| “ | It was a tragic mistake made by incompetent men. | „ |
| ~ Kendrick trying to blame the murder she committed on others. |
Elizabeth Hendrick is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Prisoner of Love". She is a wealthy sexual sadist who murders one of the artists she finances during a BDSM sex game.
She was portrayed by Frances Conroy, who also portrayed Penny Fleck in Joker, The Director in Nimona, and Moira O'Hara, Mama Polk, and Belle Noir in the American Horror Story franchise.
Early life[]
Hendrick was a socialite and arts patron from a wealthy, prominent family in New York City. She commissioned work from transgressive, boundary-pushing artists, especially ones who depicted taboo sexual acts such as bondage and sadomasochism. She was also a sexual sadist who derived pleasure and a sense of power from hurting, dominating, and humiliating submissive men. She had such a relationship with Henry Rothman, a commissioner on the city's arts council, who submitted to her every command, no matter how cruel or demeaning, as part of an ongoing sex game.
When she commissioned work from masochistic photographer Victor Moore, she made him part of the "game" she plays with Rothman, beating and humiliating him while Rothman watched. During one such session, she got Moore stoned on Quaaludes and ordered him to put his head in a noose and perform autoerotic asphyxiation. When he lost his balance and started to choke, Rothman tried to help him, but Hendrick commanded him to let Moore die; helpless to resist his pathological submissiveness, Rothman did as he was told, watching Moore choke to death while Hendrick took pictures. They positioned the body to make it look like he died alone, but accidentally left some of Hendrick's pictures behind.
"Prisoner of Love"[]
While investigating Moore's death, NYPD Homicide Sergeant Max Greevey and his partner, Detective Mike Logan, find out that Hendrick had commissioned his latest art show. They question Kendrick, and are struck by her callous attitude toward his death and by her jewelry, which they had seen earlier at a boutique Moore had frequented that specialized in bondage gear. A saleswoman at the boutique confirms that both Hendrick and Rothman are regular customers.
When Rothman's fingerprints are found at the crime scene, Greevey and Logan arrest him for manslaughter. Rothman claims to have been with Hendrick the night of Moore's death, but Hendrick denies it. Suspecting that Hendrick knows more than she is letting on, Executive Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone and Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette get a warrant to tap Rothman's phone. While surveilling Rothman, they hear him making a panicked call to Hendrick begging for help, only for her to order him to keep his mouth shut and never contact her again, a command he meekly obeys.
Rothman's lawyer tries to persuade Stone to agree to a lenient plea bargain, but Stone refuses to charge Rothman with anything less than manslaughter. Desperate, Rothman tells Stone that Hendrick "made" him let Moore die, and agrees to testify against her in return for the minimum sentence available under a manslaughter charge. Stone and Robinette lead a search of Hendrick's apartment, where they discover Quaaludes in her bathroom and bondage gear in her hope chest (prompting a horrified Stone to ask, "What were you hoping for?").
During a grand jury hearing, Stone cross-examines the owner of a BDSM club that Hendrick frequents who explains that she forces male patrons - her "slaves" - to abuse each other and themselves, and that she once nearly killed one of them, Gary Pardine. Rothman testifies that Hendrick had ordered him to let Moore die, prompting Hendrick to testify in her own defense, arrogantly waiving immunity from prosecution because she is sure that she can bend the grand jury to her will. She testifies that she was merely rehearsing a "performance art piece" with Moore and Rothman, and that Rothman had hanged Moore on his own. She then orders Rothman to recant his testimony against her, which he does as part of his compulsion to obey her. The grand jury believes Rothman acted alone and declines to press charges against Hendrick.
Facing an all-but-certain life sentence for murder, Rothman commits suicide by hanging himself. He leaves behind Polaroids proving that Hendrick was present at the time of Moore's death, however, proving that she lied about having nothing to do with the murder. Stone confronts Hendrick at one of her gallery parties and tells her of Rothman's death, to which she asks, "Did anyone take a picture?". Stone then shows her one of the pictures of her watching Moore die, as Greevey and Logan arrest her. She is then presumably found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
External links[]
- Elizabeth Hendrick on the Law & Order Wiki
