Law & Orderand its multiple spinoffs are constantly available to re-binge. Reruns are often playing on the USA channel, and the entire franchise can be found on the streaming service, Peacock. The formula that each episode is based on is something that drives fans back for more each time. There is no doubt that the creator and executive producer, Dick Wolf, knows how to keep viewers’ eyes pinned to the screen. After more than three decades, it is a wonder how he and the writers are able to keep coming up with addictive stories that keep viewers’ attention.
The fact is, numerous episodes ofLaw & Orderare based on real-life events. From notorious serial killers to the brazen acts of teens, the writers can’t keep their hands off investigating stories from a new perspective. Let’s take a dive into tenLaw & Orderepisodes that areripped straight from the headlines.
10Law & Order: “Subterranean Homeboy Blues” (1990)
The second episode of the first season ofLaw & Orderfeatures a woman who claims she shot two men in a subway car in self-defense. The woman, a one-time dancer who gave up her career as a dancer after a violent assault some years before, claims she shot them because she was afraid of being raped by the two men. The police charge her with murder. However, the prosecution realizes that if they lose the case, they will be sending New Yorkers a message that it is okay to shoot and ask questions later.
This episode is based on Bernhard Goetz, who, in 1984, shot four men on a NYC subway train in Manhattan after they allegedly attempted to rob him (perNewsweek). He was initially charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearm offenses. However, a grand jury indicted him on only a charge of criminal gun possession. A later grand jury indictment led to four counts of attempted murder charges. A jury found Goetz guilty of one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm, and he was acquitted of all other charges. The incident sparked a nationwide debate on the legal limits of self-defense, based on Darrell Caby, one of the men Goetz shot, who was left paraplegic and brain-damaged.
Related:Murder Mysteries vs True Crime: Is It Time to Turn Toward Fiction?
9Law & Order: “Thrill” (1997)
The first episode of the eighth season follows the case of two young men who murder a fast food delivery man just for the thrill of it. The investigators discover that someone phoned several fast food outlets on the night of the murder, requesting deliveries to a boarded up store. Only one restaurant agreed to the delivery. From there, detectives identified Joey Timon and Dale Kershaw, who had previously talked about shooting anyone just for the thrill of it. They are arrested, but the prosecution faces a daunting challenge in convicting two people of the same crime.
“Thrill” is based on the 1997 murders committed by Thomas Koskovich and Jason Vreeland. The two young men ordered a pizza and ambushed two men who delivered it, before going bowling. When arrested, they told police that they wanted to experience what it was like to commit murder.
8Law & Order: “Myth of Fingerprints” (2001)
“Myth of Fingerprints,” the seventh episode of the 12th season, features an innocent man who was put in prison after an error by a fingerprint analyst. Detectives soon discover that this may not be the only error the analyst made for the prosecution. The episode is based on an Oklahoma City forensic scientist named Joyce Gilchrist. She was discovered to have falsified forensic evidence to help prosecutors obtain convictions, which led to dozens of innocent people being sent to prison, and at least one execution.
7Law & Order: “Born Again” (2002)
The 16th episode of the 12th season ofLaw & Orderactually draws inspiration from two separate cases: The Candance Newmaker case, and the Susan Smith case. In the episode, a therapist is charged with murder after an 11-year-old girl dies during a “rebirthing” procedure. Rebirthing therapy, when done right, is a technique that incorporates a specific type of breathing to allow individuals to release emotions, get in touch with their spiritual selves, and basically have a proverbial rebirth.
10-year-old Candace Newmaker is smothered to death in 2000 after several adults sat on her during a “rebirthing” ceremony performed by four unlicensed therapists. The girl pleaded for air, water, and mercy, but was ignored. She was suffocated, and died from cardiac arrest. Susan Smith was convicted of murdering her two children, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander in 1994. Smith falsely claimed that a Black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking, which brought the case to international attention. She was sentenced to life in prison. She will be eligible for parole on July 30, 2025.
6Law & Order: SVU: “Scavenger” (2004)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unitis a spinoff that deals withvictims of sexual violence. The fourth episode of the sixth season deals with the squad facing a serial killer who seemingly resurfaced after decades of silence. The detectives are racing against the clock to solve puzzles and uncover clues scattered throughout the city by a killer dubbed “RDK,” or “Rape, Dismember, Kill,” who is taunting them to find him and the next victim before it is too late.
