Guides · 227 real cases

Real Cases Behind the Episodes, A to Z

Look up a real crime, trial or scandal and find every episode that drew on it. 227 real cases lie behind 238 episodes of Criminal Minds, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Cases told more than once

Robert Durst: Law & Order S14E17 “Hands Free” (2004); Law & Order: SVU S17E1 “Devil's Dissections” (2015); Law & Order: SVU S17E2 “Criminal Pathology” (2015)
Bill Cosby: Law & Order: SVU S17E16 “Star-Struck Victims” (2016); Law & Order S21E1 “The Right Thing” (2022)
Harvey Weinstein: Law & Order: SVU S19E11 “Flight Risk” (2018); Law & Order: SVU S21E1 “I'm Going to Make You a Star” (2019)
JonBenét Ramsey: Law & Order S8E6 “Baby, It's You” (1997); Law & Order: SVU S4E19 “Appearances” (2003)
“Kids for cash”: Law & Order: SVU S10E20 “Crush” (2009); Law & Order: SVU S15E12 “Jersey Breakdown” (2014)
Kitty Genovese: Law & Order S6E10 “Remand” (1996); Law & Order: SVU S17E13 “Forty-One Witnesses” (2016)
The Menendez brothers: Law & Order S1E19 “The Serpent's Tooth” (1991); Law & Order: SVU S9E1 “Alternate” (2007)
NXIVM: Law & Order: SVU S20E5 “Accredo” (2018); Law & Order S22E18 “Collateral Damage” (2023)
Pizzagate: Law & Order: SVU S18E17 “Real Fake News” (2017); Law & Order S21E5 “Free Speech” (2022)
Sean “Diddy” Combs: Law & Order S24E1 “Catch and Kill” (2024); Law & Order S24E10 “Greater Good” (2025)

Jump to a letter

#

The 2000 Central Park attacks: Law & Order S11E11 “Sunday in the Park with Jorge” (2001)

A

Abby Zwerner: Law & Order S24E5 “Report Card” (2024)
Abu Ghraib: Law & Order S15E1 “Paradigm” (2004)
Adrienne Shelly: Law & Order S17E15 “Melting Pot” (2007)
AI fake nudes and the Tarasoff rule: Law & Order S25E2 “Hindsight” (2025)
Aileen Wuornos: Law & Order: SVU S4E1 “Chameleon” (2002)
Alex Dale Morris: Law & Order S2E5 “God Bless the Child” (1991)
The Alexander brothers: Law & Order: SVU S27E6 “Under the Influence” (2025)
“Amy Unknown” and Paroline v. United States: Law & Order: SVU S15E19 “Downloaded Child” (2014)
Andrea Robin Skinner and Alice Munro: Law & Order S24E12 “Duty to Protect” (2025)
Andrew Cunanan: Law & Order S8E13 “Castoff” (1998)
Andrew Luster: Law & Order: SVU S10E10 “Smut” (2008)
Andrew Tate: Law & Order S24E9 “Enemy of the State” (2025)
Anne Pressly, Bernard Madoff and Larry Mendte: Law & Order S19E17 “Anchors Away” (2009)
Anthony Riggs: Law & Order S5E21 “Purple Heart” (1995)
Anthony Weiner: Law & Order: SVU S15E6 “October Surprise” (2013)
Apple v. FBI: Law & Order: SVU S18E1 “Terrorized” (2016)
Ariel Castro: Law & Order: SVU S15E2 “Imprisoned Lives” (2013)
Arizona v. Fulminante: Law & Order S2E1 “Confession” (1991)
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s secret son: Law & Order: SVU S13E3 “Blood Brothers” (2011)
The attack on Paul Pelosi: Law & Order S24E7 “Truth and Consequences” (2024)

B

Belle Knox: Law & Order: SVU S16E5 “Pornstar's Requiem” (2014)
Bernard Kerik: Law & Order S15E21 “Publish and Perish” (2005)
Bernhard Goetz: Law & Order S1E2 “Subterranean Homeboy Blues” (1990)
Betty Broderick: Law & Order S2E2 “The Wages of Love” (1991)
Bill Cosby: Law & Order: SVU S17E16 “Star-Struck Victims” (2016); Law & Order S21E1 “The Right Thing” (2022)
Bill Sparkman: Law & Order S20E11 “Fed” (2009)
The Black Doodler: Law & Order: SVU S14E12 “Criminal Hatred” (2013)
Bob Lee: Law & Order S23E2 “Human Innovations” (2024)
Bonnie Garland: Law & Order S3E3 “Forgiveness” (1992)
Bonny Lee Bakley: Law & Order S12E6 “Formerly Famous” (2001)
The “boy in the box”: Law & Order: SVU S7E7 “Name” (2005)
The brain-tumor offender: Law & Order: SVU S5E25 “Head” (2004)
Brian Thompson and Luigi Mangione: Law & Order S24E16 “Folk Hero” (2025)
Britney Spears’s conservatorship: Law & Order S21E4 “Fault Lines” (2022)
Brock Turner: Law & Order: SVU S18E5 “Rape Interrupted” (2016)
The BTK Killer: Law & Order: SVU S6E4 “Scavenger” (2004)
The Buried Bodies Case: Law & Order S14E1 “Bodies” (2003)
Béla Károlyi: Law & Order: SVU S2E9 “Pixies” (2001)

