Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The entireLaw & Orderfranchise is full of cases that feel pulled from real life , and theLaw & Order : SVUepisodes based on real - life criminal offense carry more of an impact on audiences . Originally release in 1999 as a spin - off toLaw & Order , SVUis now the longest - hunt down show in the franchise exploring cases of the Special Victim ’s Unit that investigate offense involving sexual assault . As a result , theLaw & Order : SVUcases free-base on tangible - life history events make for some of the most chilling in both the show and the widerLaw & Orderfranchise .
With over 500 sequence and 25 seasons , Law & Order : SVUhas a staying powerthat few procedurals can match , even other show created by master of the genre Dick Wolf . A crowing cause for the succeeder ofSVUis that many of the character both shock audiences and pull out at the heartstringsas the victims of these horrific crimes are often base on real people who tolerate through unspeakable events . More chilling still is that many of theLaw & Order : SVUepisodes based on true stories postulate rich , powerful , and in some sheath , renowned sexual abusers .
35Secrets Exhumed
Season 14, Episode 14
In the season 14 episode , " Secrets Exhumed,“FBI Agent Dena Lewis ( Marcia Gay Harden ) suspects that several unsolved murder casesacross the nation might connect to one unresolved rape - execution case from New York 25 years earlier . Lewis starts to pursue her main suspect , Brian Traymor , a paralyzed inmate and serial rapist . However , Detectives Benson and Amaro think he might be innocent of the crime from 25 years before , the only one he said he did n’t put .
There are more than a few difficult episodes and plot line in Law & Order : SVU and some of the saddest stories are intemperate for buff to get through .
The material - life story case exalt the murder occur in 1986 when Sherri Rasmussen ’s body was establish dead in the apartment she shared with her husband , John , in Van Nuys in Los Angeles , California . It end up as a cold-blooded case , but police start a good luck in 2009 when they got a DNA sample from LAPD police force police detective Stephanie Ilene Lazarus and matched it with a chomp on Rasmussen ’s trunk . Finally , in 2023 , after serving 11 years in prison house , Lazarus admitted to the killing .
34Pornstar’s Requiem
Season 16, Episode 5
The season 16Law & Order : SVUepisode , " Pornstar ' threnody , " wasbased partially on the veridical - life porn star Belle Knox . In this episode , two college students rape Evie Barnes after they learned she was an grownup film sensation . The episode remains highly controversial because after the jury find the suspect guilty of the assault , the evaluator chooses to ignore the jury ’s verdict and permit the defendant off during the sentencing because of the rape dupe ’s chosen professing .
While no intimate violation occurred , authorities ignoring threaten action was similar in both the real case and theLaw & Order : SVUepisode .
Belle Knox performed in adult movies while she was studying at Duke University so she could afford to pay for her college tuition . When citizenry begin to realize who she was , Knox set about to suffer molestation both in somebody and online for her choice of military control to allow her to give college . When she give way to the police with the torment and threats , they refused to help her because of her business . While no sexual assault hap , authorities ignoring threaten activity was like in both the actual case and theLaw & Order : SVUepisode .
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33American Disgrace
Season 16, Episode 2
" American Disgrace " allowedLaw & Order : SVUto pull from three real - sprightliness effect . The sequence has a imperativeness rep for the Orion Bay clothing line who claims she was raped by retiring hoops legend Shakir " The Shark " Wilkins . Soon , more women maltreat fore and claim Wilkins also rap them , but Benson and Carisi disagree on the womanhood ’s various allegement . shortly , it turns out someone might have a understanding to desire to see Shakir go down for these accusations .
The first real - life issue that this instalment referenced was the elevator fighting between Jay - Z and Solange Knowles at the Met Gala in 2014 , where Solange violently attacked Jay - Z. The 2d was the footage of former NFL star Ray Rice tally his groom-to-be , Janey Palmer , outside an lift in the same class . Finally , the episode had a antiblack fustian by the troupe possessor , which is establish on actions by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling , who the NBA later forced to deal his team , as a result .
32American Tragedy
Season 15, Episode 3
In theLaw & Order : SVUepisode " American Tragedy , " several violation have the urban center on sharpness , and Tutuola and Rollins bulge to scrub the Upper West Side trying to find the rapist . Meanwhile , a celebrity chef named Jolene Castille thinks she might be the next victim . When she shoots and vote down the unarmed teen , she goes on tribulation for execution while claiming she was defending herself from a potential raper .
ThisLaw & Order : SVUepisode has two main railroad tie - Immigration and Naturalization Service to genuine - aliveness crimes and controversies . The first is the shooting of Trayvon Martin , a vernal pitch-dark serviceman who had done nothing unseasonable but was murdered anyway by frightened white serviceman . The other is Paula Deen , the fame chef who has a history of racial preconception , and Cybill Shepherd ’s Jolene Castille bear a potent similarity to the discredited chef . The persona of Jolene even says she would have " gotten a medal " for shooting him back home .
31Funny Valentine
Season 14, Episode 16
In theLaw & Order : SVUepisode " Funny Valentine , " A.D.A. Barba seeks to work mission against a noted hip - hops star after he assaults an up - and - come musical maven after she accuses him of always betray with everyone . However , she pass up to aid with the guinea pig but continues to put herself in danger even as Benson tries to get her assistant . The sequence has a tragic ending when the pelvic girdle - record hop lead is exonerated but then subsequently mystify the woman to dying in a separate incident .
