Judson Tierney was a man who was once part of the Fedora Bandits, a pair of men who committed one of the longest strings of unsolved bank robberies.
Background
In the 1950s, Judson, then going by Jake, was arrested for burglary three times, though he never spent more than six months in jail on each charge. At some point, Judson married a woman named Lenore and began working as a locksmith. Lenore couldn't have children and Judson knew that he would never be able to adopt any with his criminal history. In 1971, Judson became part of the Fedora Bandits, two men who committed 21 armed bank robberies that were never solved. Though the Bandits were never identified, they were put on the FBI's Most Wanted List and remained there for 47 years. Judson's partner, Jack Colino, fathered a daughter named Sheila with Suzanne Mollinax, who they were both having sex with. However, Jack refused to leave his wife for Suzanne, who threatened to rat Jack out for the robberies if he didn't comply.
On February 10, Jack murdered Suzanne and called Judson to help him dispose of the body. However, when Jack decided to murder Sheila too, Judson killed Jack to protect the baby and hid his corpse and their money stash in a bomb shelter in his backyard. After Jack's death, Judson took Shelia in and forged her birth certificate to show him as the father. Judson told Lenore the truth about what he did, but Lenore forgave him in exchange for Judson keeping that part of his life a secret. Judson was never suspected for any of his crimes, while Suzanne's husband Mike was wrongfully convicted for her murder, though Judson never knew about this. Judson chose not to tell Sheila the truth about her family history as he felt it was better for her not to know.
In 1989, when Sheila was 18, Lenore died and Judson wanted her to remain nearby. As such, he wouldn't give her the papers Sheila needed to get a passport to go to Europe. When Sheila broke into Judson's strongbox to get the papers, she discovered her birth certificate, which listed Suzanne as her mother. Judson lied to Sheila, claiming Lenore couldn't get pregnant and he had an affair with Suzanne that led to her birth. As a result of this and her parents' emotional distance growing up, Sheila came to hate Judson, and they became estranged for the rest of his life. He would send Sheila a card each year on her birthday, apologizing and giving her $100 taken from his robberies. When Judson tried to visit his granddaughters at school, Sheila had him banned from visiting.
Scheherazade
Later in life, Judson developed terminal lung cancer. In his final days, Judson confessed his sins to Father Denis, who asked another member of his congregation, Detective Stabler, to speak with him. Judson, who originally thought Stabler had come to arrest him, agreed only to tell his story if Stabler could get Sheila to visit him. Stabler was unable to and instead got Detective Benson, who reminded Judson of Sheila, to join him. From the fingerprints on Judson's greeting cards that Sheila turned over to them, Stabler learned of his old arrest record while the checking on the money and then connected Judson to the Fedora Bandits. Though Judson admitted he was one of the Bandits, he revealed there was much more to his story than that. Stabler connected it to the fact that Sheila was also born in 1971, but Judson refused to tell more.
Though Stabler initially decided to drop the matter, Father Denis revealed there really was more to it than that and convinced Stabler to keep digging. Meanwhile, Dr. Huang believed Judson was trying to stave off death in his own way by spinning the tale of his life, using the compliant Benson as a replacement for his furious daughter. Acting on Huang's suggestion, Benson confronted Judson and prepared to leave, causing him to change his mind to get her to stay. Judson led Benson to Lenore's grave, where he had buried the keys to his bunker. Searching Judson's property, Stabler found the bunker, Judson's stash of money from the heists, and Jack's body. Judson subsequently explained everything to Benson and insisted that everything he'd done was for Sheila's sake. At Judson's insistence, Benson reluctantly placed him under arrest for the murder of Jack and the kidnapping of Sheila, though Judson's doctors refused to discharge him so he could get booked.
When the SVU found out Mike Mollinax had been convicted of Suzanne's murder, ADA Novak attempted to get a statement from Judson to clear Mike's name. Judson ended up passing out from the morphine he was taking, but Stabler was able to convince Sheila, who was Judson's next of kin, to authorize the use of Narcan to counteract the drugs. Though Sheila considered visiting her father, she ran away when he started to wake up. Following his recovery, Judson was able to give a statement that cleared Mike. Afterwards, Judson requested Benson to stay with him as he died. Shortly thereafter, Stabler returned with Sheila, but Judson had already passed away by the time of her arrival.