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Law & Order: Special Victims’ Unit Spoilers – The Show Has Had Many Storylines Based On Headline Gripping True Crimes
Throughout its twenty-plus years on the air, the show has had many storylines based on headline gripping true crimes. Several episodes have featured criminal figures based on real life criminals such as Jeffrey Epstein, with an episode having Benson’s Special Victims Unit tracking down a New York based millionaire who assaulted a number of young girls. Another, from season fifteen, called “Reasonable Doubt” played out a case SVU had where a television director named Frank Maddox was accused of sex crimes against his adopted daughter – eagle-eyed fans drew parallels to the real life case of Woody Allen’s accusations by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.
Season ten had a show called “Selfish”, based on the Casey Anthony case, “Murder Book” was based on the OJ Simpson case, while “Baby It’s You” was based on the still unsolved murder of Jon-Benét Ramsey. Other SVU episodes were based on high profile real life crimes were “Pattern of Conduct”, “Weeping Willow”, “Blood Brothers”, “Sick”, “Bombshell”, “American Disgrace”, “Funny Valentine”, and in 2018, an SVU episode entitled “Accredo” was based on Keith Raniere’s sex cult, NXIVM.
But the headline gripping case that the premise of the show was based on, namely sex crimes, was that of Robert Chambers, the “Preppy Murderer” who strangled a young woman after having sex with her, named Jennifer Chambers in Central Park in 1986. Law & Order: SVU has made waves over the years for its openness regarding tough real life crimes and issues and has received 91 award nominations over the years.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Spoilers – The Preppy Murder Was One Of The First Real-Life Cases Dealing With Date Rape
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Longtime crime watchers will remember that “The Preppy Murder” as it was called was one of the very first real-life cases dealing with date rape, which in this case ended in the victim’s death. Prior to Jennifer Levin’s death at the hand of her assailant, she and Robert Chambers had been romantically involved. In the late 1980s it was very difficult to prosecute a case of rape where the victim knew her rapist, as well as deaths and assaults stemming from domestic abuse.
Chambers’ defense and excuse that he stuck with all throughout his trial were that they were having “rough sex”, that obviously went very wrong. The high-profile case was very controversial, as the case of OJ Simpson and his abuse and later presumed murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson was about ten years later. It took years for womens’ right advocates, such as Olivia Benson and her team portray, to make headway in the predominantly old-school male culture. The Chambers – Levin case was also portrayed on an episode of the original Law & Order series, which led to the SVU spinoff.
Unfortunately, even though Chambers had a rap sheet even before this incident happened, the court, ruling partially in favor of the assailant, granted Chambers a plea deal, with his being released for the murder in 2003. Jennifer’s parents sued the bar where Chambers had become inebriated prior to the murder and received an undisclosed sum, and later sued Chambers himself, receiving $25 million. Jennifer’s mother became a victims’ rights advocate. However, Chambers’ crimes came back to bite him with an arrest in 2007 for resisting arrest and dealing drugs, and he and his then girlfriend were charged with running a cocaine ring out of their apartment. He returned to prison in 2008 and the earliest he’ll be eligible for parole will be 2024.
Stay tuned to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for more compelling drama ripped from the headlines, and keep checking Law & Order Special Victims Unit spoilers for all the latest news, updates and developments.
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