C

Cameron Todd Willingham: Law & Order: SVU S11E21 “Torch” (2010)
The Carnegie Deli shooting: Law & Order S13E4 “Tragedy on Rye” (2002)
Cartel training camps: Law & Order S20E7 “Boy Gone Astray” (2009)
Casey Kasem’s family: Law & Order: SVU S16E16 “December Solstice” (2015)
Caylee Anthony: Law & Order: SVU S10E19 “Selfish” (2009)
Cecil Jacobson: Law & Order S5E15 “Seed” (1995)
The Central Park birdwatcher and George Floyd: Law & Order: SVU S22E1 “Guardians and Gladiators” (2020)
Chante Mallard: Law & Order S14E11 “Darwinian” (2004)
Charlie Gard: Law & Order: SVU S19E13 “The Undiscovered Country” (2018)
The Charlottesville rally: Law & Order: SVU S19E12 “Info Wars” (2018)
The Cheshire home invasion: Law & Order: SVU S17E11 “Townhouse Incident” (2016)
Chris Andersen’s catfishing case: Law & Order: SVU S19E8 “Intent” (2017)
Chris Brown and Rihanna: Law & Order: SVU S14E16 “Funny Valentine” (2013)
Claudine Gay: Law & Order S23E1 “Freedom of Expression” (2024)
Claus von Bülow: Law & Order S4E5 “Black Tie” (1993)
The Club New York shooting: Law & Order S12E9 “3 Dawg Night” (2001)
Colin Ferguson: Law & Order S5E13 “Rage” (1995)
Colleen Stan: Law & Order: SVU S1E22 “Slaves” (2000)
The college admissions scandal: Law & Order S24E6 “Time Will Tell” (2024)
The “Craigslist Killer”: Law & Order S20E15 “Brilliant Disguise” (2010)

D

The D.C. snipers: Law & Order S13E22 “Sheltered” (2003)
Dan Hurley: Law & Order S24E3 “Big Brother” (2024)
Dane Cook and comedians’ rape jokes: Law & Order: SVU S15E15 “Comic Perversion” (2014)
Danielle van Dam: Law & Order: SVU S18E8 “Chasing Theo” (2017)
The Dannemora prison escape: Law & Order: SVU S17E14 “Nationwide Manhunt” (2016)
David Reimer: Law & Order: SVU S6E12 “Identity” (2005)
The “Death Mask Murder”: Law & Order S1E10 “Prisoner of Love” (1990)
Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard: Law & Order: SVU S19E10 “Pathological” (2018)
Diane Whipple: Law & Order S12E1 “Who Let the Dogs Out?” (2001)
Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Law & Order: SVU S13E1 “Scorched Earth” (2011)
Dov Charney: Law & Order S20E6 “Human Flesh Search Engine” (2009)
The Duke “sex thesis”: Law & Order: SVU S12E10 “Rescue” (2010)

E

Ed Buck: Law & Order S21E6 “Wicked Game” (2022)
Eliot Spitzer: Law & Order S18E18 “Excalibur” (2008)
Elizabeth Holmes: Law & Order S21E2 “Impossible Dream” (2022)
Ellie Nesler: Law & Order S6E1 “Bitter Fruit” (1995)
Enron-style price manipulation: Law & Order S18E2 “Darkness” (2008)
The École Polytechnique massacre: Law & Order S10E1 “Gunshow” (1999)

F

Fabricated DNA research: Law & Order: SVU S11E9 “Perverted” (2009)
The Farmville murders: Law & Order S20E13 “Steel-Eyed Death” (2010)
Fifty Shades of Grey: Law & Order: SVU S14E3 “Twenty-Five Acts” (2012)
Frozen embryos and fetal personhood: Law & Order S24E4 “The Meaning of Life” (2024)
Frédéric Bourdin: Law & Order: SVU S10E11 “Stranger” (2009)
The Fulton County Courthouse shootings: Law & Order: SVU S16E23 “Surrendering Noah” (2015)

