Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 11, Episode 18 - Bedtime - full transcript
A rape and murder helps Benson and Stabler crack a case involving a serial rapist and killer from the 1970s. However, one copycat crime remains open when investigation reveals that the crime was committed by a woman.
In the criminal system
Sexually based offenses are
considered especially heinous.
In new york city,
the dedicated detectives
Who investigate these vicious felonies
Are members of an elite squad
Known as
the special victims unit.
These are their stories.
I can't wait to see you too.
Okay. Bye.
My wife
is two minutes away.
You said she was at work.
Bitch like her,
she probably got fired.
You gotta get out of here.
Larry, what...
Are you serious?
- The fire escape?
- Angie, you gotta go now.
- It's snowing!
- I had fun. I'll call you.
But why do I have to leave?
This is the perfect chance
to come clean about us!
Angie, not now. Just go.
My wife will be here any second.
She's dead!
Calm down. Murder's not the answer.
No.
I mean her.
Jane whitmore. Age 30.
Core temp puts t.O.D. Somewhere
between 9:00 and 11:00 last night.
Well, there's no sign of forced entry.
She probably knew the guy.
Hands tied
with phone cord.
Perp violated her then cut
her throat.
He mark her up
before or after the rape?
Minimal blood loss.
I'd say he did it postmortem.
Bastard likes to sign his work.
Signature's all he left behind.
No fibers, fluids... nothing.
So what do we know about her?
My guess is an
investigative journalist.
Got a mike wire here,
Bunch of stories pitched
to magazines and newspapers.
She was recently paid
by under scrutiny magazine.
A lot of disconnected cables.
The laptop's missing.
Think the perp wanted
to kill her story too.
Jane is dead? Oh, my god.
Best freelancer I ever had.
She'd take any assignment...
the more dangerous, the better.
Knock it outta the park.
- Dangerous?
- Jane loved going undercover.
She wanted to live her stories.
Took a job at an after-hours
s&m club To expose sex traffickers.
Dated a heroin smuggler
To expose dealers
targeting young kids.
Almost got hooked herself
when she had to shoot up.
Magazine got a lotta good
copy for jane risking her life.
Must have made some enemies.
She got threats sometimes.
- I worried about her safety.
- But that didn't stop you
From hiring her again
six weeks ago.
What can I say?
She came to me all revved up, Pitched
me a great story on morris ostebow.
The hedge fund manager Who bilked
millions of dollars out of investors.
I lost about $10,000
to the prick myself.
And then he skated.
Eight months at club fed.
So when she said to me That he was
out and up to his old tricks again,
I gave her the go-ahead,
told her to tear him a new one.
- Did she?
- No idea.
I haven't talked to jane in a month.
I figured she was deep into it.
- So what was the last contact
that you did have with her?
An email.
She told me she was about
to meet up with ostebow
And to wish her luck.
ETERNAL PEACE MORTUARY
MONDAY, MARCH 1
Welcome to my new endeavor.
Pet funerals?
Sensitively arranged to
memorial services
For beloved animal companions.
Cremation
for a nominal extra fee.
Ok. So in other words,
you take people's dead dogs,
You dump 'em in the hudson,
Then you charge them a couple grand
For fido's fake funeral
And a tin can
full of fireplace ash?
Pardon me?
Well, the name ostebow Does not
exactly inspire consumer confidence.
I'm well aware that my credibility
Has taken a hit in recent years.
But I turned my life around
in prison through pet therapy.
And eternal peace
is your way of giving back.
We're fully licensed and legit.
Well, jane whitmore didn't think so.
She was a bitch.
Because she started snooping around,
- Found out your new scam here?
- Because she lied.
She took advantage of me
personally.
- So you two dated.
- She threw herself at me.
When she finally realized
I was on the up and up,
- She dumped me.
- So the breakup
was the last time you saw her?
She called me one more time.
She wanted the address for
the sober living house
I was assigned to after prison.
Those places are pretty typical.
Piss in a cup,
group therapy, curfew?
Not harmony home.
Place is a pit.
Men use it for a crack den
And the women use it to turn tricks.
- So she smelled a story.
- And she checked in to check it out.
Journalist? Broad told me she was a
basehead Just out of her ninth rehab.
Yeah. And your website says You offer
a safe, secure environment for healing.
Hey, you think it's easy
running a joint like this?
People land in here from the courts,
salvation army.
Some I gotta scrape off the street.
And give them a roof to get
high under.
We got our problems,
but I run a strict house here.
I got nothing to hide.
How long was jane a resident?
Ten days, maybe.
She wouldn't have stuck around For ten
minutes if there wasn't a story here.
the lady was a nutjob, okay?
Jiggling doorknobs,
getting in people's faces.
She come in with her groceries, right?
Put it in her assigned cupboard.
I never saw her eat.
Organic soup.
Wow. Imported pasta.
- This woman shops better than I do.
- Hey, get away from there.
That don't belong to you!
Hey... We'll be the judge of that.
like I never seen a fake badge.
That one ain't even convincing.
Now get the hell away from our food.
- "our" food?
- Yeah. It's mine and janie's.
Well, hers mainly.
But she shares with me.
Not that I'm a big eater.
I watch my figure.
We didn't catch your name.
What is it?
What, I gotta write it down for you?
It's francine.
Okay, well, francine,
all that food in there...
Now belongs to you.
She flew the coop?
Permanently.
Oh, god. I knew she was gonna
get herself in trouble here.
Wow, why do you say that?
Didn't people like her?
No. They didn't trust her.
She said she'd been down the hole
a bunch Like the rest of us,
but I could tell she was green.
She didn't fit in here.
So jane gave you food,
And you took her under your wing.
Yeah, I mean, as much as I could.
Place like this,
you gotta know the rules...
Who to talk to and how
to protect your valuables.
Now, when janie was here,
- Who'd she talk to?
- No one.
I made sure of it.
Well, except for
the grabby jerk down in welfare.
She said she wanted
to talk to him alone.
This grabby jerk...
was he a caseworker?
Yeah. He handles
most every woman here.
You want your benefits, You gotta let
him stick his tongue down your throat.
Last time I saw janie,
she was headed off to see him.
"Ned Bogden.
"senior benefits administrator. New
York bureau of public assistance.
54. Single. Lives in queens
with his mother".
That's suspicious right there.
Civil servant since '76.
Solid annual reviews.
There's not a single complaint
from a client in his file.
In over 30 years? Strike two.
You think our man knows
his way around a shredder?
You don't get that kind of confidence
From being a snazzy dresser.
Well, if bogden is
a kiss-up, kick-down kinda guy,
He is kissing up to the right people.
Commendation from the mayor.
Half a dozen meritorious service
awards From the city council.
Employee of the year
six times.
So in other words, How are we gonna
take a run at an entrenched bureaucrat
With powerful friends?
On the word of a recovering meth
addict Who couldn't make you as cops
- even after you'd tendered.
- Captain,
this hump is not your garden-variety
rapist. Look what he did to her.
- He carved that woman up.
- Understood.
But we take a swing at bogden
and miss,
It'll be our asses on his plate.
So we won't miss.
WELFARE BENEFITS BUREAU
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
I don't know what to do.
My boyfriend kicked me out.
He shoots dope.
I don't know if I'm allowed
to say that.
I swear to god, I don't.
I don't know where
I'm gonna go,
And I don't have any money
to buy food.
Please, I'm...
In a lotta trouble.
Well, it's lucky you found me...
Right?
Right.
Okay. Well, look... Here.
Just... Fill this out,
And we'll get the ball rolling
and your food stamps.
Okay. Thanks.
This is really confusing.
Past...
Three employers?
I can't remember all this stuff.
Well, just put down what you can.
How long before I...
Before I get a check?
Well, first things first.
I mean, you know,
fill out your name right there.
Okay.
Because I... I...
Are you sure that I'm
gonna qualify for this? Because...
I really need to eat, and I haven't.
I've been on the street
for three days.
Just do everything I say...
And I guarantee it.
Okay. Fill in your name right there.
Okay.
Yeah. And your most recent
home address.
See? That's a good girl.
That's a good girl.
And... Here where it says employer?
Well, just jot down
your last job, whatever.
