Albert Lawrence Cheney

Albert Lawrence Cheney was the villain of the Law & Order episode "Vengeance". He was a serialkiller who tortured and murdered women and left their bodies in degrading poses. He was loosely based on Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler".

He was portrayed by the late actor James Rebhorn.

Cheney killed his first victims while working as a building superintendent. Police eventually connected him to one of the victims, and he was imprisoned for seven years for manslaughter. Upon his release, he married a woman who corresponded with him in a prison pen pal program, and started a new career as a tax attorney, working mostly for doctors in his area. He had kept his superintendent ID and the elevator keys to his old building, which allowed him to claim more victims.

Detectives Mike Logan and Phil Cerreta come to suspect Cheney after discovering that his latest victims had all gone to the same doctor, who had employed Cheney. They question him for 12 hours, but he does not confess. They learn that he has a storage locker, where they find Polaroids of his victims. Cheney's lawyer argues that the search was illegal, and his wife gives him an alibi for the time of the murders. ultimately, however, Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone convinces a judge that the search was legal. Upon learning what her husband had done, Cheney's wife admits she lied to protect him. Cheny is found guilty of several murders, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.