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Manhunt

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"Manhunt"
← SVU, Episode 2.18 →
Production number: E1431
First aired: 20 April 2001
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
← th of 502 released in SVU →
  th of 1271 released in all  
Stabler Benson Cragen Cabot Manhunt
Written By
Jeff Eckerle

Directed By
Steve Wertimer

The details of a kidnapping are similar to a series of rapes and murders, which leads Detectives Munch and Tutuola to a serial killer.

Summary[]

The details of a kidnapping are similar to a series of rapes and murders that may link the crime to a serial killer. In the end, the killer is caught in Canada, but there is a problem in extraditing him. He is extradited and faces either spending the rest of his life in a United States prison or execution for his crimes.

Plot[]

After another evening work shift, diner waitress Annie Tassler and cook Butch McGee talk briefly on the sidewalk before parting ways to go home. Moments later McGee hears muffled screaming, and looks back to see a man forcing Tassler into a green 4x4. McGee runs up to them, but is forced to back off when the man points a gun in his face. When the man turns his attention back to Tassler, McGee grabs him and is joined by a bystander named Marty Potter. The man knocks both of them aside, jumps into the vehicle and speeds off with Tassler.

Munch and Fin are called to the scene because the kidnapper dropped a chloroform-soaked cloth, the mark of the Bowery Stalker. The previous summer he kidnapped four women and drove away with them in a green 4x4. He raped, tortured, and killed them in an abandoned warehouse in the city. The police raided the place and found the women's mutilated bodies after another victim, Sarah Kimmel, managed to escape from the warehouse after two days in captivity. They found partial fingerprints and some DNA, but couldn't match any of it to anyone in the system. The Stalker never returned there afterward, and SVU hadn't seen him again until now. He must have found a new safe house.

When the gun was in his face, McGee saw a cat-shaped tattoo on the kidnapper's forearm. A parolee named Frank Taggart, who was convicted of assault, has that tattoo. He tells Munch and Fin where he had it done, and says he was at a bar when Tassler was kidnapped. Although Taggart left the bar in plenty of time to reach the scene, he doesn't own a 4x4. So Cragen has all the witnesses, including Sarah Kimmel, brought in for a line-up.

Since her ordeal, Kimmel has been living on disability because she's too traumatized to leave home without falling apart. She keeps the lights on all the time, because in the darkness she'd see her tormentor's face again.

At the line-up, McGee can't positively identify anyone. Potter identifies NYPD Officer Peters. Kimmel says her attacker isn't in the line-up. Taggart's not their man.

Munch and Fin visit the tattoo shop that did Taggart's cat tattoo. The design was an original, brought in by another customer the previous summer. That customer said the cat was a platoon name in the service. He left the sketch behind, and the tattoo artist lets the detectives have it.

The lab finds two sets of fingerprints on the paper, one belonging to the tattoo artist and the other to a "John Doe." The technician checked Doe's prints against other databases and identified Doe as Darryl Kern, a U.S. Army veteran. Kern was dishonorably discharged the previous year, at about the time the Stalker's attacks began. Motor Vehicle records show that he owns a green 4x4, and provide a home address.

The police raid Kern's apartment. He's not there, but they find a Fort Dix military banner with a bobcat mascot, and his New York toll road E-Z Pass statements. The statements show road trips beginning at the same time as the Stalker's attacks. Kern traveled the same route each time, from the city to the small town of Walden Falls in upstate New York. Seven women went missing within a day of each trip.

Munch and Fin make the long drive to Walden Falls. Local police chief Walker has never heard of Kern, so if he's there he's keeping a low profile. Officer Cheryl Baxter is assigned to help the detectives with their investigation. They begin with a visit to the local gas station, a regular stop on Kern's previous trips. The station owner recognizes Kern, and says that he spent a lot of time at the local gun shop.

The gun shop owner identifies Kern as Arnold Cokely. He tells Munch and Fin that "Cokely" has a cabin somewhere north of town, well-stocked with provisions, guns and ammo. In fact, the real Arnold Cokely and his wife Amanda went missing in the city five months ago. Since Cokely's identification was used in a fraudulent firearms transaction, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) joins the case.

