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| “ | I take their lives! I give them their deaths! I'm in control! | „ |
| ~ Lindgard bragging about the power he has over his victims. |
Edwin Lindgard is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "D.A.W.". He is a doctor and serial killer who overdoses his patients with morphine to relive the power he felt while caring for his dying mother.
He was portrayed by Kevin Tighe, who also portrayed Anthony Cooper in Lost and Gregory Searle in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Biography[]
Background[]
As a child, Lindgard was his mother's main caretaker after she was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. He was fascinated by the power he held over her by easing her pain with morphine, and became addicted to it, as well as to morphine itself. When his mother died, he decided to become a doctor and specialize in the care of elderly, drug-addicted patients so he could have the same sense of Godlike power over them that he had over her.
He writes his patients prescriptions for morphine, ostensibly to keep them from dying of withdrawal, but really to keep them dependent upon him. He eventually overdoses them so he can feel the power of life and death over them, killing dozens of people over the years. He also forges prescriptions for himself, and gets additional opiate prescriptions from his ex-wife, a pharmacist, in return for unreported alimony. In middle age, he begins dating Isabel Dawson, a recovering alcoholic who reveres rather than actually likes him.
"D.A.W."[]
When Lindgard kills his latest victim, an elderly woman, her daughter Danielle, a heroin addict, finds out what he did and begins blackmailing him for more drugs. To get rid of her, Lindgard gives her an overdose, which causes her to drive into oncoming traffic and die in a car accident. Her death is at first ruled a drug-induced accident, but Detectives Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames of the NYPD's Major Case Squad suspect that her death was merely made to look accidental.
Goren and Eames interview Danielle's sister Janette, who tells them that Danielle stole their mother's expensive ring to finance her addiction. The detectives then discover that Danielle's mother was cremated with unusual haste after her death, which they believe is related to the true cause of Danielle's death; they believe that Danielle knew her mother was murdered and was blackmailing the murderer, who then overdosed her to make her death look like an accident.
Goren and Eames interview Lindgard, who dismisses Danielle's death as the predictable result of her addiction. Goren finds Lindgard's affect strange and begins investigating him. He and Eames interview Isabel, and notice she is wearing the ring Danielle stole, which she says is a gift from Lindgard. The detectives realize that Lindgard stole it, and with further investigation discover that he is embezzling from his patients. After learning about Lindgard's own addiction, the death of his mother, and his role as her caretaker, Goren theorizes that he may be murdering his patients as well.
Goren and Eames confront Lindgard at a dinner honoring him, hoping that public exposure and humiliation will push him to confess. Goren unravels Lindgard's lies and reveals his addiction in front of Isabel and his colleagues, which sends Lindgard into a fury. When Goren belittles his intelligence, Lindgard loses all self-control and brags that he "gives" his patients their deaths. Upon realizing that he has incriminated himself, Lindgard tries to stab himself in the heart with a steak knife, but Goren stops him, saying that he will not get off that easy. Lindgard is then arrested and executed for the murders.
Trivia[]
- Lindgard is inspired by the late serial killers Harold Shipman and John Bodkin Adams.
External Links[]
- Edwin Lindgard on the Law & Order Wiki
