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"Greed"
SVU, Episode 3.20
Production number: E2330
First aired (US): 26 April 2002
First aired (CAN): 26 April 2002
First aired (AUS): 4 July 2002
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Stabler Greed
Written By
Robert F. Campbell & Jonathan Greene

Directed By
Constantine Makris

Investigating the assault of the wife of a restaurateur during a robbery, leads the detectives to a similar assault, and to a locksmith.

Summary[]

The wife of a business man is found raped and bludgeoned on their kitchen floor. With Munch on jury duty, Fin is paired with Cragen while Benson and Stabler head the investigation. Uncovering similarities with a previous attack, the detectives first suspect a serial rapist. Soon, however, the evidence leads to an elaborate and sinister plot.

Plot[]

A woman is found by her husband raped and beaten. He tells Olivia and Elliot that he got home and found her lying in the kitchen floor, the alarm wasn't on and she didn't hit the panic button. Mrs. Todd's state is delicate and she is paralyzed in her right side and is not able to talk. The police suspects burglary gone wrong and ask Mr. Todd if anything from the house is missing, he says he can't find his wife's Rolex watch and doesn't remember if she was wearing it when she was found.

Captain Cragen and Fin question the maid and she tells them she doesn't quite like Mr. Todd, and that he made her move out the house after he married Jessica. She tells them her boyfriend took her keys by mistake and they immediately suspect him. They go to talk to Catarina's boyfriend and he tells them about a fight between Mr. and Mrs. Todd.

The DNA from Mrs. Todd matches another unsolved rape, so Olivia and Elliot go talk to the victim. Mrs. Johansen tells them she was already in bed when she was attacked and the attacker stole a diamond bracelet, but didn't hit her like Mrs. Todd. Elliot and Olivia discover that both houses had recently changed locks in the same locksmith. They interview the man who changed both locks and he claims he is innocent, but the lab matches his prints to the ones found in both crime scenes, the Johansen bedroom and the Todd kitchen. The police search the van he uses at work, Elliot finds the stolen watch and bracelet in Mr. Ryan's toolbox.

In the court, the evidence from the toolbox is suppressed because police searched it without Mr. Ryan's permission or a search warrant. Meanwhile the DNA report is back and it doesn't match Ryan's, so police suspects someone was trying to frame him. They get Mr. Ryan's permission to search the toolbox for prints and find Mr. Todd's prints in the diamond bracelet. They talk to Mr. Todd and he lies about touching in the locksmith's toolbox and about where the locksmith has been in the house.

Olivia and Elliot find out that Mr. Todd is a 72 year old man that hasn't been to New York in twenty years and never met Jessica. They find out that the fake Mr. Todd is scamming Jessica for her money and didn't run away yet because he didn't have all the money he needed. They suspect that Mrs. Johansen is involved in the scam too. Elliot and Olivia tell everything to Jessica but she doesn't believe them, they ask her if he has access to her money and she tells them only when she dies.

The police find a common telephone number in fake Mr. Todd's and Mrs. Johansen's phone records and go to the address, the neighbors recognize them from the pictures and say they are Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Captain Cragen gets a warrant and they search the apartment. They find a used boarding pass to Winnipeg under the couch cushions. They talk to the Canadian police and find out that fake Mr. Todd visited Canada a few times lately. Captain Cragen tells Elliot and Olivia to send the prints found in the apartment to the Canadian police to see what they can find out.

Fin points out that they still don't know whose DNA it is in both victims, since it doesn't match Mr. Ryan's or fake Mr. Todd's. Olivia says maybe Mrs. Johansen used her husband's DNA, since he would never be a suspect, police would never take his DNA to compare with and the case would never be solved. They tell all to Mr. Johansen and ask for him to give a sample of his DNA for comparison. The lab results confirm is Mr. Johansen's DNA in both women.

The Canadian police send the real identities of Mr. Todd and Mrs. Johansen and that they were both arrested and convicted for fraud. Olivia and Elliot try to convince Jessica that her husband planned it all to scam her and show her all the papers from the Canadian police but she isn't convinced. She says he confessed everything to her the night before and asked for forgiveness, and she forgave him. She says her husband's lawyer told her she could never testify about what he told her because she is his wife and conversation between spouses is privileged. Mr. Johansen too heard his wife confess to him and later got the call from her lawyer telling him he could not testify.