That's an easy one.
Special...
Victims...
Unit.
Did I not mention that?
You're a cop!
And you... Are a creep!
Addicts have no advocates.
It's my duty to welcome them
with open arms.
As long as they respond
with open legs.
I never force myself on any woman.
You just screw 'em over
if they don't put out.
Oh, please!
I'm a professional.
These women are desperate,
and I'm they're savior.
Why wouldn't they come on to me?
I can put a roof over their
heads and food in their mouths.
- Among other things.
- Have I had offers?
Sure.
And I've turned down every one.
So your hand on my breast
was just a...
Happy accident?
I can't help it
if you moved the wrong way.
She an accident too?
That's horrible.
What are you showing me that for?
Psychopaths
love to admire their work.
And relive their crimes.
Jane whitmore.
She told you her sob story,
and you went into action.
Little backrub, huh?
Your hands found their way
down her blouse,
And you felt the wire
she was wearing.
You people are sick.
Jane was gonna tell the world
what a sleazebag you are.
But no woman is gonna
play ned bogden for a fool.
So you branded her and you put
your signature on her face.
So "x" marks the spot
where ned bogden
Stopped jane whitmore
from exposing to the world
What a weak, limp...
Nothing of a man that you are.
You oughta be writing fiction...
Because that's one whopper
of a story.
Look, detective...
This guy's m.O. Ring a bell, doc?
He's not the first rapist
to disfigure his victim.
But he's the first in 30 years To
carve an "x" into a woman's cheek.
Do you get me?
You know, El, in my experience...
It's guys who brag about
their conquests
That usually fall a little
short below the belt.
You don't know what
you're talking about.
The truth hurts.
And jane was gonna splash it
all over the front page.
Course, they'd have to use
small print.
You followed her home.
You waited until she opened the door
to her apartment,
And then you blitzed her.
You tied her up with a phone cord.
You raped her.
And then you went
into the kitchen...
And you got a serrated knife,
And you slashed her throat.
And carved an "x" in her face
To say good night.
I know who you are,
you son of a bitch.
The bedtime butcher?
- Five rape/murders
back in the mid-'70s.
Exact same m.O.
Women attacked in bed Always
between 9:00 and 12:00
and always carved up.
This is the guy who terrorized
the bronx, right?
Buddy of mine, albert kamins, worked
it day and night. Could never nail him.
Maybe kamins can help us.
Well, not without a ouija board.
Heart attack at his desk.
The case was too much for him?
No. Bad genes.
His dad died young too.
But he put together
a ton of evidence.
Okay, well, we'll pick up
where he left off.
Then put this bastard away
once and for all.
The bedtime butcher's
first attack was in 1973.
His last, until jane whitmore,
was '76.
Serial rapists
don't just quit cold turkey.
Some do... If they found another
outlet To channel their rage.
Ned bogden got hired
at welfare in '76,
Three months after
the last woman was murdered.
He didn't need to rape
and kill anymore.
He got his jollies making needy women
put out In return for food and shelter.
Instead of terrorizing
women in their apartments,
He terrorized them
from across a desk.
Until jane caught him with his pants
down, And he killed her to shut her up.
Do we have any dna
from the first five cases?
Back in the mid-'70s it wasn't being
used. Besides, the rapes stopped.
Kamins died. Case died with him.
We'll pull all the old evidence, Get it
over to warner if it's still there.
Warner didn't find any dna
on jane whitmore.
Well, if we can't forensically link
bogden to any of these old murders,
we're rewed.
There's no way an arrogant
bastard like that Is gonna confess.
Unless you trick him into it.
Ned bogden didn't pick his
first five victims randomly.
Each one of them did something
to set him off, li jane did.
Find his connection to each victim,
And he might crack.
Gloria kelly.
- Murdered September, 1973.
- Who?
You tended bar for
a catering companyhe hired.
She was rich.
You had to work for her.
Your boss says that you were fired
After you mouthed off to her?
Bitch made me hose down
the patio three times
Till I got it right.
Elizabeth giles. December, 1974.
You were a substitute teacher
at the private school
Where her daughter attended.
She broke the rules Trying to grease
her little brat's way into harvard.
And you could barely afford
community college.
Well, that doesn't have
anything to do with anything.
Anne witherspoon.
Murdered February, 1975.
Now, she won a postdoc
that you applied for.
Emily cutler.
Murdered April, 1976.
She lived in a luxury building
Around the corner from
your rent-controlled hovel.
She had a doorman. You had a
broken-dow railroad flat.
Probably what... with a broken
toilet, One window in the back?
- Catherine price.
- October, 1976.
You both ran in a road running
club together?
She dusted you in every race.
You two and your big theories...
But your whole case falls apart
if one link snaps.
Well, guess what. Emily cutler...
don't know her. Never met her.
She was killed The same sick way
you killed the others.
Wanna bet, miss wise ass?
April, 1976. I was in cheyenne,
wyoming at a men's retreat.
And I can prove it.
Can you prove you didn't leave dandruff
All over jane whitmore's body?
Hey! What are you doing?
Give me that back?
Hey, you're in my custody.
I can take whatever I want.
You should wash your hair
more often, ass wipe.
You're cooked. See you in sing sing.
Well, that doesn't
prove anything!
I had sex with her,
but I didn't kill her.
I didn't kill any of those bitches!
I have an alibi.
I was in cheyenne!
Here's the dna from the dandruff
From jane whitmore's body
And the dna from ned bogden's comb.
Identical.
He's already claiming
they had consensual sex.
He's gonna have hard time claiming
it's consensual For the other women.
Mr. Bogden's
been shedding for years.
I found his flakes all over
the victims' clothing.
Great work. Case closed.
Almost.
You check bogden's alibi
for emily cutler yet?
Still working on it. Why?
I think he really was in cheyenne.
- Wait... you just said...
- you didn't let me finish.
There was no dandruff
on emily's clothes.
And there's no way ned bogden
could have killed her.
- How do you know that?
- Emily was a redhead.
I found one blond hair
on her nightgown.
It was degraded,
so I couldn't do a full profile,
But I can tell you
one thing for sure.
Two "x" chromosomes
mark the spot.
Emily cutler was murdered
by a woman.
That is great news.
- Okay. Thank you.
- D.A.?
He just arraigned ned bogden
as the bedtime butcher.
Son of a bitch is going down hard.
Yeah. But for only five
of the six murders.
Yeah. Emily cutler's
still an open case.
All these years...
A copycat used the bedtime
butcher to cover her tracks.
I gotta tell you, I never would have
pegged a woman for it.
You surprised by a killer woman?
Try missing an anniversary.
Still... One that
plans murders is pretty rare.
It wouldn't have been that hard For
anyone to mimic the butcher's m.O.
Papers went out of their way
to publish the gory details.
I'm not sure how much we're
gonna find In kamins' files now.
He was looking for a male perp.
All right,
let's focus on the victim.
Who were the women
in emily cutler's life?
Well, turns out
there were quite a few...
All of them connected
by her husband cal, Also known as...
I'm the mattress maestro,
And I got a deal for you.
I stock every mattress,
every kind, every size.
Bedding, box springs,
cases and comforters.
If you can sleep on it
or do anything else on it,
The mattress maestro has it.
I'm moving merchandise
like never before,
So stampede on down here
And let me rope you into...
The savings of a lifetime.
I don't know if you remember,
But cal cutler was a bit of a local
celebrity Back in the mid-'70s.
His ads were on every
five minutes on channel 11.
Once you get that ocean in motion
On one of my water beds,
Well, in nine months, you're gonna
need a baby bed And guess what.
I got those too.
I bet he was still bouncing
With those blonds
long after the camera stopped.
Emily cutler thought so.
More than a dozen domestic disturbance
calls From the cutler residence
Within the year
that she was murdered.
Here's one with emily saying, quote,
"one of my husband's
whores is outside".
And then, "another slut is here
drunk, Threatening to beat me up".
Burt kamins
must have known about those.
He just never dug deep because
he didn't suspect a woman.
So "the maestro" couldn't
keep his baton in his pants.
Let's go talk to him,
see if he remembers Which
one of these mattress tramps
- Had it in for the missus.
- Well, take a shovel.
