Silence (Season 2, Episode 21)
Premise: A well-liked city councilman falls from a bridge onto 10th Avenue, and the evidence suggests he was murdered first.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 2, Episode 21
- Detectives
- Sgt. Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- George Martin as Edward Vogel, James Sutorius as Peter Colson, Joe Aufiery as Harold Dwyer, Jimmie Ray Weeks as George Harris
- Director
- Ed Sherin
- Writers
- Story: Michael Duggan; Teleplay: Michael S. Chernuchin; Story & teleplay: René Balcer
Summary
The Investigation
“Silence” begins when Councilman James Vogel lands on 10th Avenue after a fall from a bridge. He still has his cash and cards, and the medical examiner finds he was beaten and killed with a single knife thrust before he fell. His bank records show two deposits totaling $50,000 that his father, Edward Vogel, a powerful political figure, says were loans, along with $5,000 a month in cash withdrawals that recently stopped. A club owner in SoHo tells the detectives that Vogel was gay and thinking of coming out, and that a gay magazine, Outword, was preparing to out him.
Edward Vogel insists his son was not gay. Letters signed “Harold” lead to Harold Dwyer, a con man recently released from Ossining, who met Vogel through a personal ad. Another man who wrote to Dwyer describes being asked for $5,000 a month by a caller with a courier. The courier’s pickups lead to Dwyer’s lawyer, Peter Colson, who refuses to explain the cash he receives. Meanwhile, word comes down from Division that the case should be publicly treated as a mugging.
The Trial
Stone pressures Outword’s editor, Barclay, into handing over Vogel’s letters. Another victim, former ballplayer George Harris, has a tape of Colson’s demand, and Colson and Dwyer are charged with murder and grand larceny. Harris will testify only in a closed courtroom, and Judge Strelzik agrees, but Barclay successfully challenges the closure. Harris won’t testify in public, so Stone reads in his sealed testimony from the judge’s chambers, and Colson accepts a deal and names Dwyer.
Colson reveals that Dwyer went to Edward Vogel directly and was paid. The prosecutors learn that Edward Vogel also paid the lawyer who fought to open the courtroom, knowing it would keep Harris silent. Schiff’s old political friend is subpoenaed.
Spoiler, the ending: On the stand, Edward Vogel admits his son was gay, that he paid Dwyer to keep it quiet, and that James threatened to go to the police. Dwyer is convicted of grand larceny and second-degree murder.
Why it stands out
- A father’s effort to hide his son’s sexuality nearly lets the killers go free.
- Stone has to balance press freedom against a frightened witness’s safety.
- Schiff forces an old political ally to testify.