Robert Morten is a convicted serial killer who tortured and killed eight young women. He considered his crimes to be a form of art.
Background[]
Morten was a serial killer who tortured and killed eight young women. He considered his murders to be a work of art, always taking pride in his actions. When he was caught, he didn't even bother to deny his actions, instead relishing the infamy that his trial brought him. He was given eight life sentences for his crimes, but much to the dismay of his prosecutors, he attracted a small cult following, which grew after artist Harrison Thomas wrote and drew the Le Morte comic book series, which not only recounted Morten's crimes, but tried to predict what kind of murders he would do if he were not captured and became more famous.
Years passed, with Morten heavily confined but content with the waves of mail sent in by loving fans. One day, he was contacted by young Cecilia Strayer, the daughter of an ex-cellmate. Cecilia had recently learned that her father had not died in a car crash when she was young, as she had long believed, but had, in fact, been arrested and jailed for a string of bank robberies. Cecilia desperately wanted to know more about her father, and Morten promised to tell her everything. He convinced her to get an internship from the law firm that had defended him, so that she could have unmonitored visits with him in prison. Once she was inside, he seduced her, and they ended up making love on at least one occasion.
Svengali[]
Cecilia fell head over heels for Morten, but he soon grew bored of her and dumped her, saying that she was incapable of understanding his real needs, his desire to see more blood and spatter. Cecilia thought she could win his heart if she could reproduce his work. To this end, she drugged Tina Snow, an acquaintance of hers, and then bound, mutilated, and killed the girl. But she discovered that she did not enjoy the killing and grew suicidal from guilt. After learning that the Special Victims Unit was investigating the case and knowing that her actions would only make life worse for Morten, Cecilia broke into Morten's childhood home and attempted suicide by downing a bottle of vodka with GHB and slashing herself across the chest repeatedly. By sheer luck, she was found by the SVU before nearly succumbing to blood loss. Shortly after, the police discovered her connection to Morten, and she was put on trial for Tina Snow's murder. Harrison Thomas tried to stop SVU from messing with Morten but ended up arrested after he sent a pipe bomb and attempted to assault Benson.
Morten agreed to testify against Cecilia in exchange for the possibility of parole and a transfer to a federal prison. In court, he testified that not only had he instructed Cecilia to kill for him, but upon viewing her artwork, that he also had no belief in her abilities as an artist. Cecilia got upset and tried to run over to him, causing her to be removed from the courtroom, thus earning her an acquittal and a stay in a psych ward. Morten left the courthouse feeling jubilant, only to discover that Novak had arranged for him to be transferred to ADX Florence, a super-maximum-security federal prison in Colorado where he would be cut off from human contact for the rest of his life and he would be forgotten, since his comic was cancelled with Thomas' arrest. He was last seen frantically stating it wasn't fair before he is taken away.
Known Victims[]
- Unknown dates:
- Five unnamed women (all tortured, murdered, and mutilated)
- Unnamed woman (tortured, crushed her skull, and mutilated)
- Unnamed woman (tortured, ripped out her heart, and mutilated)
- Unnamed woman (tortured, strangled with a chain, and mutilated)
- Cecilia Strayer (sexually and mentally abused; later attempted to commit suicide out of trauma)