as Seth's residence is being searched]
Wolfford III: You know, if you'd tell me what you were looking for, it'd save my maid a lot of work. Damn it, this is harassment! [to Fin] Give me that, you low-life piece...
Tutuola: Think long and hard about your next word, Seth. Harassing a police officer's a sure way to get that bail revoked.

[about Mitch Wilkens]
Stabler: [to Cabot] They couldn't publish the killer's name because of his age, but I'm telling you, it was the most gruesome murder in Bedford, New Hampshire's history.
Benson: We talked to the local police. They said that he was always a psycho. He's been collared five times for breaking and entering.
Stabler: His juvenile records were sealed and then expunged when he was released.
Cabot: When did he get out?
Benson: Three years ago when he was 19.
Stabler: He was supposed to be in there till he was 21, but he got out early for good behavior.
Benson: Of course he did because he's a sociopath. He gets a clean slate, a new name and then he moves here.
Stabler: Where he kills again.

Mitch Wilkens: Poor old thing, she got hate mail, death threats, people spit on her in the street. But she stuck it out there. Just to see me. Now that's love.
Benson: No, that's denial. You think that your mother can't be broken? You think you're in total control of her? You just watch me!
Mitch Wilkens: Bring it on, bitch. As I said, there's nothing to break, but do go easy on the old girl. I've put her through so much already.

[about Mitch]
Stabler: He ruined your life. You lost your job, your friends, your husband. You stood by him. He's murdered again.
Benson: Only this time, he dragged you into it. You perjured yourself, you obstructed justice and you could go to jail.
Sally Wilkens: I didn't lie. He didn't kill that girl.
Benson: Her name was Chloe. She was only 15.
Stabler: Of course that's five times older than his first victim.
Sally Wilkens: Eric was only a baby then. He didn't know what he was doing. He thought it was a game.
Stabler: A game? This is not a game. Your son is sick!

[about Chloe's death]
Benson: Mrs. Wilkens, a mother knows her son. Now you know that that's him, dragging her from the hospital to her death. Before he dumped her body into the river, he shoved her face into the toilet and he held it there until she was dead.
Stabler: That's how much regard he has for human life and when he gets out, he's gonna kill somebody else.

[about Mitch]
Sally Wilkens: There's no fixing him. He was born bad and he's gonna die bad. There's just... there's nothing anyone can do.

[after Mitch has been convicted]
Benson: This is a capital offense, Mitch. Looks like you're going away forever.
Mitch: Don't worry. I'll write.
Stabler: Well, we did a little digging. You don't own that brownstone where you were living. You never paid rent. You had no lease.
Benson: It's owned by an elderly woman called Emily Owens. No family, most of her friends have died, and we can't find her.
Mitch: Huh.
Stabler: Eric, everybody, including your own mother, believes that you are beyond redemption. That's not true. This woman deserves a proper burial. You know that's the right thing. Where is she?
Mitch: [confused] Gee, I don't know. I guess I'm going away for a while, so I should probably give notice.
Court Officer: Let's go.
Mitch: Do let me know if you find her.

Background information and notes[]

  • Archive footage from this episode was later re-edited for the Chicago Fire episode "We Called Her Jellybean", which was the first part of a crossover which continued with the Chicago P.D. episode "The Number of Rats" and concludes with the SVU episode "Daydream Believer".

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4

Fifth Avenue at 76th Street
Thursday, May 1

Sterling Residence
29 East 85th Street
Thursday, May 1

Arlington Police Station
Arlington, Virgina
Monday, May 5

Wilkens Residence
Weehawken, New Jersey
Monday, May 5

5 6 7

Rikers Island
Interview Room
Wednesday, May 7

Trial Part 35
Monday, May 12

Trial Part 35
Tuesday, May 13

Previous episode:
"Perfect"
"Soulless"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 4
Next episode:
"Tragedy"
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