Lost Identity
"Here we go again," she said, standing up from her desk. Olivia Benson was a Special Victims Unit detective and caught creeps like these almost every day. Max Becker and Samuel Richards raped and murdered a 22 year old woman whom the detectives still had no idea who she was. The two perps beat her up so badly that even Dr. Melinda Warner could hardly fix the distortion of her face. Olivia was just about to interrogate the two when her cell phone went off. RIIIING! RIINNGG! "Hello?" she said. "Olivia? I need to talk to you. I think you might want to see this." It was Warner.
Once Olivia went into the autopsy room, she knew that there was no hope in finding out who this victim was. " I tried fixing the cuts and broken bones but there were too many," Warner explained. "So we'll never figure out who this girl is," Olivia said with a sigh. "Not exactly," said Warner. "I put her prints through the system, just in case, and it turns out that she was arrested for selling drugs in Queens." "Did you get her name?" asked Olivia." "Casey Stewards." Warner said.
Casey Stewards, thought Olivia as she was leaving the autopsy room. That name sounds familiar. Then, all of the sudden, she remembered. Casey Stewards was the girl Olivia helped off drugs two years ago. She was such a great kid, with a lot of potential. Olivia cried at the thought of someone hurting her.
Once Olivia got back to the squad room, she heard Elliot yelling at Max, or Samuel. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" she heard him scream. "AND YOUR GOING TO JAIL YOU PUNK!" Olivia ran up to the two-way window and stood next to Captain Cragen. "What's going on?" she asked. "Elliot's getting a little ticked, don't you think?" Cragen said with a smirk. "I wasn't here," Max exclaimed. "Ask my girlfriend." "You can count on it," Elliot said. He walked out of the interrogation room and slammed the door with a BANG!
"He's sticking to his story," he said. "I'll have Munch and Fin check his alibi." Cragen said. "Hey Olivia," Elliot said, now calmer than before. "Where'd you run off to?" "I went to see Warner." she answered. "She couldn't reconstruct the victim's face," she said. Elliot shook his head. "But Warner put her prints through the system and she found a match." "Who was it?" said Elliot. "Casey Stewards," said Olivia. "Isn't that the girl you helped a couple of years ago with her drug problem?" Elliot asked. Olivia nodded. Elliot sighed. "I hate my job sometimes," he said as they walked to their desks. "So, Munch and Fin went to check Max's alibi?" Olivia asked. "Yup, and now we interrogate Samuel….."
John Munch and Fin Tutuola came to Max's girlfriend Emily's house. KNOCK! KNOCK! No answer. KNOCK! KNOCK! The door finally started to open. They assumed it was Emily. "Emily Snows? We need to ask you a few questions." Munch asked. "No, I'm her best friend," she said. "And your name would be…" said Fin. "Erin." "Do you know where Emily is now? This is really important." Munch explained. "No, but she seemed upset before she took the late shift at work a few days ago." Erin said. "I think she had a fight with her boyfriend." "What makes you say that?" asked Fin. "She and Max yell at each other all the time. Last night she came to my house with a bruise on her face and asked if she could spend the night. I didn't ask her why, she almost broke down in tears. I was going to talk to her this morning, but she left before I woke up." "Do you know where she works?" Munch asked. "Yeah, the coffee place on 3rd Ave."
"Samuel, where were you last night?" Olivia asked. "I was out shopping," he replied. "My sister needed Aspirin." "Are you sure you weren't out with Casey?" Elliot asked. "Who?" said Samuel. "Don't play dumb with us." said Olivia. "I'm not," he argued. "I'm not," Elliot mocked. "You were out with Max and saw Casey and decided to rape her. You didn't want her to say anything, so you beat her up until she died!" He was practically screaming in his face. "NO!" he said. "I've never seen her before!" "Then where were you?" asked Olivia. "I told you, I went to Walgreen's to get some Aspirin for my sister!" Olivia and Elliot walked out of the room. "Shall we get us some surveillance tapes?"
Much and Fin came to The Coffee Shoppe and asked for Emily. "Oh yes," said one of the employees. "She's in the back. I'll go get her." "Thank you," said Fin. A few minutes later she came up to the two detectives and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Emily Snows. Can I help you?" "Yes, do you know how long your boyfriend was home last night?" asked Fin. "He left at around 10 and said he was going to hang out with Samuel, but I don't know what time he got back. I went and spent the night at my friend's house." Emily explained. "That's a nasty bruise," Fin said. "What happened?" "It was an accident," she said, looking worried. "Emily, if Max hurt you, you need to tell us," Munch said. "we got in a fight, and he hit me," she said. "He's really a good man, he was drunk." "Thank you," said Fin. Munch and Fin headed for the car. "Well, we know he was lying through his teeth," said Munch.
"Can we borrow your surveillance tapes?" Olivia said to the manager at Walgreen's. "Sure," he said as he went to get them. Olivia and Elliot went back to the squad room to take a look at the recordings. "OK, he comes in at 10:00 and leaves at 10:15." Olivia said. "Could he have met up with Samuel later?" Before Elliot could answer, Olivia's cell phone rang. "Benson." "Olivia? I got a time from when your victim died. She died at around 10:30 - 11:00 last night." "Thanks, bye." "That was Warner," Olivia said hanging up the phone. "She said that the victim was killed from 10:30 - 11:00 last night." "Let's go talk to Samuel's sister," said Elliot.