G

Gabby Petito: Law & Order S21E3 “Filtered Life” (2022)
Gabriel Fernandez: Law & Order: SVU S17E4 “Institutional Fail” (2015)
Gamergate: Law & Order: SVU S16E14 “Intimidation Game” (2015)
The GameStop short squeeze: Law & Order S23E7 “Balance of Power” (2024)
The “gay gene”: Law & Order S18E3 “Misbegotten” (2008)
George Tiller: Law & Order S20E5 “Dignity” (2009)
The Gilgo Beach killings and Robert Hansen: Law & Order: SVU S13E15 “Hunting Ground” (2012)
The Golden State Killer: Law & Order: SVU S20E12 “Dear Ben” (2019)
The Goldman custody case: Law & Order S20E18 “Brazil” (2010)
Greg Kelly and the “Upper East Side Madam”: Law & Order: SVU S13E23 “Rhodium Nights” (2012)

H

H. H. Holmes’s “murder castle”: Criminal Minds S2E22 “Legacy” (2007)
The Happy Land fire: Law & Order S2E10 “Heaven” (1991)
Harvard’s Dunster House and Gina Grant: Law & Order S6E6 “Paranoia” (1995)
Harvey Weinstein: Law & Order: SVU S19E11 “Flight Risk” (2018); Law & Order: SVU S21E1 “I'm Going to Make You a Star” (2019)
Havana syndrome: Law & Order S21E8 “Severance” (2022)
Helen Brach: Law & Order S6E11 “Corpus Delicti” (1996)
Henrietta Lacks: Law & Order S20E21 “Immortal” (2010)
The Hillsdale College scandal: Law & Order: SVU S1E17 “Misleader” (2000)
The HIV injection case: Law & Order S14E3 “Patient Zero” (2003)

I

Ira Einhorn: Law & Order S13E13 “Absentia” (2003)
Iris Robinson: Law & Order S20E19 “Crashers” (2010)
The Isla Vista killings: Law & Order: SVU S16E4 “Holden's Manifesto” (2014)

J

Jace Alexander: Law & Order: SVU S17E15 “Collateral Damages” (2016)
Jack Henry Abbott: Law & Order S13E17 “Genius” (2003)
Jack McClellan: Law & Order: SVU S10E2 “Confession” (2008)
Councilman James E. Davis: Law & Order S14E14 “City Hall” (2004)
James Porter: Law & Order S5E20 “Bad Faith” (1995)
Jaycee Lee Dugard: Law & Order: SVU S12E1 “Locum” (2010)
Jayson Blair: Law & Order S14E2 “Bounty” (2003)
Jeff German: Law & Order S22E16 “Deadline” (2023)
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell: Law & Order: SVU S12E15 “Flight” (2011)
Jerry Brudos: Law & Order: SVU S4E16 “Tortured” (2003)
Jerry Sandusky and Horace Mann: Law & Order: SVU S14E8 “Lessons Learned” (2012)
Officer Joe Sanchez: Law & Order S1E22 “The Blue Wall” (1991)
Joel Steinberg’s release: Law & Order S15E11 “Fixed” (2004)
John Douglas’s stutter prediction: Criminal Minds S1E1 “Extreme Aggressor” (2005)
John Edwards: Law & Order: SVU S14E7 “Vanity's Bonfire” (2012)
John Gotti and Jimmy Hoffa: Law & Order S1E15 “The Torrents of Greed: Part 1” (1991)
John Jamelske: Law & Order: SVU S5E9 “Control” (2003)
John Schneeberger: Law & Order: SVU S5E5 “Serendipity” (2003)
JonBenét Ramsey: Law & Order S8E6 “Baby, It's You” (1997); Law & Order: SVU S4E19 “Appearances” (2003)
Jonestown, Ruby Ridge and Waco: Criminal Minds S4E3 “Minimal Loss” (2008)
Jordan Neely: Law & Order S23E8 “Facade” (2024)
Josh Duggar: Law & Order: SVU S17E7 “Patrimonial Burden” (2015)
JT LeRoy: Law & Order S19E6 “Sweetie” (2008)
Jussie Smollett: Law & Order: SVU S21E3 “Down Low in Hell's Kitchen” (2019)
Justice Gerald Garson: Law & Order S14E7 “Floater” (2003)

