Daniel Lester is a carpenter who works for Granville Developers, a company that is run by his girlfriend's mother, Rose Granville.
History[]
According to himself, his father was a carpenter who struggle to make ends meet while raising six kids. Because of this, Daniel decided to work hard after being a troubled youth, having a rap sheet of assault but most of the charges were dropped.
Soon Daniel was engaged to marry the wealthy Melinda Granville and it became clear that his future mother-in-law didn't want one of his ex-girlfriends to ruin their happiness; Annika Bergeron became pregnant with her and Daniel's child, but decided not to inform him after the break-up. Annika had mention her pregnancy to Melinda, who in turn told her mother. Rose became convinced that Daniel would leave Melinda for Annika and the baby, and that they would take the Granville's family capital with them, so she set up an elaborate plan to frame Daniel for Annika's kidnapping. Rose hired an ex-con named Greg Jezic to kidnap Annika. Jezic had shared a cell with Sam Marlett during his time in Sing Sing. Sam turned out to be a friend of Daniel, whom he had helped to rebuild his life.
Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson interrogated Daniel about the kidnapping, and he made a false confession to the crime. However, they soon realized that he was lying to protect Melinda. To ensure he cooperated, Benson introduced Daniel to his daughter Celia, who was delivered before Annika died, and he was very happy to see her, quickly holding her. Benson then pressured Daniel into giving up the culprit, otherwise his baby will be alone.
When Daniel and the Detectives questions Melinda, she denied having a role in Annika's death but revealed she learned of the kidnapping at a late time. They soon realized that Rose was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder, with her reasoning being that she wanted Daniel to stay with Melinda to make sure her daughter was happy. Disgusted that she let a woman die for this, Daniel walked out on the pleading Melinda while her mother was being arrested. Daniel then left the precinct to raise his daughter, Celia. (SVU: "Tragedy")