RDK is based on the serial killer BTK, which stood for “Bind, Torture, Kill.” Dennis Rader killed ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas. He sent taunting letters to the police and media detailing his crimes. After a ten-year hiatus, Rader resumed sender letters in 2004, which led to his 2005 arrest. He subsequently pleaded guilty and is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
5Law & Order: SVU: “Name” (2005)
The seventh episode of the seventh season ofSVUis a heartbreaking episode. When the remains of a young boy who disappeared in 1978 are found at a playground,Detective Elliot Stablerteams up with CSU technician Millie Vizcarrondo to discover the boy’s identity, which leads them to a cold case involving four missing Puerto Rican boys who were never found. Vizcarrando is obsessed with a case her father worked on, in which a young Latino boy is found dead in a box, and remains unidentified. With Stabler’s help, they track the boy’s killer, who unfortunately does not remember the boy’s name.
This is based on the 1957 case of the Boy in the Box. On July 30, 2025, a naked boy was found dead, wrapped in a blanket, in a wooded area in northeast Philadelphia. He was severely beaten, with small scars across his head. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head. There were no witnesses to the crime, and no one could identify the boy. He remained “America’s Unknown Child” until recently. With the help of DNA technology breakthroughs, police work, and volunteer sleuths, the Boy in the Box was identified as four-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
Related:How Law & Order: SVU Helped Create the True Crime Obsession
4Law & Order: Criminal Intent: “Masquerade” (2006)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which focuses on NYPD’s Major Case Squad, deals with high-profile cases. In the sixth episode of the sixth season, the team investigates a case involving a young beauty queen, which is closely tied to the real-lifecase of JonBenét Ramsey. In the episode, police arrest a man who confesses to killing a young beauty queen, but realizes that his story just doesn’t add up. The investigation into how the confessor knew confidential details of the crime lead detectives to the real killer.
Six-year-old JonBenét was declared missing in December 1996 after her parents found a ransom note in their home. However, her body was found less than eight hours later inside the home, in the basement. Due to heavy foot traffic in the home, the crime scene was compromised. Many suspects came up in the investigation, including a man who confessed to the crime to a reporter after several years of emailing back and forth. However, nothing could be linked to the confessor to prove he committed the crime.
3Law & Order: Criminal Intent: “Bombshell” (2007)
In the 12th episode of the sixth season ofCriminal Intent, the death of a stripper-turned-celebrity’s son appears to be an accidental overdose. However, when the woman dies later, days after giving birth, the case turns into a homicide investigation that seems to involve the paternity of the newborn. The plot line draws inspiration from the life of American model and actress Anna Nicole Smith. Her son, Daniel, died from an accidental drug overdose after mixing antidepressants and methadone in 2006, shortly after his mother gave birth to his half-sister. A year later, Smith also died from an accidental drug overdose.
2Law & Order: SVU: “Selfish” (2009)
The 19th episode of the 10th season ofSVUfeatures an immature, irresponsible young mother,played by Hilary Duff, who hides the fact that she buried her daughter after believing she killed her child. As it turns out, her child died after being exposed to measles. ADA Cabot goes after the mother of the child who started the outbreak, as she refused to immunize him.
This episode is partly inspired by the death of Caylee Anthony in 2008. Her mother, Casey, initially claimed that Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny on June 9. Her remains were found on December 11, with a blanket inside a laundry bag in a wooded area near the family’s house. In October, Casey was charged with first-degree murder, pleading not guilty. The controversial trial was extensive, and she was subsequently found not guilty. The latter portion of the episode, in which Cabot goes after the mother whose child caused the outbreak, draws inspiration from the anti-vax movement.
1Law & Order: SVU: “Glasgowman’s Wrath” (2014)
In the sixth episode of the 16th season ofSVU, a young girl is stabbed multiple times and two older girls are missing after they go out into Central Park searching for a strange entity known as “Glasgowman.” As the detectives soon come to realize, the girls were told by a former babysitter stories of the fictional creature, who is based on a homeless man who lived in the park. One of the girls in particular became obsessed, describing disturbing details of how she is a “proxy,” and that Glasgowman visits her in her dreams. They committed the crime in an attempt to go to an alternate universe where Glasgowman lives.
The story is based on a crime that occurred within the same year. On June 21, 2025, in Waukesha, Wiscon, two 12-year-old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, lured Payton Leutner into a forest and stabbed her 19 times in order to appease the fictional creature Slender Man. Both girls were found not guilty due to mental disease or defect and sent to mental health institutions for 25-40 years. After seven years, Weier was granted early release and will be under strict supervision until age 37.
