Richard Kaplan is a building contractor involved in a bribery scheme with Connecticut Governor Michael Riordan, the husband of Devin Bradley, and the killer of Riordan’s wife Peggy.
History[]
Kaplan built a personal mansion for Riordan on the house in exchange for Riordan assisting in Kaplan’s business expansion. Kaplan’s brother-in-law Larry Levine and construction foreman Vincent Caparzo cooked the books to fake payments and cover up the corruption. The State Attorney General found out and started an investigation. It was only made worse when Devin was sexually abused by Riordan over the span of months, Peggy walking in during one such instance. Peggy was planning a divorce and public statement, meaning Riordan would have to resign and Kaplan’s business would be finished. After Devin told Kaplan what happened, he arranged for his public relations director, escort Nicole Temple, to take compromising photos of Levine with her to further silence his testimony. Kaplan, armed with a scratch awl he stole from one of his projects, then found Peggy at the same party and stabbed her to death with it.
Kaplan was found out due to the holes in his timeline, the location of the weapon, and the revelation of the corruption investigation. When Devin revealed Kaplan admitted the murder to him, Kaplan is arrested and arraigned, which is when Riordan’s abuses of Devin come to light, and he resigns. The defense invokes spousal privilege, as the prosecution didn’t know the couple were married in New Paltz. McCoy takes the extreme measures of nullifying same-sex marriages across the state to get Devin’s testimony, but Devin’s horrified enough he refuses questions and is arrested for contempt of court. Kaplan is pushed into a first-degree manslaughter deal, where in exchange for a 15-to-life prison sentence, Devin would be released and absolved of charges. (L&O: "Gov Love")