Rita Wills is a woman who was accused of killing her lover Cal's wife, Emily Cutler, who was in actuality killed by Susan Delzio.
History[]
Rita was an actress in the 1970s, starring in Cal Cutler's commercials for his mattress store, and like many other of the actresses who appeared in the ads, she engaged in an affair with him despite him his marriage to Emily. Emily kept Cal on a tight leash and went down to the studio while they were shooting a commercial and got into an argument with Rita, who slapped her.
Emily was murdered by Susan Delzio, the patrol cop who responded to the domestic disturbance calls, on April 20th, 1976, who made it appear that the "Bedtime Butcher", a serial killer plaguing the area, was responsible. Two weeks after the murder, Rita found out that she was pregnant, but Cal forced her to get an abortion, saying people would talk about it being too soon after Emily died, and it would look like they were involved, saying they could have another baby later. Unfortunately, Rita got an infection in her uterus from the abortion and was ultimately left infertile as a result. A few months later, after they broke up, Rita met with Cal in a crummy bar, where they got drunk, started fighting, got kicked out, and she let him drive drunk, where it was thought he died in an accident. In truth, Susan faked his death by killing a recently released prisoner and placing him in his car, then burning up the car with the prisoner's body in it.
Rita was interviewed by Detectives Benson and Stabler about Emily's murder following the arrest of Ned Bogden, the Bedtime Butcher, after a blonde hair belonging to a female was found on her nightgown. When blood evidence linked Rita to the scene of the crime, she was detained while drunk, having a bad spell to the point she shouted and broke her martini glass to try and get away. She confessed to getting her period during sex with Cal, saving the sheets as a keepsake. When the detectives searched her apartment and found the sheets, along with her diary, with the last entry stating she killed for Cal, she confesses that she had the abortion and let Cal drive drunk home. (SVU: "Bedtime")