The police do some research and find out that Ed and Denise got married in Mexico before getting married to Jessica and Mr. Johansen, so their marriage to them is void and they both can testify against Ed and Denise. Ed tries to charm Jessica, but she doesn't fall for that anymore.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Benson: There's three fireplaces. Could have come in through the chimney.
Stabler: Maybe we should be looking for a guy in a red suit.

Munch: Captain, you got a second?
Cragen: What's up, John?
Munch: Bad timing. I got jury duty in an hour.
Cragen: And you're just telling me now? Get your ass down there. It's your civic duty, John. The Mayor can do it, so can you.

Danny Ryan: Hey, I don't know what you're talking about, but I swear, I didn't rape or beat anybody. I'm trying to become a lawyer. Why would I ruin my life?

Cragen: [about Danny Ryan] He'd make a good lawyer. He's got an answer for everything.
Cabot: I wish it was that easy.
Cragen: We're bringing the victims in for a lineup.
Cabot: Cancel it.
Cragen: Why?
Cabot: Neither of them saw their attackers' faces.
Cragen: We've heard that before. Then they come in, look at the lineup and remember more than they thought.
Cabot: And when the victims can't ID Ryan and we take him to trial, it's exculpatory evidence and he walks.
Cragen: Well, he's gonna walk a lot sooner if we don't come up with a reason to hold him. Jessica Todd barely survived. His next victim may not be so lucky.

Benson: Well, I've got coffee cups, candy wrappers, half-eaten sandwich... they should really think about cleaning this place out once every two years.

[after Danny Ryan's toolbox is excluded as evidence]
Cabot: Why didn't anyone call me?
Stabler: To tell you that we had permission to search the van? Would you have stopped us?
Cragen: Let's stop throwing blame around. We got screwed by legal maneuvering.

Stabler: Now, did I see Todd blink when I asked him about that toolbox?
Benson: Spooked him enough to make him admit that he touched it.
Stabler: And now he's saying Ryan went to the bathroom. This guy is telling so many lies, he can't keep them straight.

Jessica Blaine-Todd: I can't take care of myself. Edwin's waiting on me hand and foot. He's changed my diaper. He wouldn't do that if he didn't love me.

Tutuola: We still got a the problem with the DNA. It's not Ryan or Todd's.
Benson: If Denise faked being attacked, how did she have the DNA in her that showed up on the rape kit? By having sex with her husband.
Stabler: She takes the rest of his semen, plants it on Jessica, makes it look like the same guy raped them both.

Jessica Blaine-Todd: [about Edwin] He never meant for this to happen. He admitted he had had an affair with that woman, but he said it was over. He said she beat me out of jealousy.
Stabler: Mrs. Todd, they're in this together. This is not about jealousy. This is not about love. This is about stealing your money, and if you don't help us, they're gonna get away with it.

Denise Johansen: [to Edwin] I told you we should have gotten a divorce.
Edwin Todd: Shut up, you stupid bitch. You see, this is the last time I'm gonna take care of you.
Denise Johansen: It was all his idea.
Edwin Todd: And they can't prove any of it if you keep your trap shut.
Stabler: [to the attorneys] What's the matter, counselors? You didn't know they were married to each other?
Cabot: Unless you can produce divorce papers preceding your clients' respective weddings to Jessica Blaine and Curtis Johansen, it's as if those marriages never existed.

Edwin Todd: Uh, no. Her last name is Todd. Now you know my wife is ill. You have no right to bring her here. Hi, sweetie, you should be resting.
Jessica Blaine: Sit down, you bastard.
Edwin: You know what? This was all a mistake. Yes, I stole your money. She was only supposed to take your watch. You weren't supposed to get hurt. You're upset. We need to get away, just you and me, huh? Anywhere you want to go.
Jessica Blaine: The only place you're going is to hell.

Background information and notes[]

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

Apartment of
Katarina Dinov
200 West 104th Street
Tuesday, April 9

Restaurant Site
1513 Seventh Avenue
Wednesday, April 10

Chambers of
Judge Petrovsky
Thursday, April 11

4 5

Blaine-Holland
Investments
117 Lexington Avenue
Friday, April 12

Oceanside Rehab Center
102 East 38th Street
Saturday, April 13

Previous episode:
"Justice"
"Greed"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 3
Next episode:
"Denial"
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