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| “ | Do you want me to sound like a minister? It's the fornicators, the adulterers the sodomites, those who defile God and worship Mammon. Do you want me sound like everyone else? Go outside and look around! | „ |
| ~ Hendricks preaching his gospel. |
Daniel Hendricks is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Apocrypha". He is a con artist and cult leader who orders one of his followers to bomb a bank that he blames for the death of his brother. He is loosely based on the late serial killer and cult leader Charles Manson.
He is portrayed by Sam Robards.
Biography
Hendricks is a religious fanatic who acts as the "Messiah" of a cult called the Archerusian Temple. He sees himself as God's chosen messenger, and is willing to sacrifice anyone's life to spread his twisted version of Scripture.
When Hendricks was in high school, his older brother died of a heroin overdose, and Hendricks grew to hate the "Godless" society he blamed for his family's tragedy. He turned to an apocalyptic version of Christianity, which he proselytized to everyone he met. His rage and feelings of persecution grew after he was kicked out of the Army and his church, and he founded a cult, taking in homeless runaway teenagers and brainwashing them. He completely took over their lives, isolating them from their families and forbidding them to have any contact with the outside world. He became a God figure in their lives, and made them his willing slaves.
In "Apocrypha", Hendricks orders one of his followers, Wendy Berman, to blow up a bank suspected of money laundering for a Columbian drug cartel, whom he blames for his brother's addiction; Berman is killed in the bombing. Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan investigate Hendricks' cult, and arrest him for brainwashing Berman into blowing up the bank. District Attorneys Ben Stone and Claire Kincaid try and convict Hendricks for causing the bombing, even as police psychiatrist Elizabeth Olivet says that he is mentally ill and not legally responsible for his actions. Upon hearing the guilty verdict, Hendricks sticks thumb tacks in his palm to create the illusion of Stigmata in order to sway his followers in the courtroom. Later that night, his followers commit mass suicide. Hendricks is presumably imprisoned for his crimes.
