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“ | You can't understand. My father's a good man. | „ |
~ Harlan in interrogation |
Harlan Barnes is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Criminal Law". Harlan is a spree killer who murders the witnesses of his father Leland Barnes' trial for mass murder, at the elder Barnes' direction.
He was portrayed by Johnathan Tchaikovsky.
Biography[]
Leland Barnes violently beat his wife Kelly in front of their children, then committed a mass shooting at her workplace, murdering Kelly, her boss, and two other people in cold blood. Barnes was convicted and sentenced to death, while Harlan and his brother Robert were adopted by the Hendricks family. Barnes was up for retrial and appealed to Harlan, who he knew was susceptible due to his trauma turning into anger issues. Barnes manipulated Harlan with letters sent between them through another inmate, Anton Garfield, telling Harlan he needed Harlan to kill the witnesses of his original trial to guarantee his release.
Barnes gave the names, while Harlan tracked them all down, either breaking into their homes or uses ruses to lure them into vulnerability. The first witness was Sylvia Rossi, but Harlan narrowed down three Sylvia Rossis and rushed to kill them all, successfully shooting them and the husband of the third Sylvia Rossi, Michael. Harlan then killed Leon Whitaker and his wife, but before he could kill Elaine Bowman and the prosecutor on Barnes' case, Jack McCoy, they were taken into protective custody. Harlan was tracked through the alias Troy Hendricks, the Hendricks family's birth son who died before the Barnes brothers were adopted. Robert was the voice of reason who led the police to Harlan, as Harlan wanted his assistance to escape. Robert gave up Harlan's location, and Harlan was arrested. As McCoy was rushing to prove Barnes ordered Harlan to kill so Barnes could stay imprisoned, Detectives Ed Green and Joe Fontana aggressively interrogated Harlan to make him turn on Barnes. Even after Harlan tried to charge Fontana, he wouldn't budge. Harlan went to prison for his own crimes, while Barnes was released on grounds of a mistrial. Robert stopped Barnes by shooting him dead on the front steps of the courthouse.
Trivia[]
- Harlan's murders are in part inspired by the murders of Mary Lou Morris and Mary McGinnis Morris, two women who were violently killed in Houston, Texas, in what's believed to have been, in varied theories, mistaken identity murders, hitman murders, and murders to misdirect police from the true motive.
External links[]
- Harlan Barnes on the Law & Order Wiki