Cal cutler died
in a drunk driving accident
Eight months after
his wife was murdered.
- Burned to death.
- Great.
Everyone who can give us information
on the case Is 6 feet under.
Well, hold on.
What about this susan delzio?
She's the patrol cop who responded
To almost every one of these calls.
APARTMENT OF SUSAN DELZIO
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
Susan delzio?
Cops.
I know cops when I see 'em.
Okay. I'm benson.
He's stabler.
We're from
special victims unit.
- Was there a rape?
- And a murder. About 30 years ago.
You had some involvement
with the victim.
We were hoping
to pick your brain.
Of course.
Pedro.
Stepping out for a moment.
I have painters working inside.
Started dabbling in sculpture
right after I retired,
So I'm converting one
of my bedrooms into a studio.
So there is life
after the job... good to know.
Susan, do you remember a man
named cal cutler?
The mattress maestro?
Oh, of course.
First celebrity I ever met.
I was fresh out of the academy, And
I'd never met anybody
who was on tv.
Of course, he turned out to be a jerk,
Always stepping out on his wife.
Who had 9-1-1 on speed dial.
Yeah. Called us
pretty much every weekend.
About as often as it took
cutler to change girlfriends.
Any of them, you know, threaten her?
Well, they kicked the door,
broke some flower pots.
A few of them got really nasty,
Yelling that emily didn't deserve him.
Right. And how'd the maestro
react to all that?
Well, he always put on a big show
for his wife Like he was pissed, and
Then he'd tell us to just
get the girls out of there.
Never filed charges.
We're looking for
these women's names.
Oh, sorry.
I ditched my memo books
years ago.
All I can tell you
is every time I showed up,
It was a new one...
Always blond and always built.
Except the last one.
- The last woman was different?
- No, the last call.
It wasn't to the house.
It was to a tv studio where
he was shooting a commercial.
One of the blonds slipped past security
And actually slapped mrs. Cutler.
Emily was there at the
commercial shoot?
Yeah. I guess by then She wasn't
letting the maestro out of her sight.
There was another woman there too...
Older, real bossy.
She knew who everyone was.
She was cal cutler's agent.
Her name was...
Was maude.
Maude monahan.
Yeah.
Cal cutler was my client.
Most of his costars too.
Cozy arrangement for everyone.
Except mrs. Cutler.
Hey, I liked emily.
But this was business.
Cal knew that nobody really cared
If he dressed up in a toga
or a clown suit For those tv spots.
The customers wanted to see blonds.
And you were more than happy
to supply them.
Those chickies begged
To bounce on those bedsprings.
You remember which chickie
attacked emily cutler?
After all these years?
You gotta be kidding me.
Well, some were...
Nuttier than the rest.
These three especially.
Jenny coswold,
Claire lockton,
Rita wills.
Jenny coswold.
She's the one who put the flowerpot
Through the cutlers' front window.
Whoo! Good job, honey!
Okay, so listen,
I was young and I was
stupid, all right?
I mean, still cringe
when I think about it.
Well, what did cal do
to make you so mad?
He promised that he'd
leave his wife for me.
And then he got me into bed.
And then he dumped you.
On my answering machine.
It turned out he was seeing
another one of cal's cuties.
Claire lockton.
Cal begged me not to arrest her.
- For what?
- She dropped a little firebomb
Down the cutlers' mail slot.
Please. My law firm
cannot know about that.
Or that I ever did those ads.
Can you just tell us why
you threatened emily cutler?
Well, because I hated her.
Cal told me the bitch
made him write the letter.
- What letter?
- The letter that
gave me the kiss-off.
So I put a little something
down his mail slot
That I knew he would never forget.
Thought I'd never forget her.
Rita wills.
She's the one who barged
into that tv studio
And slapped mrs. Cutler.
Well... The bitch
was keeping us apart.
So, yeah, I went over there.
Probably had a few pops
beforehand.
Because he convinced you That you
were the real love of his life.
Oh, I was.
Oh, the man loved
to sweet-talk.
Especially after hours
in his showroom.
But he was still married to emily.
And then she was murdered.
That snapped me back to reality.
I stopped acting.
Enrolled in law school.
I was a fool.
We all were.
The way he used us...
And the way I acted toward his wife.
So you regret the whole thing.
Regret?
What, are you kidding me?
Those commercials were my big break.
Would you mind if we took a dna swab
From inside your mouth?
It'll help us put some things
about this case to bed.
Of course.
Don't mind at all.
For you...
I'll even say...
Did any of them ever attack you?
Jenny... Spit at me. Missed.
Claire just dissolved into tears.
But rita...
Slapped me after she hit mrs. Cutler.
All three of them sound emotionally
immature And physically volatile.
Scary combination.
Scary enough to commit murder.
Obsessive love mixed with rejection
Can lead to explosive consequences.
And yet none of these women
Have committed a single crime
in the years since.
I ran 'em all... jenny, claire, rita.
I didn't even find a parking ticket.
It doesn't mean
that one of them didn't do it.
Some people commit murder under
very specific circumstances
And then never even
think about doing it again.
The difference between a killer
And a person who kills.
Well, the captain may be voting no,
But my vote is yes for rita.
That woman is cuckoo for cocoa puffs.
Could be jenny.
She admitted that she was
obsessed with emily cutler.
I'm inclined to agree.
Susan, anyone you like for it?
Intuition's a little rusty,
But since you ask...
Rita gets my vote.
Well, I guess that makes me
the tiebreaker.
I analyzed a swatch from the
mattress Emily cutler was killed on.
Samples showed her blood, of course,
But I also found
a different blood type,
And the dna is a perfect match to...
- Rita?
- Detective.
Well, I'm not surprised
you came back.
I saw the way
you looked at me.
A threesome.
And here I thought you were
a missionary position kinda guy.
- Want a drink?
- No, no.
And I think you've had enough too.
What are you, the sobriety police?
Rita, we need to talk. Inside.
No, no, no.
Out here is just fine.
Now, what's this about?
Cal cutler.
Well, I told you the whole sad story.
I loved him. He loved me.
And then he died.
Yeah, well, you left out the part
Where you killed his wife.
Oh, this conversation is over.
No, it's not.
Just stop it! Let me go!
- Rita, rita...
- I could...
- Kill you!
- Calm down.
- Calm down.
- Kill you...
Ah! Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
- I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.
- Yeah.
Just like you're
sorry for killing emily cutler.
Look, I'm sorry, okay?
I had a few drinks.
See...
When I have a few drinks,
I can, you know,
I can get a little crazy.
Well, if that's the reason
that you killed emily cutler,
I'm sure the courts will
take that into consideration.
Drunk or sober,
I didn't kill that bitch.
She got her hooks into cal,
And she just wouldn't let him go.
Are you sure that he wanted
to leave?
Yeah.
Yeah, he wanted to leave.
But he couldn't.
See, back then...
There were no prenups.
So cal cared more about
his money than you.
No.
He loved me.
He was gonna figure out
a way to just...
Stash some money
and divorce emily and marry me.
But he didn't.
And you got tired of waiting,
and you killed her.
That was the bedtime butcher.
It was in all the papers.
- Please!
- The papers were wrong,
and so were the cops.
A woman killed emily cutler.
And dna says it was you.
Dna?
What are you talking about?
Your blood was at the crime scene.
- I don't know how it got there.
- I'll tell you how it did.
While you were killing her,
While you were disfiguring her,
Copycatting the bedtime butcher,
Emily fought back. She kicked you.
She scratched you.
She did something to make you
bleed on that mattress.
Wait a minute. You found my blood...
On their bed, right?
I can explain that.
We're all ears.
Cal hated emily.
She knew about all those other
women, But she just...
Wouldn't let him go.
Cal was desperate to find a way
To change her mind.
And then he said that...
He needed my help.
And he said if iid it
that we could be together.
Oh, I didn't want to do it,
but, god, I loved him.
silly, but I just loved him so much.
Then... Oh...
We started drinking and, oh...
Finally I gave in, and I did it.
You killed her.
No!
No.
No. I made love to him...
In their bed.
See, cal...
Cal wanted her to come in on us
And realize that he
could never love her
As much as he loved me.
but then...
My friend came early.