Meanwhile, back in the city SVU goes through Kern's possessions and finds blueprints for a bomb shelter drawn by a contractor in Walden Falls. Munch asks Officer Baxter to have the contractor, McCartney, meet them at the police station. They arrive to find Chief Walker locking horns with ATF agent Gus Stone, arguing over who's in charge of going after Kern. Stone has a federal warrant for Kern's arrest. McCartney confirms he built a fortified underground bunker for Kern on some land about 10 miles north of town. The land already had a small cabin on it.

The combined law enforcement forces raid Kern's cabin, and find it empty. Somebody must have tipped him off. Annie Tassler's mutilated body is in the bunker, and several other bodies are buried on the property. In the cabin is a pseudo-military operations manual of some sort, apparently forgotten by Kern in his haste to clear out. His last entry, dated the previous day, indicates he has an accomplice whom he's meeting back in the city.

On the theory that Kern's accomplice is an Army buddy, Cragen arranges for Munch and Fin to visit Fort Dix. Colonel Marsden tells them that Kern had been a problem soldier who was under the delusion that the Army enjoyed killing. He spent so much time on kitchen duty, he was assigned there permanently. After he threatened someone with a kitchen knife, he was put in the brig. He was eventually diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and pronounced unfit for duty, resulting in his discharge. Kern had had one friend at Fort Dix, a man who made regular deliveries to the fort's mess hall. That man no longer delivers there, but Sergeant Pierre remembers the name of the company.

The company owner identifies Kern's friend as Marvin Posey, who's currently out on National Guard reserve duty. He gives the detectives Posey's home address, but adds that Posey isn't there because he's in the wilderness practicing survival skills. Munch, Fin and an Emergency Service Unit go to Posey's house, where his elderly Aunt Mary readily answers the door. She tells them he'd been called away from home that morning.

Aunt Mary, who's as overly trusting as she is kindhearted, assumes that Munch and Fin are friends of Posey's and invites them inside. She tells them her nephew is with the Green Berets, and shows them his scrapbook. In the book is a photo of Posey with Darryl Kern. Marvin Posey is Marty Potter, the good Samaritan at the Tassler kidnapping. Posey hadn't been trying to stop Kern; he'd been trying to get into the vehicle. No wonder he identified the wrong person in the line-up. And he must have tipped off Kern about the police.

As Munch and Fin leave Posey's home, they receive word that Kern abandoned his 4x4 that morning in a shopping center outside Walden Falls. He carjacked a woman and child, and is now heading north toward Canada in their car.

Back at SVU, the detectives determine that Kern and Posey have been exchanging cell phone calls at regular intervals since Tassler's kidnapping. The cell service provider determines that Posey eventually met up with Kern in Fisher's Landing, just inside the U.S. border. Munch and Fin join the New York state police and ATF in Fisher's Landing, where the carjacked vehicle and Posey's car were found parked in the driveway of a farmhouse. They raid the farm to find Posey dead, and the farmer's truck gone. Then they receive good news: Kern was arrested for shoplifting from an auto parts store in Ontario, after the farmer's truck broke down. The woman and child are safe, and the Ontario Provincial Police are holding Kern until Munch and Fin get there.

Alex Cabot greets the detectives at the OPP station where Kern is being held. She has an extradition warrant for Kern, which of course he's fighting. Because a confession from Kern would strengthen New York's argument at the extradition hearing, Munch talks to Kern alone and tries to get one. Kern just laughs, because Canada won't extradite him for a capital crime unless New York waives the death penalty. Cabot confirms that's true, as of a Canadian Supreme Court decision the previous year.

At the extradition hearing Canadian defense attorney Picard argues against extraditing Kern, based on the Canadian Supreme Court's unanimous decision regarding people facing death penalty charges. Cabot replies that the State of New York has amended its petition for extradition. The original petition sought to extradite Kern for murder with special circumstances attached and kidnapping, the former carrying the death penalty in New York. The amended petition reflects only one, lesser offense: possession of stolen property, the farmer's truck which Kern drove into Canada. Possession of stolen property valued at more than $5,000 is an extraditable offense under Canadian law. Picard argues that this is a false claim and that the SVU detectives will arrest Kern on the capital charges (and possibly seek the death penalty) the moment he sets foot on American soil, but the Canadian judge—despite acknowledging this—grants the extradition.

