| “ | In those S&M scenes, they were rehearsing what happened to them. | „ |
| ~ Chandler about his victims. |
Edward "Eddie" Chandler is the primary antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Castoff". He is a charismatic gigolo and serial killer who preys on wealthy men and women; he insinuates himself into their lives and sponges off their wealth until they tire of him, at which point he tortures and murders them.
He was portrayed by Mitchell Lichtenstein.
Personality[]
New York City Assistant District Attorney Jamie Ross describes Chandler as "pathologically charming" - he has an innate need to flirt with, flatter, and seduce virtually everyone he meets, male or female. He has refined, expensive tastes, and aspires to an upper-class lifestyle, but does not want to work for it himself; he prefers to be "kept" by rich partners in return for sex. He is more attracted to money and possessions than people, and so he sleeps with anyone of either sex who can keep him in the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed.
Chandler describes his ideal life as filled with the kind of glamour, sophistication, and excitement he saw in movies and TV when he was a child. He later blames his crimes on the media he consumes, claiming that it "poisoned his mind".
Biography[]
Throughout his career as a gigolo, Chandler has sadomasochistic sex with several wealthy people in return for their financing his expensive tastes. As he grows older, however, he begins losing his looks, until he is no longer the sought-after sexual plaything he had been as a young man. Embittered at being "cast aside", Chandler begins torturing and murdering his lovers, mutilating their genitals post-mortem.
Chandler is arrested for the murders of Jennifer Gaylin and Stu Steiner by NYPD Homicide Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Rey Curtis, who intercept him through his current lover, Charles Thatcher. Chandler is put on trial, represented by attorney Neil Pressman. Chandler attempts to defend himself by claiming his murderous impulses are the result of his recurring exposure to television violence. Despite this, Chandler is eventually convicted of one count of second-degree murder in relation to the death of Gaylin, and one count of first-degree murder in relation to the death of Steiner. He is then sentenced to life imprisonment.
Trivia[]
- Chandler is primarily inspired by two deceased real-life serial killers, Andrew Cunanan and Gordon Cummins.
External links[]
- Eddie Chandler on the Law & Order Wiki