What friend?
She's talking about her period.
I bled all over the sheets.
Cal was just so turned off he just...
He told me to leave and...
The blood must have
soaked into the...
Right onto the mattress.
You know that bitch
never came home?
- You buying this?
- 'bout as much as you are.
Oh, I can prove it.
Cal wanted me to...
Wanted me to throw
those sheets away.
I couldn't throw those away.
We made love on them.
So you're telling us that you saved
the sheets That were soaked in your
menstrual blood all this time?
Hey... Go and check
my apartment, all right?
See what you come up with.
She kept a dirty set of sheets
for 35 years
Because she screwed
her dead lover on them?
Well, we've seen stranger things.
Maybe not.
Ok, you know something? I am now
officially creeped out?
Mattress maestro memorabilia.
She kept everything...
his hat, a rose.
Look at all these cutouts.
Rita was way ahead
of the scrap booking craze.
In motion on one
of my water beds, well...
Newspaper ads...
Circulars...
Let me guess... she saved anything
and everything With cal's face on it.
Long as it wasn't with emily.
"die, bitch, die"?
Well, that's not all she had to say.
Just found her diary
about ten of 'em.
"cal,
"if only she would go away, we would
be free from this horrible prison.
"I will do whatever you ask
So that we can be together forever".
Dated ten days before the murder.
Tell me she wrote about that.
Not here. Maybe in one of
these other ones.
Liv...
I Think I found the sheets,
And they are definitely bloody...
Among other things.
"I killed for you, cal.
And now you don't want me?
Burn in hell, you monster".
Last entry.
Two weeks before cal
Burned to death in that car wreck.
Exhumation order's been drafted.
Warner will have cal cutler's body
On a slab by morning.
You really think he was murdered?
She confessed it in her diary.
Looks like your old friend
kamins was fooled twice.
He thought emily's killer
was the bedtime butcher
And that cal's death
was a dwi fatality.
And that was the criminal mastermind
Who foxed him?
Get a full confession.
Rita.
Rise and shine.
- Did you find the sheets?
- Oh, that and so much more.
See, I told you the truth.
Yeah. And your great love for cal...
a lie.
You were nothing but a piece
of ass on his to-do list.
- Well, that's not true!
- And when he blew you off,
You murdered him
just like you did his wife.
- No...
- Yes.
Truth's right here. You wrote it.
Oh, give me that. That's private.
"I didn't want to kill her...
"but you made me, cal, and now
"you want to throw our love away.
You'll pay for this".
- You have no right.
- Oh, we have every right.
You gave us consent to search your
apartment, And we found
your confession.
- It's not what you think.
- You killed emily cutler.
I did not kill emily!
I killed my baby!
I found out I was pregnant
Two weeks after emily was killed,
And I was so happy, I couldn't wait
To tell cal, 'cause we could be a
family. And it was everything
I ever dreamed of all my life.
But cal didn't want the baby.
He said that it was...
Too soon after emily
and that people would talk.
And then he said for me to...
"get rid of it".
it! It!
I didn't want to have an abortion.
God.
Then cal told me that we
could have another baby.
Then I got an infection in my uterus.
the doctor said...
I could never have another child...
You know...
And then cal said...
"it was god's plan".
And then he said it was over.
Can you believe that?
From what we know about him, yeah.
Oh, I wanted him to suffer...
Like I suffered.
So you killed him.
I did.
I did!
I said to him
that I wanted to meet him
One last time.
And then he had me meet him
in this crummy little bar,
Like he was ashamed
to be seen with me.
- So you got him drunk...
- Oh, yeah.
That was really hard, right?
Yeah, I got him drunk.
And we both were smashed,
and then we started fighting,
And they kicked us out.
And then I tried so hard
To get cal to change his mind
about us.
But he just got in his car,
and he left.
I never saw him again.
Rita, you said you killed him.
I did.
He was so drunk...
I should have taken his keys.
But I was so mad at him
That I let him go.
I loved him so much.
I loved him.
- Rita's telling the truth.
- Are you sure?
My findings are identical with the
original autopsy Done in 1976.
The deceased
showed impact injuries
Consistent with going off
a cliff at 45 miles per hour.
Suffered significant trauma
to the ribcage
When the steering column
snapped,
Then burned to death
in the ensuing fire.
So we disturbed cal cutler's
eternal rest for nothin'.
You didn't disturb cal at all.
- Speaking metaphorically.
- I mean it literally.
This isn't cal cutler.
Osteometrics on this man's femur
Indicate he was no taller than 5'8".
Cal cutler stood 6'2".
So who the hell is the crispy critter
here, And why is he in cal's coffin?
I can't tell you why,
but I can tell you who.
"james rogers. Age 44".
I ided him
from prison dental records.
He's a transient
who spent most of his life
Shuttling between rikers and
the prison ward at bellevue.
Who no one would miss
if he was buried as cal cutler.
Cutler faked his own death.
Where is he now?
And how'd he get this guy
into his car?
Let's start by asking the person
Who released rogers from custody
earlier that day.
You guys are intent On getting me
back on the force, aren't you?
Just a few more questions
about the emily cutler case.
- Like what?
- Like why you killed her.
Pardon me?
If you wanna start with why you
faked cal's death And move backwards,
that's fine too.
- Is this some kind of a joke?
- You see anyone laughing?
Though you've been laughing
for a long time, haven't you?
Thinking that you got away
with everything?
- Detective, whatever
it is you're up to,
- You're making a serious mistake.
- No. I don't think so.
I was a decorated police officer.
Purple shield,
meritorious police duty.
- Community service.
- Not 35 years ago.
You were a rookie back then,
and fallen madly in love With
the guy that you met on the beat.
I told you cal cutler was scum.
No, you told us
that you had stars in your eyes
And that he was the first
celebrity that you'd ever met.
He was tall, handsome,
on tv.
This is ridiculous.
It must have been
a real thrill, right?
Falling into bed...
With the mattress maestro?
Let me guess.
He told you
that you were the only one
And that he was
gonna leave his wife.
- I wasn't involved with him!
- Until you realized
That he was gonna hump you
and dump you Just like he did
all the others.
But you weren't like the others.
I mean, yes...
You did have blond hair.
but you were so much smarter
Than all those other bimbos.
Right?
They didn't deserve your man.
His wife didn't deserve your man.
All you had to do was get rid of her.
Emily cutler was killed
by the bedtime butcher!
That's what you made
everyone believe. You see...
You are smarter.
Oh, stop. Just stop!
And that was only step one.
You see, step two
was to get rid of
All those other sluts in cal's life,
Like rita wills.
I mean, come on, susan.
She was gonna have his baby.
You're embarrassing yourself,
benson!
Which is why you made cal believe
That he was going down
for emily's murder.
Burt kamins investigated him
and crossed him off his list.
But a good cop never tells
anyone they're off the hook
Until they have the real perp.
Now, you sit back down.
So what did you do?
You gaslit cal...
Convinced him that he was
suspect number one,
Top of kamins' list.
You had inside police information.
And the noose around cal
was tightening.
The only way out of this
was to fake his own death.
Oh, no one faked anything!
- Cal is dead.
- No. James rogers is dead.
Burnt to a crisp in cal's car.
So you and cal could live
the life that you wanted
Someplace else together forever.
Oh, yeah? Then why am I here?
And where is cal?
You dumb bitch!
If I was gonna run away
with cal, then why didn't we?
And where is cal?
He's in your apartment,
The one that you wouldn't let us in
Because painters were inside,
Where he's lived for 35 years,
hidden away.
Come on.
Cal.
- It's over.
- Oh, my god, Cal.
The car didn't burn up
like he'd planned,
So he went down to light it up,
got drenched in gasoline.
So a life together
becomes a life sentence.
But why would you stay?
She murdered your wife!
He really was gonna leave her.
I went to get his things.
She wasn't supposed
to be there,
And... I flew into a rage,
And it... it just happened.
It just happened.
He's felt complicit all these years.
He forgave me,
And I love him as much
as the day I met him.
We just wanted
to be together forever.
- Forever just ended.
- No.
- Yes.
- No!
- Susan delzio...
- No!
- You're under arrest.
- Oh, cal!