After, a shocked and disillusioned Kern is returned to the United States and is indeed arrested for his capital crimes (with a satisfied Munch sarcastically saying "Welcome home" to Kern as he is handcuffed). Munch thanks Cabot for her actions.

That night, Munch visits Sarah Kimmel and after she answers the door, he tells her that she doesn't have to keep the light on. She is satisfied at his statement, and he leaves.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Tutuola: The Bowery Stalker.
Munch: One and the same.
Tutuola: I haven't heard about this guy in a long time.
Munch: Not long enough.
Cragen: According to Munch, the abductor fits the Stalker's MO to a "T".
Stabler: He goes after petite women, uses chloroform to subdue 'em, and then carts them off in a dark 4x4.
Cabot: How long has it been since his last attack?
Benson: Almost a year.
Stabler: Yeah, we thought he'd gone underground or maybe just left the area.
Cragen: You're late.
Munch: I was up all night interviewing witnesses!
Cragen: D.A. wants an update on the Bowery Stalker.
Munch: Can't wait for the report?
Cabot: She's made this case a top priority. Any warrants, lab work, anything you need.
Munch: Why all the sudden attention?
Cabot: She knows how elusive he's been. She thought you could use some help.
Munch: Because I didn't nail him last time?
Cragen: Oh, come on, John. Nobody's blaming you. We're all on the same team here.
Munch: Then why did you start the team meeting without me?
Stabler: We were just leaving.
Cragen: No, no, no. Stay. I want you and Olivia to help with the canvass.
Munch: It's my catch, Captain. I got it covered.
Cragen: You're still the primary, but that doesn't mean you don't need backup. Now, the only agenda here is catching this guy before he kills again. Got it?
Munch: Got it.
Cragen: Good. Now, where's your partner?
Munch: He's with a couple of witnesses and a sketch artist.
Cragen: Well, while you're waiting, why don't you fill Alex in.
Munch: Mind if I get my morning tea first?
Cabot: Not at all.
Munch: About a year ago, Sarah Kimmel stumbled into a bar on Avenue D half naked, beaten, claiming that a man with a beard imprisoned her as his sex slave in an abandoned warehouse on Broome. We raided it, found a makeshift cell in the basement stocked with sex toys and various instruments of torture, and four mutilated bodies.
Cabot: Any trace evidence?
Munch: A few partials and DNA, but nothing our system could match it to. We staked the building out for a month. No luck. The guy just disappeared.
Cabot: Until now.
Munch: Must have found a new safe house.
Cabot: And potentially more victims.
[at a fish market to question a suspect]
Tutuola: How desperate does somebody gotta be to take a gig in a place like this?
Munch: Worked here when I was a kid. Made good money, too.
Tutuola: What'd you do with all your money? You can't tell me women wanted to get with you after a day in a flower shop like this.
Munch: Two words: Aqua Velva.
Tutuola: Come again?
Munch: Fishmonger's best friend. After a hot shower, slather some of that on. Smell like Vic Damone.
Tutuola: More like a mackerel and some cheap aftershave.
Munch: That's a hell of a tattoo you got there, Frankie.
Frank Taggart: It's an original.
Tutuola: Your design?
Frank Taggart: Elmo's Tats on 8th. What the hell do you care?
Munch: Where were you last night between 11:00 and midnight?
Frank Taggart: Rusty's Bar in the Alphabet.
Tutuola: Can you prove it?
Frank Taggart: The barstool near the door has a permanent imprint of my ass. Feel free to check it out.
Munch: Bartender at Rusty's said Taggart ducked out around 11:00 the night of the abduction.
Tutuola: Gets him to the diner with time to spare.
Cragen: Well, what about the 4x4?
Munch: Nothing registered to him.
Tutuola: Doesn't mean he didn't steal one.
Cragen: Well, get all the witnesses down here for a lineup, including Sarah Kimmel.
Munch: It's been almost a year.
Cragen: He held her in that warehouse for two days. I doubt she's gonna forget his face.
Sarah Kimmel: Is he really here?
Munch: We have a suspect, but we need a positive ID.
Sarah Kimmel: I can't.
Munch: He won't be able to see you.
Sarah Kimmel: But I see him, every time I close my eyes. I leave my lights on at night or I'll see him staring at me from the shadows.
Munch: He can't hurt you anymore.
