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| “ | You'll never convict me. You know that, right? | „ |
| ~ Kyle Swanson mocking Samantha Maroun. |
Kyle Swanson is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Wicked Game". He is a serial killer who overdoses young, Black, gay men on methamphetamine.
He was portrayed by Currie Graham.
Biography[]
Swanson is a wealthy businessman with connections to several powerful politicians. He leads a playboy lifestyle, with multiple young, Black boyfriends whom he showers with money and gifts in return for sex.
His glamorous public persona hides a dark side, however; he is a sexual sadist who gratifies himself by overdosing his lovers with methamphetamine and playing God by deciding whether they live or die. A racist, he dismisses his victims as "worthless", and fantasizes about owning them as slaves. After he kills them, he simply dumps their bodies on the street in suitcases as if they were garbage.
By the time of the episode, he has murdered five men.
"Wicked Game"[]
Swanson takes his latest lover, Darien Mitchell, to a fundraiser for a Senate candidate, and then to an after-party where he and his inner circle of closeted politicians have sex with young men. He overdoses Mitchell on methamphetamine, and allows him to die, later putting his body in a luxury suitcase and dumping it on the street.
NYPD Homicide Detectives Kevin Bernard and Frank Cosgrove investigate Mitchell's murder, and their Lieutenant, Kate Dixon, notices similarities to a murder of another young, Black, gay man that she had investigated two years earlier. Bernard and Cosgrove interview Swanson, who denies knowing Mitchell and arrogantly refers to him as "the help". Bernard and Cosgrove search Swanson's house and find that he owns several luxury suitcases like the one Mitchell's body was found in, giving them probable cause to arrest him. Swanson admits that he and Mitchell were lovers, but denies killing him.
Dixon is convinced that he is guilty, however, and pushes her detectives to investigate further. The investigation pays off, with Bernard and Cosgrove finding evidence tying Swanson to five murders, and persuading his surviving victim, Andre Walker, to testify against him. Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price and Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun charge Swanson with second-degree murder under a hate crimes statute, as he had specifically targeted Black, gay men.
The case hits a roadblock, however, when Walker, a recovering addict and ex-con, changes his mind about testifying, fearing that his parole officer will send him back to prison for using meth. Price knows that the case will fall apart without him, however, so he reluctantly threatens Walker with prison time if he reneges on his promise to testify. Knowing he will go to prison either way, Walker decides to do the right thing and testifies that Swanson nearly killed him several times as part of a fantasy about Walker being his slave. The jury is horrified, and finds Swanson guilty of second-degree murder. As Swanson is led out of the courtroom, he threatens to "ruin" the prosecution, the judge, and the jury.
Trivia[]
- Swanson is loosely based on the real-life sexual predator Ed Buck.
External links[]
- Kyle Swanson on the Law & Order Wiki