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say
- can and will Be used
- I love you, cal!
against you In a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford one,
one will be appointed to you.
Do you understand these rights
as I explained them to you?
Sexually based offenses are
considered especially heinous.
In new york city,
the dedicated detectives
Who investigate these vicious felonies
Are members of an elite squad
Known as
the special victims unit.
These are their stories.
I can't wait to see you too.
Okay. Bye.
My wife
is two minutes away.
You said she was at work.
Bitch like her,
she probably got fired.
You gotta get out of here.
Larry, what...
Are you serious?
- The fire escape?
- Angie, you gotta go now.
- It's snowing!
- I had fun. I'll call you.
But why do I have to leave?
This is the perfect chance
to come clean about us!
Angie, not now. Just go.
My wife will be here any second.
She's dead!
Calm down. Murder's not the answer.
No.
I mean her.
Jane whitmore. Age 30.
Core temp puts t.O.D. Somewhere
between 9:00 and 11:00 last night.
Well, there's no sign of forced entry.
She probably knew the guy.
Hands tied
with phone cord.
Perp violated her then cut
her throat.
He mark her up
before or after the rape?
Minimal blood loss.
I'd say he did it postmortem.
Bastard likes to sign his work.
Signature's all he left behind.
No fibers, fluids... nothing.
So what do we know about her?
My guess is an
investigative journalist.
Got a mike wire here,
Bunch of stories pitched
to magazines and newspapers.
She was recently paid
by under scrutiny magazine.
A lot of disconnected cables.
The laptop's missing.
Think the perp wanted
to kill her story too.
Jane is dead? Oh, my god.
Best freelancer I ever had.
She'd take any assignment...
the more dangerous, the better.
Knock it outta the park.
- Dangerous?
- Jane loved going undercover.
She wanted to live her stories.
Took a job at an after-hours
s&m club To expose sex traffickers.
Dated a heroin smuggler
To expose dealers
targeting young kids.
Almost got hooked herself
when she had to shoot up.
Magazine got a lotta good
copy for jane risking her life.
Must have made some enemies.
She got threats sometimes.
- I worried about her safety.
- But that didn't stop you
From hiring her again
six weeks ago.
What can I say?
She came to me all revved up, Pitched
me a great story on morris ostebow.
The hedge fund manager Who bilked
millions of dollars out of investors.
I lost about $10,000
to the prick myself.
And then he skated.
Eight months at club fed.
So when she said to me That he was
out and up to his old tricks again,
I gave her the go-ahead,
told her to tear him a new one.
- Did she?
- No idea.
I haven't talked to jane in a month.
I figured she was deep into it.
- So what was the last contact
that you did have with her?
An email.
She told me she was about
to meet up with ostebow
And to wish her luck.
ETERNAL PEACE MORTUARY
MONDAY, MARCH 1
Welcome to my new endeavor.
Pet funerals?
Sensitively arranged to
memorial services
For beloved animal companions.
Cremation
for a nominal extra fee.
Ok. So in other words,
you take people's dead dogs,
You dump 'em in the hudson,
Then you charge them a couple grand
For fido's fake funeral
And a tin can
full of fireplace ash?
Pardon me?
Well, the name ostebow Does not
exactly inspire consumer confidence.
I'm well aware that my credibility
Has taken a hit in recent years.
But I turned my life around
in prison through pet therapy.
And eternal peace
is your way of giving back.
We're fully licensed and legit.
Well, jane whitmore didn't think so.
She was a bitch.
Because she started snooping around,
- Found out your new scam here?
- Because she lied.
She took advantage of me
personally.
- So you two dated.
- She threw herself at me.
When she finally realized
I was on the up and up,
- She dumped me.
- So the breakup
was the last time you saw her?
She called me one more time.
She wanted the address for
the sober living house
I was assigned to after prison.
Those places are pretty typical.
Piss in a cup,
group therapy, curfew?
Not harmony home.
Place is a pit.
Men use it for a crack den
And the women use it to turn tricks.
- So she smelled a story.
- And she checked in to check it out.
Journalist? Broad told me she was a
basehead Just out of her ninth rehab.
Yeah. And your website says You offer
a safe, secure environment for healing.
Hey, you think it's easy
running a joint like this?
People land in here from the courts,
salvation army.
Some I gotta scrape off the street.
And give them a roof to get
high under.
We got our problems,
but I run a strict house here.
I got nothing to hide.
How long was jane a resident?
Ten days, maybe.
She wouldn't have stuck around For ten
minutes if there wasn't a story here.
the lady was a nutjob, okay?
Jiggling doorknobs,
getting in people's faces.
She come in with her groceries, right?
Put it in her assigned cupboard.
I never saw her eat.
Organic soup.
Wow. Imported pasta.
- This woman shops better than I do.
- Hey, get away from there.
That don't belong to you!
Hey... We'll be the judge of that.
like I never seen a fake badge.
That one ain't even convincing.
Now get the hell away from our food.
- "our" food?
- Yeah. It's mine and janie's.
Well, hers mainly.
But she shares with me.
Not that I'm a big eater.
I watch my figure.
We didn't catch your name.
What is it?
What, I gotta write it down for you?
It's francine.
Okay, well, francine,
all that food in there...
Now belongs to you.
She flew the coop?
Permanently.
Oh, god. I knew she was gonna
get herself in trouble here.
Wow, why do you say that?
Didn't people like her?
No. They didn't trust her.
She said she'd been down the hole
a bunch Like the rest of us,
but I could tell she was green.
She didn't fit in here.
So jane gave you food,
And you took her under your wing.
Yeah, I mean, as much as I could.
Place like this,
you gotta know the rules...
Who to talk to and how
to protect your valuables.
Now, when janie was here,
- Who'd she talk to?
- No one.
I made sure of it.
Well, except for
the grabby jerk down in welfare.
She said she wanted
to talk to him alone.
This grabby jerk...
was he a caseworker?
Yeah. He handles
most every woman here.
You want your benefits, You gotta let
him stick his tongue down your throat.
Last time I saw janie,
she was headed off to see him.
"Ned Bogden.
"senior benefits administrator. New
York bureau of public assistance.
54. Single. Lives in queens
with his mother".
That's suspicious right there.
Civil servant since '76.
Solid annual reviews.
There's not a single complaint
from a client in his file.
In over 30 years? Strike two.
You think our man knows
his way around a shredder?
You don't get that kind of confidence
From being a snazzy dresser.
Well, if bogden is
a kiss-up, kick-down kinda guy,
He is kissing up to the right people.
Commendation from the mayor.
Half a dozen meritorious service
awards From the city council.
Employee of the year
six times.
So in other words, How are we gonna
take a run at an entrenched bureaucrat
With powerful friends?
On the word of a recovering meth
addict Who couldn't make you as cops
- even after you'd tendered.
- Captain,
this hump is not your garden-variety
rapist. Look what he did to her.
- He carved that woman up.
- Understood.
But we take a swing at bogden
and miss,
It'll be our asses on his plate.
So we won't miss.
WELFARE BENEFITS BUREAU
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
I don't know what to do.
My boyfriend kicked me out.
He shoots dope.
I don't know if I'm allowed
to say that.
I swear to god, I don't.
I don't know where
I'm gonna go,
And I don't have any money
to buy food.
Please, I'm...
In a lotta trouble.
Well, it's lucky you found me...
Right?
Right.
Okay. Well, look... Here.
Just... Fill this out,
And we'll get the ball rolling
and your food stamps.
Okay. Thanks.
This is really confusing.
Past...
Three employers?
I can't remember all this stuff.
Well, just put down what you can.
How long before I...
Before I get a check?
Well, first things first.
I mean, you know,
fill out your name right there.
Okay.
Because I... I...
Are you sure that I'm
gonna qualify for this? Because...
I really need to eat, and I haven't.
I've been on the street
for three days.
Just do everything I say...
And I guarantee it.
Okay. Fill in your name right there.
Okay.
Yeah. And your most recent
home address.
See? That's a good girl.
That's a good girl.
And... Here where it says employer?
Well, just jot down
your last job, whatever.
That's an easy one.
Special...
Victims...
Unit.
Did I not mention that?
You're a cop!
And you... Are a creep!
