Andy Abbott was an Assistant District Attorney with the Bronx District Attorney's Office. He was the prime suspect in the murder of his colleague and secret lover Jeff York.
Background[]
Andy was romantically involved with his fellow ADA Jeff York, despite having a wife named Mary Ellen and two daughters. At some point, he became infected with HIV, which he caught from Jeff who was positive himself for years. Because of this, he unknowingly transmitted the STD to his wife.
Lowdown[]
One night, Jeff got fed up with living in secret and tried to convince Andy to come out and leave his family, so they could be together. Andy refused because he loves his family and murdered Jeff after the latter threatened to oust him as gay. Andy proceeded to strangle Jeff and leave his body in the car while taking his belongings.
When SVU start investigating the murder, Andy feigns ignorance and grief to the matter, stating he did not know who would want Jeff dead. SVU eventually deduced that Andy and Jeff were romantically involved when it was discovered that Andy also had HIV.
When he is brought in, Andy is under the belief that they were looking into other cases that Jeff was involved in. After he discovers the ruse, he refuses to answer any questions and after seeing they have no evidence against him besides his STD he leaves. When A.D.A. Casey Novak illegally informs Andy's wife of his affair and the fact that he has HIV, Novak faces disciplinary action for her actions once Andy catches wind of this.
At Rikers, Andy's wife Mary Ellen approaches him with Novak while his attorney is angered at this, believing Novak is badgering her but Andy's wife reveals she invited her there. She tells Andy about her HIV and how she can forgive him for his secrets but can't forgive him for the other events if he doesn't own up to what he did because their family could not bounce back from a trial. Breaking into tears, Andy confesses to everything while saying Jeff wanted him to leave his family to be with him and admit his sexuality, but Andy loved them too much to do that, which led to the murder. Novak offers up a deal and states the details of the case will remain sealed as long as Andy agrees to first-degree manslaughter in which he does seven years. Andy complies and his attorney tells Novak that he'll drop the disciplinary action without even being asked.
He is subsequently imprisoned for the murder.