Douglas Hagman is a funeral home owner in business with crematorium owner Russell Matthews who was killed by Matthews' cousin, Harry Rowan, Sr..
History[]
Doug ran his business with integrity and efficiency, always irritated by Matthews' lackluster performance an struggles to meet his deadlines. Doug also faced harassment by religious fanatics disgusted by his business of preparation and embalming of the deceased loved ones of his clients, which wasn't seen as purist.
When one of Doug's clients, Damon Tyler, delayed delivering his mother's ashes after Matthews presumably already cremated her, Doug pressed Matthews to speed up his efforts by persuading Damon. Matthews was secretly letting the furnace break down and become defunct, burying the dead people given to his business in the fields of his crematorium grounds. Fearing the scam would be ousted, Matthews ran to Rowan, who said he'd take care of it without specifying. How Rowan did so was strangling Doug and stabbing him postmortem with his embalming tools, leaving him on his prep table in cross position to pin the blame on the zealots.
When Matthews' cons were exposed, so was Rowan's guilt in Doug's murder. It was revealed Rowan was also a freelance hitman guilty of numerous other murders, which Rowan was caught for in a sting. Both Matthews and Rowan were arrested and imprisoned for their crimes. (SVU: "Dead")