Addicts have no advocates.
It's my duty to welcome them
with open arms.
As long as they respond
with open legs.
I never force myself on any woman.
You just screw 'em over
if they don't put out.
Oh, please!
I'm a professional.
These women are desperate,
and I'm they're savior.
Why wouldn't they come on to me?
I can put a roof over their
heads and food in their mouths.
- Among other things.
- Have I had offers?
Sure.
And I've turned down every one.
So your hand on my breast
was just a...
Happy accident?
I can't help it
if you moved the wrong way.
She an accident too?
That's horrible.
What are you showing me that for?
Psychopaths
love to admire their work.
And relive their crimes.
Jane whitmore.
She told you her sob story,
and you went into action.
Little backrub, huh?
Your hands found their way
down her blouse,
And you felt the wire
she was wearing.
You people are sick.
Jane was gonna tell the world
what a sleazebag you are.
But no woman is gonna
play ned bogden for a fool.
So you branded her and you put
your signature on her face.
So "x" marks the spot
where ned bogden
Stopped jane whitmore
from exposing to the world
What a weak, limp...
Nothing of a man that you are.
You oughta be writing fiction...
Because that's one whopper
of a story.
Look, detective...
This guy's m.O. Ring a bell, doc?
He's not the first rapist
to disfigure his victim.
But he's the first in 30 years To
carve an "x" into a woman's cheek.
Do you get me?
You know, El, in my experience...
It's guys who brag about
their conquests
That usually fall a little
short below the belt.
You don't know what
you're talking about.
The truth hurts.
And jane was gonna splash it
all over the front page.
Course, they'd have to use
small print.
You followed her home.
You waited until she opened the door
to her apartment,
And then you blitzed her.
You tied her up with a phone cord.
You raped her.
And then you went
into the kitchen...
And you got a serrated knife,
And you slashed her throat.
And carved an "x" in her face
To say good night.
I know who you are,
you son of a bitch.
The bedtime butcher?
- Five rape/murders
back in the mid-'70s.
Exact same m.O.
Women attacked in bed Always
between 9:00 and 12:00
and always carved up.
This is the guy who terrorized
the bronx, right?
Buddy of mine, albert kamins, worked
it day and night. Could never nail him.
Maybe kamins can help us.
Well, not without a ouija board.
Heart attack at his desk.
The case was too much for him?
No. Bad genes.
His dad died young too.
But he put together
a ton of evidence.
Okay, well, we'll pick up
where he left off.
Then put this bastard away
once and for all.
The bedtime butcher's
first attack was in 1973.
His last, until jane whitmore,
was '76.
Serial rapists
don't just quit cold turkey.
Some do... If they found another
outlet To channel their rage.
Ned bogden got hired
at welfare in '76,
Three months after
the last woman was murdered.
He didn't need to rape
and kill anymore.
He got his jollies making needy women
put out In return for food and shelter.
Instead of terrorizing
women in their apartments,
He terrorized them
from across a desk.
Until jane caught him with his pants
down, And he killed her to shut her up.
Do we have any dna
from the first five cases?
Back in the mid-'70s it wasn't being
used. Besides, the rapes stopped.
Kamins died. Case died with him.
We'll pull all the old evidence, Get it
over to warner if it's still there.
Warner didn't find any dna
on jane whitmore.
Well, if we can't forensically link
bogden to any of these old murders,
we're rewed.
There's no way an arrogant
bastard like that Is gonna confess.
Unless you trick him into it.
Ned bogden didn't pick his
first five victims randomly.
Each one of them did something
to set him off, li jane did.
Find his connection to each victim,
And he might crack.
Gloria kelly.
- Murdered September, 1973.
- Who?
You tended bar for
a catering companyhe hired.
She was rich.
You had to work for her.
Your boss says that you were fired
After you mouthed off to her?
Bitch made me hose down
the patio three times
Till I got it right.
Elizabeth giles. December, 1974.
You were a substitute teacher
at the private school
Where her daughter attended.
She broke the rules Trying to grease
her little brat's way into harvard.
And you could barely afford
community college.
Well, that doesn't have
anything to do with anything.
Anne witherspoon.
Murdered February, 1975.
Now, she won a postdoc
that you applied for.
Emily cutler.
Murdered April, 1976.
She lived in a luxury building
Around the corner from
your rent-controlled hovel.
She had a doorman. You had a
broken-dow railroad flat.
Probably what... with a broken
toilet, One window in the back?
- Catherine price.
- October, 1976.
You both ran in a road running
club together?
She dusted you in every race.
You two and your big theories...
But your whole case falls apart
if one link snaps.
Well, guess what. Emily cutler...
don't know her. Never met her.
She was killed The same sick way
you killed the others.
Wanna bet, miss wise ass?
April, 1976. I was in cheyenne,
wyoming at a men's retreat.
And I can prove it.
Can you prove you didn't leave dandruff
All over jane whitmore's body?
Hey! What are you doing?
Give me that back?
Hey, you're in my custody.
I can take whatever I want.
You should wash your hair
more often, ass wipe.
You're cooked. See you in sing sing.
Well, that doesn't
prove anything!
I had sex with her,
but I didn't kill her.
I didn't kill any of those bitches!
I have an alibi.
I was in cheyenne!
Here's the dna from the dandruff
From jane whitmore's body
And the dna from ned bogden's comb.
Identical.
He's already claiming
they had consensual sex.
He's gonna have hard time claiming
it's consensual For the other women.
Mr. Bogden's
been shedding for years.
I found his flakes all over
the victims' clothing.
Great work. Case closed.
Almost.
You check bogden's alibi
for emily cutler yet?
Still working on it. Why?
I think he really was in cheyenne.
- Wait... you just said...
- you didn't let me finish.
There was no dandruff
on emily's clothes.
And there's no way ned bogden
could have killed her.
- How do you know that?
- Emily was a redhead.
I found one blond hair
on her nightgown.
It was degraded,
so I couldn't do a full profile,
But I can tell you
one thing for sure.
Two "x" chromosomes
mark the spot.
Emily cutler was murdered
by a woman.
That is great news.
- Okay. Thank you.
- D.A.?
He just arraigned ned bogden
as the bedtime butcher.
Son of a bitch is going down hard.
Yeah. But for only five
of the six murders.
Yeah. Emily cutler's
still an open case.
All these years...
A copycat used the bedtime
butcher to cover her tracks.
I gotta tell you, I never would have
pegged a woman for it.
You surprised by a killer woman?
Try missing an anniversary.
Still... One that
plans murders is pretty rare.
It wouldn't have been that hard For
anyone to mimic the butcher's m.O.
Papers went out of their way
to publish the gory details.
I'm not sure how much we're
gonna find In kamins' files now.
He was looking for a male perp.
All right,
let's focus on the victim.
Who were the women
in emily cutler's life?
Well, turns out
there were quite a few...
All of them connected
by her husband cal, Also known as...
I'm the mattress maestro,
And I got a deal for you.
I stock every mattress,
every kind, every size.
Bedding, box springs,
cases and comforters.
If you can sleep on it
or do anything else on it,
The mattress maestro has it.
I'm moving merchandise
like never before,
So stampede on down here
And let me rope you into...
The savings of a lifetime.
I don't know if you remember,
But cal cutler was a bit of a local
celebrity Back in the mid-'70s.
His ads were on every
five minutes on channel 11.
Once you get that ocean in motion
On one of my water beds,
Well, in nine months, you're gonna
need a baby bed And guess what.
I got those too.
I bet he was still bouncing
With those blonds
long after the camera stopped.
Emily cutler thought so.
More than a dozen domestic disturbance
calls From the cutler residence
Within the year
that she was murdered.
Here's one with emily saying, quote,
"one of my husband's
whores is outside".
And then, "another slut is here
drunk, Threatening to beat me up".
Burt kamins
must have known about those.
He just never dug deep because
he didn't suspect a woman.
So "the maestro" couldn't
keep his baton in his pants.
Let's go talk to him,
see if he remembers Which
one of these mattress tramps
- Had it in for the missus.
- Well, take a shovel.
Cal cutler died
in a drunk driving accident
Eight months after
his wife was murdered.
- Burned to death.
- Great.