As they were about to leave, Munch and Fin came back. "Did you find anything out?" asked Cragen. "Emily says he left at around 10:00 last night," said Munch. "And he's been hitting her as well," said Fin. "She said he was drunk, but it was a really nasty bruise." "I'll get Novak here to get us a warrant." Cragen said. "Olivia, Elliot, go see if Samuel left after giving her the Aspirin."
"Amy, what time did your brother come home?" asked Olivia. "At around 10:15, why what happened?" "We believe he may have raped another women," Elliot answered thoughtfully. "Oh my gosh," Amy said. "He would never do that!" "Did he leave after he brought you the Aspirin?" Olivia asked. "Yeah, he said he was going to see one of his friends," she answered. "Is it this man?" Olivia showed her a picture of Max Becker. "Yeah, I saw him before, he hangs out with Samuel a lot." "Thank you," said Elliot.
Once they got back to the squad room they saw Casey Novak, the A.D.A., talking to Captain Cragen. "What do you have that I could charge a warrant with?" she asked. "We don't have the DNA results yet, but both of the perps alibis don't check out and police found them near the crime scene." said Cragen. "Get me the DNA results and their DNA, and we won't even need the warrant, but I'll try to get this warrant."
"What've you got for us?" Cragen asked Elliot as Casey started walking away. "Amy said that Samuel did leave to go see Max at around 10:30." "Now we need their DNA," said Munch. "I'll take care of that," said Elliot.
Olivia and Elliot went into the interrogation room in which Max was. They handed him a soda. He took it greedily, he hasn't drunken anything in a couple of hours. "Your alibi doesn't check out Max," said Olivia. "What do you mean? I was at home," he said. "That's not what Emily said. She said you left at 10." said Olivia. "She's lying." he argued. "No, you are," said Elliot getting mad. Max finished his soda and squeezed it had in anger. "Well, we'll find out once we get your prints off this can," said Olivia. "Thanks." "That was easy," said Elliot once he shut the door behind him. "On to Samuel."
"Soda?" Elliot asked Samuel. "No, thank you," he replied. "You sure?" "Yeah." "Samuel, Amy said you left at around 10:30," said Olivia. "Now, Casey was murdered at around that time." "I didn't do anything," muttered Samuel. "Was it Max's idea?" Olivia asked. "Or was it yours?" asked Elliot. "No, why won't you believe me? I want my lawyer now!" Cragen opened the door and said, "Olivia, Elliot, we got something." Olivia looked over at Elliot, hoping it was the DNA results. "The DNA wasn't' in the system," Cragen said. "But I sent Max's fingerprints and the DNA from the his sweat from squeezing the can to Warner." "Well, it's gonna be hard getting Samuel's DNA. He wants his lawyer now." said Olivia. "If we get him to confess, he's as good as gone," said Elliot. "Max wants a lawyer too," Munch said coming up behind them.
"Warner's got the DNA results," Fin said after turning off the phone. "It's a dead match." Olivia walked into Max's interrogation room with her hands in her pockets. "Things aren't looking so good for you," she said. "Your facing most of you life in prison. Your DNA matched." Was the Samuel's idea?" Max looked at his lawyer. "Go ahead and tell her, it can't hurt you any more," his lawyer told him. "Would I get a deal?" he asked Olivia. "We'll talk to our A.D.A about that," she replied. "Now, was it Samuel's idea?" "Yes," said Max. "We were walking down the street on the way to the bar and he saw that girl and grabbed her. Then, well, you know the rest." Olivia walked out of the room in disgust.
Meanwhile, Elliot was in the middle of talking to Samuel when Olivia came in. "Max told us everything," she said. "He said it was your idea. Now, tell us, was it?" "Don't say anything," said his lawyer. "Yes," said Max. "I told you, don't say anything." "I killed her, I freaked out. I didn't mean to . She aid she was gonna call the police. I'm sorry…" Max confessed. Olivia walked out and saw Casey Novak outside. "Think you got your case?" she asked. "He's dead meat," Casey said.
"People vs. Samuel Richards, how do you plead?" "Not guilty," Samuel replied. "The people call Max Becker to the stand," Casey said. "Now, you reported to police that it was Max's idea?" "Yes," he replied. "And how long have you known the defendant?" "For a couple of years now," Samuel said, getting a little nervous. "Has Samuel talked about doing anything like this before?" Casey asked. "No, it was a shock to me that he would grab her," Samuel said. "Nothing further."
"The People next call the defendant, Samuel Richards, to the stand," Casey said. "You went to the drug store at 10 last night and came home at around 10:15, is that right?" "Yes," he replied. "And you sister, Amy says that you left at around 10:30, is that also right?" "Yes." "Did you kill Casey Stewards?" "No," he said. "Didn't you tell the police: 'I killed her, I freaked out?'?" Samuel didn't reply. "Your Honor…" said Novak. "Answer the question," the judge demanded. "Yes," Samuel replied slowly. "Nothing further.
"How do you find the defendant on the count of rape and murder?" said the judge. "We find the defendant…guilty."