An inmate is found sodomized to death in his cell. All signs point to a law enforcement officer being involved.
Tropes
- Depraved Homosexual: Discussed. The gay prison guard is very briefly a suspect because he was the last person alone with the victim. He is quite outraged that everyone immediately looks at "the sodomy expert" just because it was a male victim. Benson is able to talk him down so he can give a proper alibi.
- Dirty Cop: The killers, Edmunds and Cooper. Cooper in particular accepted money for killing drug dealers and puts the money in his wife's name.
- Driven to Suicide: Edmunds. He and his partner Cooper murdered drug dealers, but when he learns that Cooper was doing it for money, while for him it was a matter of revenge
- Forced Out of the Closet: One of the prison guards was outed by another guard before the episode, briefly turning him into a Red Herring.
- Freudian Excuse: Edmunds developed a violent hatred for drug dealers after his younger brother became addicted and died of an overdose.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The victim was, in Benson's words, a gangster and a homophobe, and was quite vocal that he did not want to be touched by a gay prison guard, which is why the guard is very briefly a suspect.
- Prison Rape: Detectives initially suspect this, but it turns out the victim was raped before arriving to the jail.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the Abner Louima case.