Everyone who can give us information
on the case Is 6 feet under.
Well, hold on.
What about this susan delzio?
She's the patrol cop who responded
To almost every one of these calls.
APARTMENT OF SUSAN DELZIO
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
Susan delzio?
Cops.
I know cops when I see 'em.
Okay. I'm benson.
He's stabler.
We're from
special victims unit.
- Was there a rape?
- And a murder. About 30 years ago.
You had some involvement
with the victim.
We were hoping
to pick your brain.
Of course.
Pedro.
Stepping out for a moment.
I have painters working inside.
Started dabbling in sculpture
right after I retired,
So I'm converting one
of my bedrooms into a studio.
So there is life
after the job... good to know.
Susan, do you remember a man
named cal cutler?
The mattress maestro?
Oh, of course.
First celebrity I ever met.
I was fresh out of the academy, And
I'd never met anybody
who was on tv.
Of course, he turned out to be a jerk,
Always stepping out on his wife.
Who had 9-1-1 on speed dial.
Yeah. Called us
pretty much every weekend.
About as often as it took
cutler to change girlfriends.
Any of them, you know, threaten her?
Well, they kicked the door,
broke some flower pots.
A few of them got really nasty,
Yelling that emily didn't deserve him.
Right. And how'd the maestro
react to all that?
Well, he always put on a big show
for his wife Like he was pissed, and
Then he'd tell us to just
get the girls out of there.
Never filed charges.
We're looking for
these women's names.
Oh, sorry.
I ditched my memo books
years ago.
All I can tell you
is every time I showed up,
It was a new one...
Always blond and always built.
Except the last one.
- The last woman was different?
- No, the last call.
It wasn't to the house.
It was to a tv studio where
he was shooting a commercial.
One of the blonds slipped past security
And actually slapped mrs. Cutler.
Emily was there at the
commercial shoot?
Yeah. I guess by then She wasn't
letting the maestro out of her sight.
There was another woman there too...
Older, real bossy.
She knew who everyone was.
She was cal cutler's agent.
Her name was...
Was maude.
Maude monahan.
Yeah.
Cal cutler was my client.
Most of his costars too.
Cozy arrangement for everyone.
Except mrs. Cutler.
Hey, I liked emily.
But this was business.
Cal knew that nobody really cared
If he dressed up in a toga
or a clown suit For those tv spots.
The customers wanted to see blonds.
And you were more than happy
to supply them.
Those chickies begged
To bounce on those bedsprings.
You remember which chickie
attacked emily cutler?
After all these years?
You gotta be kidding me.
Well, some were...
Nuttier than the rest.
These three especially.
Jenny coswold,
Claire lockton,
Rita wills.
Jenny coswold.
She's the one who put the flowerpot
Through the cutlers' front window.
Whoo! Good job, honey!
Okay, so listen,
I was young and I was
stupid, all right?
I mean, still cringe
when I think about it.
Well, what did cal do
to make you so mad?
He promised that he'd
leave his wife for me.
And then he got me into bed.
And then he dumped you.
On my answering machine.
It turned out he was seeing
another one of cal's cuties.
Claire lockton.
Cal begged me not to arrest her.
- For what?
- She dropped a little firebomb
Down the cutlers' mail slot.
Please. My law firm
cannot know about that.
Or that I ever did those ads.
Can you just tell us why
you threatened emily cutler?
Well, because I hated her.
Cal told me the bitch
made him write the letter.
- What letter?
- The letter that
gave me the kiss-off.
So I put a little something
down his mail slot
That I knew he would never forget.
Thought I'd never forget her.
Rita wills.
She's the one who barged
into that tv studio
And slapped mrs. Cutler.
Well... The bitch
was keeping us apart.
So, yeah, I went over there.
Probably had a few pops
beforehand.
Because he convinced you That you
were the real love of his life.
Oh, I was.
Oh, the man loved
to sweet-talk.
Especially after hours
in his showroom.
But he was still married to emily.
And then she was murdered.
That snapped me back to reality.
I stopped acting.
Enrolled in law school.
I was a fool.
We all were.
The way he used us...
And the way I acted toward his wife.
So you regret the whole thing.
Regret?
What, are you kidding me?
Those commercials were my big break.
Would you mind if we took a dna swab
From inside your mouth?
It'll help us put some things
about this case to bed.
Of course.
Don't mind at all.
For you...
I'll even say...
Did any of them ever attack you?
Jenny... Spit at me. Missed.
Claire just dissolved into tears.
But rita...
Slapped me after she hit mrs. Cutler.
All three of them sound emotionally
immature And physically volatile.
Scary combination.
Scary enough to commit murder.
Obsessive love mixed with rejection
Can lead to explosive consequences.
And yet none of these women
Have committed a single crime
in the years since.
I ran 'em all... jenny, claire, rita.
I didn't even find a parking ticket.
It doesn't mean
that one of them didn't do it.
Some people commit murder under
very specific circumstances
And then never even
think about doing it again.
The difference between a killer
And a person who kills.
Well, the captain may be voting no,
But my vote is yes for rita.
That woman is cuckoo for cocoa puffs.
Could be jenny.
She admitted that she was
obsessed with emily cutler.
I'm inclined to agree.
Susan, anyone you like for it?
Intuition's a little rusty,
But since you ask...
Rita gets my vote.
Well, I guess that makes me
the tiebreaker.
I analyzed a swatch from the
mattress Emily cutler was killed on.
Samples showed her blood, of course,
But I also found
a different blood type,
And the dna is a perfect match to...
- Rita?
- Detective.
Well, I'm not surprised
you came back.
I saw the way
you looked at me.
A threesome.
And here I thought you were
a missionary position kinda guy.
- Want a drink?
- No, no.
And I think you've had enough too.
What are you, the sobriety police?
Rita, we need to talk. Inside.
No, no, no.
Out here is just fine.
Now, what's this about?
Cal cutler.
Well, I told you the whole sad story.
I loved him. He loved me.
And then he died.
Yeah, well, you left out the part
Where you killed his wife.
Oh, this conversation is over.
No, it's not.
Just stop it! Let me go!
- Rita, rita...
- I could...
- Kill you!
- Calm down.
- Calm down.
- Kill you...
Ah! Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
- I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.
- Yeah.
Just like you're
sorry for killing emily cutler.
Look, I'm sorry, okay?
I had a few drinks.
See...
When I have a few drinks,
I can, you know,
I can get a little crazy.
Well, if that's the reason
that you killed emily cutler,
I'm sure the courts will
take that into consideration.
Drunk or sober,
I didn't kill that bitch.
She got her hooks into cal,
And she just wouldn't let him go.
Are you sure that he wanted
to leave?
Yeah.
Yeah, he wanted to leave.
But he couldn't.
See, back then...
There were no prenups.
So cal cared more about
his money than you.
No.
He loved me.
He was gonna figure out
a way to just...
Stash some money
and divorce emily and marry me.
But he didn't.
And you got tired of waiting,
and you killed her.
That was the bedtime butcher.
It was in all the papers.
- Please!
- The papers were wrong,
and so were the cops.
A woman killed emily cutler.
And dna says it was you.
Dna?
What are you talking about?
Your blood was at the crime scene.
- I don't know how it got there.
- I'll tell you how it did.
While you were killing her,
While you were disfiguring her,
Copycatting the bedtime butcher,
Emily fought back. She kicked you.
She scratched you.
She did something to make you
bleed on that mattress.
Wait a minute. You found my blood...
On their bed, right?
I can explain that.
We're all ears.
Cal hated emily.
She knew about all those other
women, But she just...
Wouldn't let him go.
Cal was desperate to find a way
To change her mind.
And then he said that...
He needed my help.
And he said if iid it
that we could be together.
Oh, I didn't want to do it,
but, god, I loved him.
silly, but I just loved him so much.
Then... Oh...
We started drinking and, oh...
Finally I gave in, and I did it.
You killed her.
No!
No.
No. I made love to him...
In their bed.
See, cal...
Cal wanted her to come in on us
And realize that he
could never love her
As much as he loved me.
but then...
My friend came early.
What friend?
She's talking about her period.
I bled all over the sheets.
Cal was just so turned off he just...
He told me to leave and...