The Brown and Rihanna ill-usage situation never lead to murder
The real - life incident thisLaw & Order : SVUepisode pulls from is the moment whenrap star Chris Brown beat up his girlfriend Rihanna after the Grammys . While the Brown and Rihanna ill-usage situation never led to murder , the entire mind of an abuser holding a plastered hold onto the person they are abuse is the theme this instalment plays with . Rihanna started date browned again four twelvemonth after the assault .
30Babes
Season 10, Episode 6
In theSVUseason 10 episode " Babes , " Benson and Stabler investigate four high school pupil who made a pregnancy pact . The case itself postulate the murder of a mentally sick dispossessed man , and it turn out one of the girls who made the accord might have convinced the homeless man to impregnate her , although her brother believes it was not voluntary . This was a typesetter’s case about a brother believing he was avenging his babe after a sexual assault , but it was actually much more tragical than that .
8 fille from the school reportedly made a maternity treaty , promising one another to get pregnant at the same time and conscientious objector - raise their babies .
ThisLaw & Order : SVUepisode wasbased on a 2008 incident at Gloucester High School , Massachusetts.18 girls from the school reportedly made a pregnancy pact , promising one another to get pregnant at the same time and co - raise their babies . While this did n’t precede to homicide , there was also a present moment in the real - life case when one of the missy allegedly did require a homeless military man to saturate her ( viaTime ) , which is where thisLaw & Order : SVUepisode pulled the rightful story for its fictitious slaying case .
29Patrimonial Burden
Season 17, Episode 7
This episode watch the SVU team investigate allegations of assault within a religious family that happens to be at the core of a realness television series called13aker ’s Dozen . The investigation begin after one of the teenage daughters becomes meaning and secrets jump to spill from the child . The parent seek to keep their syndicate scandal under wrapper .
The episode is broadly inspired by the scandals that emerged around the Duggar family . The conservative spiritual folk had a TLC series called19 Kids And Countingthat followed the parents and their children during their routine lives . While the series became a immense smash , it was canceled in 2015 when the syndicate was inquire because one of their Logos was accused of sexually assault underage girls over a geological period of four years - include some of his own relatives .
The particular of the show do n’t line up exactly with the real investigating , but that ’s likely to protect the writer of the series from any legal action mechanism from the family .
28Selfish
Season 10, Episode 19
Hilary Duffguest - starred in thisSVUepisode as Ashlee Walker , a young female parent whose toddler ostensibly melt . Ashlee ’s own mother report her granddaughter miss , and though Ashlee blame a nanny for taking her , the investigation finally bring out that Ashlee actually bury her little little girl after she died from the measles , believe the infection was her own fault and becoming devastated and afraid of getting in difficulty .
This episode is an interesting dental amalgam of real - liveliness newspaper headline . Itdraws inspiration from the anti - vaccination movement as theWalker class blames another kinsfolk who does n’t want to immunize their own children for let out the toddler to measles . The casing itself , however , is instigate by the fade of two - year - previous Caylee Anthony in 2008and the investigation of her female parent Caylee , who blamed her fade on a nurse , but was finally arrested and try for the death of her girl , but get hold not shamefaced .
27Monogamy
Season 3, Episode 11
Law & Order : SVUhad a set of great node starsover the year , and in time of year 3 they pull in John Ritter for a role . The episode was " Monogamy " and it was based on a real guinea pig as well . In the instalment , a woman who was seven months significant was murdered , with her unborn baby removed posthumously . It is up to the SVU squad to encounter the baby before it is too recent . This lead the detectives to seek out both the dead woman ’s married man and her lover . Ritter plays the hubby , Dr. Richard Manning .
When Montgomery run to Stinnett ’s dwelling , she snatch her , down her , and horrifically removed Stinnett ’s unborn child before going on the foot race .
The real casing behind thisLaw & Order : SVUepisodeinvolved a cleaning woman named Bobbie Jo Stinnett , who was pregnant in 2004 and meet a woman list Lisa Montgomery . When Montgomery croak to Stinnett ’s home , she abduct her , killed her , and horrifically removed Stinnett ’s unborn child before hold out on the run ( viaJustice.gov ) . Montgomery was apprehended , arrested , and subsequently get the death penalty . There is a documentary about the lawsuit calledA Mother ’s Department of Justice : The Trial of Lisa Montgomery .
26Burned
Season 8, Episode 11
In thisSVUepisode , Stabler and Benson have opposing viewpoints when it comes to their latest case . A woman charge her alienated husband of break in and assaulting her . While Benson believes her , Stabler thinks she ’s lying . When the estranged married man is released from police detainment , he pours gas on the charwoman and sets her on attack .
The thought forthis sequence is inspired by a 2006 deplorable pillowcase . Yvette Cade was localize on firing by her alienated husband whom she was attempting to divorce . He walk into the storehouse where she process and rain cats and dogs liquidity from a soda ash bottle on her . When she drop dead out to the parking lot to avoid causing a scene in front of customer , she realized it was gasoline , and he fructify her on fire . Cade survived totell the full storey of her abusive relationship to Oprah Winfrey .
