Denise Cormier is the wife and accomplice of Edward Crandall, both being con artists in invalid marriages resorting to criminal attacks and setups.
History[]
Cormier and Crandall are Canadian con artists married in Mexico to not have easy records to track. In their latest scam, Cormier married Curtis Johansen and Crandall married Jessica Blaine under the alias of Edwin Todd. The couple secretly had an apartment where they coordinated their plans and called from each of their invalid spouse's homes when they had the opportunities. Johansen and Blaine's accounts would be liquefied discreetly without their notice, and the marriages were both meant as diversions and legal insurance to avoid investigation and prosecution. Crandall also made Blaine's maid move out to buy time and opportunity without suspicion.
To quicker extort the money they were after and add to their ruses, they hired Danny Ryan to change the locks of their spouses' homes and Cormier took semen from having sex with Johansen and claimed rape by a burglar, Johansen out on business trips to provide him an alibi and the diamond bracelet Cormier received as a marriage gift reported stolen. To leave Blaine physically incapable of her own investigation and by Crandall and Cormier time, Crandall left Cormier a key to break into the house with while he was out, and while Johansen was on another trip, Cormier beat Blaine and severely paralyzed her in an attempt to kill her, planting Johansen's semen on her thigh to make it look like another rape, stealing her Rolex watch in the process.
The maid's boyfriend is cleared as a suspect, but Ryan's arrested and arraigned in court when the jewelry's found in his toolbox. He's acquitted because the search was without a warrant, but by then, the semen doesn't match his DNA and Crandall's prints are on the toolbox, which he obviously lies about not handling and messes up his recollections of Ryan's routine at the house. His DNA doesn't match either, but they find the real Edwin Todd and soon suspect Crandall, and by default Cormier, even more.
Blaine and Johannsen are spoken to be Stabler and Benson, and Johannsen's convinced while Blaine's even less so, what with Crandall's attendance of her physical therapy sessions. Even after convincing the two of them, they can't testify at first because of spousal privilege when Crandall and Cormier confess to their respective illegitimate partners.
But when Cormier's and Crandall's marriage is revealed to have been in Mexico, the marriages to Blaine and Johansen are found void. In custody, when confronted, Cormier hisses at Crandall they should've gotten divorced, but Crandall vulgarly brushes her off and alleges she does less legwork than him.
Johansen and Blaine testify, leading to Cormier and Crandall being found guilty on all charges and imprisoned for life. (SVU: "Greed")