The blood must have
soaked into the...
Right onto the mattress.
You know that bitch
never came home?
- You buying this?
- 'bout as much as you are.
Oh, I can prove it.
Cal wanted me to...
Wanted me to throw
those sheets away.
I couldn't throw those away.
We made love on them.
So you're telling us that you saved
the sheets That were soaked in your
menstrual blood all this time?
Hey... Go and check
my apartment, all right?
See what you come up with.
She kept a dirty set of sheets
for 35 years
Because she screwed
her dead lover on them?
Well, we've seen stranger things.
Maybe not.
Ok, you know something? I am now
officially creeped out?
Mattress maestro memorabilia.
She kept everything...
his hat, a rose.
Look at all these cutouts.
Rita was way ahead
of the scrap booking craze.
In motion on one
of my water beds, well...
Newspaper ads...
Circulars...
Let me guess... she saved anything
and everything With cal's face on it.
Long as it wasn't with emily.
"die, bitch, die"?
Well, that's not all she had to say.
Just found her diary
about ten of 'em.
"cal,
"if only she would go away, we would
be free from this horrible prison.
"I will do whatever you ask
So that we can be together forever".
Dated ten days before the murder.
Tell me she wrote about that.
Not here. Maybe in one of
these other ones.
Liv...
I Think I found the sheets,
And they are definitely bloody...
Among other things.
"I killed for you, cal.
And now you don't want me?
Burn in hell, you monster".
Last entry.
Two weeks before cal
Burned to death in that car wreck.
Exhumation order's been drafted.
Warner will have cal cutler's body
On a slab by morning.
You really think he was murdered?
She confessed it in her diary.
Looks like your old friend
kamins was fooled twice.
He thought emily's killer
was the bedtime butcher
And that cal's death
was a dwi fatality.
And that was the criminal mastermind
Who foxed him?
Get a full confession.
Rita.
Rise and shine.
- Did you find the sheets?
- Oh, that and so much more.
See, I told you the truth.
Yeah. And your great love for cal...
a lie.
You were nothing but a piece
of ass on his to-do list.
- Well, that's not true!
- And when he blew you off,
You murdered him
just like you did his wife.
- No...
- Yes.
Truth's right here. You wrote it.
Oh, give me that. That's private.
"I didn't want to kill her...
"but you made me, cal, and now
"you want to throw our love away.
You'll pay for this".
- You have no right.
- Oh, we have every right.
You gave us consent to search your
apartment, And we found
your confession.
- It's not what you think.
- You killed emily cutler.
I did not kill emily!
I killed my baby!
I found out I was pregnant
Two weeks after emily was killed,
And I was so happy, I couldn't wait
To tell cal, 'cause we could be a
family. And it was everything
I ever dreamed of all my life.
But cal didn't want the baby.
He said that it was...
Too soon after emily
and that people would talk.
And then he said for me to...
"get rid of it".
it! It!
I didn't want to have an abortion.
God.
Then cal told me that we
could have another baby.
Then I got an infection in my uterus.
the doctor said...
I could never have another child...
You know...
And then cal said...
"it was god's plan".
And then he said it was over.
Can you believe that?
From what we know about him, yeah.
Oh, I wanted him to suffer...
Like I suffered.
So you killed him.
I did.
I did!
I said to him
that I wanted to meet him
One last time.
And then he had me meet him
in this crummy little bar,
Like he was ashamed
to be seen with me.
- So you got him drunk...
- Oh, yeah.
That was really hard, right?
Yeah, I got him drunk.
And we both were smashed,
and then we started fighting,
And they kicked us out.
And then I tried so hard
To get cal to change his mind
about us.
But he just got in his car,
and he left.
I never saw him again.
Rita, you said you killed him.
I did.
He was so drunk...
I should have taken his keys.
But I was so mad at him
That I let him go.
I loved him so much.
I loved him.
- Rita's telling the truth.
- Are you sure?
My findings are identical with the
original autopsy Done in 1976.
The deceased
showed impact injuries
Consistent with going off
a cliff at 45 miles per hour.
Suffered significant trauma
to the ribcage
When the steering column
snapped,
Then burned to death
in the ensuing fire.
So we disturbed cal cutler's
eternal rest for nothin'.
You didn't disturb cal at all.
- Speaking metaphorically.
- I mean it literally.
This isn't cal cutler.
Osteometrics on this man's femur
Indicate he was no taller than 5'8".
Cal cutler stood 6'2".
So who the hell is the crispy critter
here, And why is he in cal's coffin?
I can't tell you why,
but I can tell you who.
"james rogers. Age 44".
I ided him
from prison dental records.
He's a transient
who spent most of his life
Shuttling between rikers and
the prison ward at bellevue.
Who no one would miss
if he was buried as cal cutler.
Cutler faked his own death.
Where is he now?
And how'd he get this guy
into his car?
Let's start by asking the person
Who released rogers from custody
earlier that day.
You guys are intent On getting me
back on the force, aren't you?
Just a few more questions
about the emily cutler case.
- Like what?
- Like why you killed her.
Pardon me?
If you wanna start with why you
faked cal's death And move backwards,
that's fine too.
- Is this some kind of a joke?
- You see anyone laughing?
Though you've been laughing
for a long time, haven't you?
Thinking that you got away
with everything?
- Detective, whatever
it is you're up to,
- You're making a serious mistake.
- No. I don't think so.
I was a decorated police officer.
Purple shield,
meritorious police duty.
- Community service.
- Not 35 years ago.
You were a rookie back then,
and fallen madly in love With
the guy that you met on the beat.
I told you cal cutler was scum.
No, you told us
that you had stars in your eyes
And that he was the first
celebrity that you'd ever met.
He was tall, handsome,
on tv.
This is ridiculous.
It must have been
a real thrill, right?
Falling into bed...
With the mattress maestro?
Let me guess.
He told you
that you were the only one
And that he was
gonna leave his wife.
- I wasn't involved with him!
- Until you realized
That he was gonna hump you
and dump you Just like he did
all the others.
But you weren't like the others.
I mean, yes...
You did have blond hair.
but you were so much smarter
Than all those other bimbos.
Right?
They didn't deserve your man.
His wife didn't deserve your man.
All you had to do was get rid of her.
Emily cutler was killed
by the bedtime butcher!
That's what you made
everyone believe. You see...
You are smarter.
Oh, stop. Just stop!
And that was only step one.
You see, step two
was to get rid of
All those other sluts in cal's life,
Like rita wills.
I mean, come on, susan.
She was gonna have his baby.
You're embarrassing yourself,
benson!
Which is why you made cal believe
That he was going down
for emily's murder.
Burt kamins investigated him
and crossed him off his list.
But a good cop never tells
anyone they're off the hook
Until they have the real perp.
Now, you sit back down.
So what did you do?
You gaslit cal...
Convinced him that he was
suspect number one,
Top of kamins' list.
You had inside police information.
And the noose around cal
was tightening.
The only way out of this
was to fake his own death.
Oh, no one faked anything!
- Cal is dead.
- No. James rogers is dead.
Burnt to a crisp in cal's car.
So you and cal could live
the life that you wanted
Someplace else together forever.
Oh, yeah? Then why am I here?
And where is cal?
You dumb bitch!
If I was gonna run away
with cal, then why didn't we?
And where is cal?
He's in your apartment,
The one that you wouldn't let us in
Because painters were inside,
Where he's lived for 35 years,
hidden away.
Come on.
Cal.
- It's over.
- Oh, my god, Cal.
The car didn't burn up
like he'd planned,
So he went down to light it up,
got drenched in gasoline.
So a life together
becomes a life sentence.
But why would you stay?
She murdered your wife!
He really was gonna leave her.
I went to get his things.
She wasn't supposed
to be there,
And... I flew into a rage,
And it... it just happened.
It just happened.
He's felt complicit all these years.
He forgave me,
And I love him as much
as the day I met him.
We just wanted
to be together forever.
- Forever just ended.
- No.
- Yes.
- No!
- Susan delzio...
- No!
- You're under arrest.
- Oh, cal!
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say
- can and will Be used
- I love you, cal!
against you In a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford one,
one will be appointed to you.
Do you understand these rights
as I explained them to you?