K

Kalief Browder: Law & Order S22E9 “The System” (2022)
Kari Ferrell, the “hipster grifter”: Law & Order S20E2 “Just a Girl in the World” (2009)
Karla Faye Tucker: Law & Order S8E21 “Bad Girl” (1998)
Karla Homolka: Law & Order S10E15 “Fools for Love” (2000)
Katherine Ann Power: Law & Order S5E5 “White Rabbit” (1994)
Kathleen Weinstein: Law & Order S7E1 “Causa Mortis” (1996)
Kazuyoshi Miura and Charles Stuart: Law & Order S14E22 “Gaijin” (2004)
Lt. Kelly Flinn: Law & Order S8E3 “Navy Blues” (1997)
Kendall Francois: Law & Order: SVU S23E7 “They'd Already Disappeared” (2021)
Kennedy v. Louisiana: Law & Order: SVU S9E7 “Blinded” (2007)
“Kids for cash”: Law & Order: SVU S10E20 “Crush” (2009); Law & Order: SVU S15E12 “Jersey Breakdown” (2014)
Kitty Genovese: Law & Order S6E10 “Remand” (1996); Law & Order: SVU S17E13 “Forty-One Witnesses” (2016)
The Kobe Bryant case: Law & Order: SVU S6E8 “Doubt” (2004)
Kristie Fischer: Law & Order S6E22 “Homesick” (1996)

L

The Lakewood police ambush: Law & Order S20E17 “Four Cops Shot” (2010)
Larry Nassar: Law & Order: SVU S19E14 “Chasing Demons” (2018)
Laurie Anne Hiett: Law & Order S11E18 “White Lie” (2001)
Leonard Lake and Charles Ng: Law & Order: SVU S2E18 “Manhunt” (2001)
Leopold and Loeb: Law & Order: SVU S1E7 “Uncivilized” (1999)
The Letterman blackmail case: Law & Order S20E12 “Blackmail” (2010)
Libby Zion: Law & Order S1E1 “Prescription for Death” (1990)
Lindsay and Dina Lohan: Law & Order: SVU S16E3 “Producer's Backend” (2014)
Lisa Steinberg: Law & Order S1E9 “Indifference” (1990)
The Louvre jewel robbery: Law & Order S25E17 “Beyond Measure” (2026)

M

Martha Moxley: Law & Order S11E7 “Amends” (2000)
Matthew Perry: Law & Order S24E14 “A Price to Pay” (2025)
The “Mayflower Madam”: Law & Order S1E7 “By Hooker, by Crook” (1990)
The McDonald’s strip-search hoax: Law & Order: SVU S9E17 “Authority” (2008)
The McMartin preschool case: Law & Order: SVU S6E11 “Contagious” (2005)
Mefloquine (Lariam): Law & Order: SVU S6E23 “Goliath” (2005)
Mel Gibson’s arrest: Law & Order S17E7 “In Vino Veritas” (2006)
The Menendez brothers: Law & Order S1E19 “The Serpent's Tooth” (1991); Law & Order: SVU S9E1 “Alternate” (2007)
Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox: Law & Order: SVU S22E3 “Remember Me in Quarantine” (2020)
The Michael Jackson allegations: Law & Order: SVU S5E19 “Sick” (2004)
Migrant busing to New York: Law & Order S22E10 “Land of Opportunity” (2023)
Military burn pits: Law & Order S22E8 “Chain of Command” (2022)
A mother wrongly convicted of poisoning: Law & Order: SVU S5E24 “Poison” (2004)
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Law & Order S11E6 “Burn Baby Burn” (2000)

N

New York’s “rubber rooms”: Law & Order S20E23 “Rubber Room” (2010)
NXIVM: Law & Order: SVU S20E5 “Accredo” (2018); Law & Order S22E18 “Collateral Damage” (2023)

O

Ohio’s fetal heartbeat law: Law & Order: SVU S21E4 “The Burden of Our Choices” (2019)
Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr.: Law & Order S24E15 “Crossing Lines” (2025)
Owen Labrie: Law & Order: SVU S17E12 “A Misunderstanding” (2016)
The Oxford High School shooting: Law & Order S21E7 “Legacy” (2022)

P

A parking-bureau scandal: Law & Order S1E6 “Everybody's Favorite Bagman” (1990)
Paul Bergrin: Law & Order S20E9 “For the Defense” (2009)
Pizzagate: Law & Order: SVU S18E17 “Real Fake News” (2017); Law & Order S21E5 “Free Speech” (2022)
The “Preppy Murder”: Law & Order S1E4 “Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die” (1990)