Sarah Kimmel: I'm 28. I'm living on disability because I can't leave my house without falling apart. Don't tell me that he can't hurt me.
Munch: I wouldn't ask you to do this unless I had to, but we think he's hurting somebody else.
Munch: [during a lineup] Which one, Sarah? Which one?
Sarah: [hugs Munch as she cries] He's not there.
Munch: It's okay. It's all right. It's all right.
Munch: I was sure we had him. What the hell are we missing?
Tutuola: I was just thinking: Taggart said his tattoo was an original.
Munch: Right. Elmo's Tats on 8th.
Tutuola: I wonder how many Elmo originals are walking around Manhattan.
Munch: Kern's E-Z pass statements show periodic travel along the same route dating back to last June. From Manhattan, he goes across the Triborough Bridge onto the Thruway, across the Tappen Zee, north to Utica where he exits onto Route 12 north.
Tutuola: Credit cards show him gassing up his '92 Pathfinder along Routes 12 and 11 all the way up to Walden Falls, a pit stop of a town twenty miles northeast of Watertown.
Munch: Two days later, he takes the same route back to the city.
Tutuola: Seven women went missing within a day of each of these trips.
Stabler: You got a lot of unspoiled wilderness up there.
Cragen: Well, there's only one way to find him. Munch, Fin, pack your bags. You're going on a road trip.
[arriving in Walden Falls]
Tutuola: Where's Opie?
Munch: Probably gone fishing.
Tutuola: Speaking of which, you look a little green around the gills.
Munch: Well, maybe it's because riding with you is like taking a four-hour spin on the Tilt-O-Whirl.
Tutuola: I told you to take the Dramamine.
Munch: I hate pills.
Tutuola: So you'd rather puke.
Munch: I'm not going to puke, but you could use a road course on driving in hazardous conditions.
Tutuola: I kept it on the road.
Munch: Barely.
Officer Cheryl Baxter: We computerized the county records a few years ago. If either Kern or Cokely owns land here, it'll show up in the tax rolls.
Tutuola: Damn. How come we don't have this kind of software?
Officer Baxter: You could always head down to the basement and go through the big books if that'd make you feel more at home.
Tutuola: I still don't see why the city couldn't spring for two rooms.
Munch: 'Cause they're cheap. D.A. wants to redecorate her office with antiques and Berber rugs, and we got to beg for table scraps.
Tutuola: In Narcotics, we always got our own rooms; sometimes entire apartments.
Munch: How's that?
Tutuola: Undercover. Got to create entirely new identities. You know, apartments, bank accounts, the whole works. One time I was under for seven weeks. Had a nice little duplex in the Village. After we bust the dope ring, I gotta move back to my little cracker box one-bedroom in Brooklyn. First week home, I kept bumping into my own furniture.
Munch: This place must make you feel right at home.
Tutuola: Not exactly. I got a nice entertainment system, surround sound, and widescreen TV.
Munch: Eight months of the cold shoulder, now I can't shut you up. So why'd you leave Narcotics?
Tutuola: My partner took a bullet that was meant for me. Sort of took all the fun out of it. Why'd you leave Homicide?
Munch: I came back from Baltimore after my last marriage broke up. The only opening in my bracket was SVU. Seen enough dead bodies, figured the change would do me good. Little did I know, it's the living victims that rip your guts out.
ATF Agent Gus Stone: This is a federal matter.
Chief Walker: And this is my office. Play by my rules or get out.
Agent Stone: You're in over your head. This man has enough firepower to start World War III.
Munch: And somebody's blowing enough hot air to re-float the Hindenburg.
Agent Stone: Who the hell are you?
Munch: Detective John Munch, NYPD. Who the hell are you?
Agent Stone: Gus Stone, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Munch: Well, Mr. Stone, why don't you take your cowboys and step aside and let the police do their work?
Agent Stone: I have a federal warrant for Darryl Kern's arrest.
Munch: And I have somene who can help find him before he kills another innocent woman. Who trumps who?
Munch: How could we be so stupid?
Tutuola: We weren't the only ones. Even Aunt Mary thinks he's a hero.
Munch: Yeah, well, Aunt Mary's a few tea bags shy of a full pot.
John Munch: [to a serial rapist and murderer known as The Bowery Stalker] Shoplifting. Kind of an undignified end to such an ambitious operation.
