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“ | You walk around afraid you're never gonna get what you want. I'm not afraid, Detective. Are you? | „ |
~ Maggie Peterson taunting Det. Elliott Stabler. |
Margaret "Maggie" Peterson is the main antagonist in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Chameleon". She is a prostitute who robs and murders her male customers and claims that they all tried to rape her after she is caught.
She was portrayed by Sharon Lawrence, who also portrayed Linda Fusco in Monk and Roberta Lynch in Criminal Minds.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Maggie Peterson was a prostitute and serial killer of several men. Her mother was also a prostitute; her father's name was not on her birth certificate. She had a little boy named Joey in her custody whom she claimed was her son, but it was later discovered that she had kidnapped the child after murdering his mother.
In "Chameleon"[]
She first encounters the NYPD's Special Victims Unit after she shoots and kills serial rapist and murderer Shawn Becker, who had paid for her services before attacking her. At first, it appears that she acted in self-defense, but during the investigation, SVU Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler discover that she had killed several men in the same manner, so they arrest her.
While she is in custody, forensic psychiatrist Dr. George Huang talks with Peterson, and she gives him a sob story about being abused by her father as a child, trying to manipulate him because he is a "gentle, caring doctor". However, when Huang leaves and Stabler enters the interrogation room, Peterson's entire personality changes as if someone flipped a switch; Peterson, assessing Stabler as a "strong alpha male", begins aggressively flaunting her sexuality, throwing herself at Stabler and trying to seduce him. When Benson confronts her about her lies, however, Peterson shows her true colors by attacking Benson in a fit of rage, forcing Benson to restrain her. Huang later explains to the detectives that Peterson is displaying a "cocktail personality", one of the hallmarks of a sociopath - the ability to tell several contradictory lies with complete conviction, and to change her affect according to what she senses a person wants from her.
Upon her arrest, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announces that they intend to seek the death penalty against her. According to Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot, that would have made her the first woman to be put to death in the state of New York. However, District Attorney Nora Lewin refuses to sign off on it, stating that she does not want to execute anyone who may have acted in self-defense.
In court, Peterson claims that she committed all of the killings in self-defense, and that she only stole from her victims to afford a better life for Joey. However, Cabot confronts her with evidence proving that Joey is not really her son, and that she murdered his real mother, Erin Byers. Without missing a beat, Peterson claims that Byers had been an unfit mother and had thrown Joey out "like garbage". Cabot is not fooled, however, and tells her Joey's father is coming to claim him and that, soon, the jury will see that her "selfless mother" act is nothing but a lie. She then offers Perterson her a harsh plea deal, which Peterson says she will have to think about. That night, she hangs herself in her cell and leaves a note giving all of her possessions to Joey.
Trivia[]
- Peterson is based on a real-life serial killer, the late Aileen Wuornos, who also worked as a prostitute and murdered several of her customers, while claiming that she had acted in self-defense.
External links[]
- Maggie Peterson at the Law & Order Wiki
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