R

The Railroad Killer: Criminal Minds S4E5 “Catching Out” (2008)
The rape kit backlog: Law & Order: SVU S12E3 “Behave” (2010)
Ray Rice: Law & Order: SVU S16E8 “Spousal Privilege” (2014)
Ricky Rodriguez and the Children of God: Law & Order S15E19 “Sects” (2005)
Robert Durst: Law & Order S14E17 “Hands Free” (2004); Law & Order: SVU S17E1 “Devil's Dissections” (2015); Law & Order: SVU S17E2 “Criminal Pathology” (2015)
Robert Pickton: Criminal Minds S4E25 “To Hell…” (2009)
Rod Blagojevich: Law & Order S19E22 “The Drowned and the Saved” (2009)
Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly: Law & Order: SVU S18E16 “The Newsroom” (2017)
Roseann Quinn: Law & Order: SVU S2E12 “Secrets” (2001)
Roy Pearson’s pants lawsuit: Law & Order S18E4 “Bottomless” (2008)
Ruby Ridge, Waco and Oklahoma City: Law & Order S8E5 “Nullification” (1997)

S

The Sacklers and Anna Delvey: Law & Order S21E9 “The Great Pretender” (2022)
Sam Bankman-Fried: Law & Order S22E21 “Appraisal” (2023)
San Francisco’s rape-kit DNA case: Law & Order S24E2 “The Perfect Man” (2024)
Sandy Weill and the 92nd Street Y: Law & Order S13E20 “Kid Pro Quo” (2003)
Sante and Kenny Kimes: Law & Order S9E7 “Venom” (1998)
Scientology: Law & Order S18E15 “Bogeyman” (2008)
Scot Peterson and Parkland: Law & Order S22E14 “Heroes” (2023)
Sean “Diddy” Combs: Law & Order S24E1 “Catch and Kill” (2024); Law & Order S24E10 “Greater Good” (2025)
Shanda Sharer: Law & Order: SVU S5E17 “Mean” (2004)
Sherri Rasmussen: Law & Order: SVU S14E14 “Secrets Exhumed” (2013)
The shooting at Rao’s: Law & Order S14E20 “Everybody Loves Raimondo's” (2004)
The Slender Man stabbing: Law & Order: SVU S16E6 “Glasgowman's Wrath” (2014)
A staged “stranger danger” kidnapping: Law & Order: SVU S16E22 “Parents' Nightmare” (2015)
The Staten Island Ferry crash: Law & Order S15E2 “The Dead Wives Club” (2004)
The Station nightclub fire: Law & Order S14E5 “Blaze” (2003)
Stefan Arzberger: Law & Order: SVU S17E6 “Maternal Instincts” (2015)
Steve Bartman: Law & Order S14E21 “Vendetta” (2004)
Steven Avery and Making a Murderer: Law & Order: SVU S18E2 “Making a Rapist” (2016)
The strippers behind Hustlers: Law & Order: SVU S22E13 “Trick-Rolled at the Moulin” (2021)
The Sunset Park subway shooting: Law & Order S22E3 “Camouflage” (2022)
Susan Smith: Law & Order S6E8 “Angel” (1995)
Suzy Favor Hamilton: Law & Order: SVU S18E4 “Heightened Emotions” (2016)

T

The Taconic Parkway crash: Law & Order S20E8 “Doped” (2009)
The Tailhook scandal: Law & Order S3E17 “Conduct Unbecoming” (1993)
Tawana Brawley: Law & Order S1E11 “Out of the Half-Light” (1990)
Taylor Hooton: Law & Order: SVU S7E4 “Ripped” (2005)
Ted Kaczynski: Law & Order S8E19 “Disappeared” (1998)
Terri Schiavo: Law & Order S16E4 “Age of Innocence” (2005)
Thomas Koskovich and Jayson Vreeland: Law & Order S8E1 “Thrill” (1997)
Timothy Wilson Spencer: Law & Order: SVU S11E18 “Bedtime” (2010)
Trayvon Martin and Paula Deen: Law & Order: SVU S15E3 “American Tragedy” (2013)
Treva Throneberry: Law & Order: SVU S8E21 “Pretend” (2007)
The Turpin family: Law & Order: SVU S19E20 “The Book of Esther” (2018)

U

Ukraine’s surrogacy industry: Law & Order S25E9 “Snowflakes (Part 1)” (2026)
The University of Idaho killings: Law & Order: SVU S26E1 “Fractured” (2024)
Upstate New York’s untrained judges: Law & Order S19E5 “Knock Off” (2008)

W

William Kennedy Smith: Law & Order: SVU S1E15 “Entitled” (2000)

Y

Yara Gambirasio: Law & Order: SVU S17E8 “Melancholy Pursuit” (2015)

Each show’s Ripped from the Headlines page says how each episode uses its case: Criminal Minds, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. A connection is listed only when a published source makes it. How these summaries are written.