[Talking about the murder suspect who has been arrested in Canada for shoplifting]
Munch: He says they won't extradite on capital offenses.
Cabot: The Canadian Supreme Court tightened their restrictions last year.
Munch: So, he can flip us off from Canadian prison.
Cabot: Well, he can make the argument. That doesn't mean he'll win.
Munch: He saves his neck, he wins.
Cabot: Look, I did not come all the way up here to go home empty-handed. John, you did your job. Now, let me do mine.
Thomas Picard: The Supreme Court was unequivocal on its nine to zero ruling under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of the Canadian Constitution concerning the matter of extradition on capital offenses.
Canadian Judge: Mr. Picard, aren't you concerned that Canada might become a safe haven for criminals seeking to use our constitution as a shield from prosecution?
Thomas Picard: I prefer not to speculate on hypothetical situations which may or may not result from the High Court's ruling. I can only ask this court to interpret the law as written.
Canadian Judge: Madam Prosecutor?
Cabot: While I do respect the High Court's rulings in the matter of constitutional rights and protections, I would submit this ruling does not apply in the case for which the State of New York seeks extradition.
Canadian Judge: Is not murder with special circumstances attached a capital offense under New York law?
Cabot: It is, Your Honor. However, the people are not seeking extradition on the capital offense. We are here on the sole charge of possession of stolen property.
Thomas Picard: Your Honor, this is a blatant attempt to circumvent the laws of this land.
Cabot: Since the value of the stolen automobile exceeds five thousand dollars, it is my understanding this qualifies for extradition under Canadian law.
Thomas Picard: Your petition cited multiple charges of murder and two counts of kidnapping.
Cabot: It is true that Mr. Kern and his accomplice brutally raped, tortured, and maimed their subjects before killing them. However, we have amended our petition to reflect only the lesser offense.
Thomas Picard: Your Honor, this is a cynical ploy. We all know that once Mr. Kern crosses the border, he will be charged with the capital crimes.
Canadian Judge: Perhaps, Mr. Picard. But, this court prefers not to speculate on hypothetical situations which may or may not result from its ruling. Now, petition for extradition is granted.
[as Canadian authorities transfer custody of Darryl Kern to United States authorities]
Cabot: Detectives, take custody of the prisoner.
Tutuola: Darryl Kern, you're under arrest for the murders of Ernest Dillman, Arnold and Amanda Cokely, and Annie Tassler.
Munch: [Coming face to face with prisoner Kern, Detective Munch begins to smirk] Welcome home, Darryl.
[speaking to Cabot] Thanks.
[Cabot smiles and nods her head "Yes"]
Munch: [to Sarah at the end of the episode] I just wanted to tell you, you can turn your lights out tonight.


Background information and notes[]

  • This is the first episode that focuses on Detectives John Munch and Odafin Tutuola rather than on Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler.
  • Fin tells Munch the reason he left Narcotics was that his partner took a bullet that was meant for him. This former partner is introduced as Luis Montero in the season 14 episode "Poisoned Motive".
  • Munch mentioned that he worked as Homicide detective in Baltimore before moving back to New York. Munch was a main character on Homicide: Life on the Street, a show about Homicide detectives set in Baltimore.
  • Goof: An Army colonel would never refer to incarceration as 'the brig'; that is strictly a term used in the Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. A military jail or prison is referred to as "the stockade" in the Air Force and Army.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

Forensic Investigations
Division
Jamaica, Queens
Friday, April 6

Blackbird Motor Lodge
Walden Falls, New York
Monday, April 9

Special Victims Unit
Wednesday, April 11

4 5 6

Magoo's Vending Company
Gowanus, Brooklyn
Wednesday, April 11

Ontario Provincial
Police Detachment
Thursday, April 12

Ontario Superior
Court of Justice
Friday, April 13

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