The grisly murder and dismemberment of a New York cabbie draws the elite Special Victims Unit of the NYPD, including veteran Detective Elliot Stabler and his partner, Olivia Benson, who soon discover that the victim had assumed the identity of another man.
When the body of Gretchen Quinn is found wearing only a red slip after having gone through an upper-story window, Benson and Stabler soon find out that "Gretchen Quinn" never existed.
Stabler and Benson investigate the case of a beaten teen model who was dumped in front of a hospital.
Stabler and Benson investigate the murder of a young woman mistaken for a prostitute.
After a travel writer is found tied up with a woman's undergarments choking off his air supply, Benson and Stabler initially suspect his landlord's boyfriend, but suspicion soon turns to the landlord and her teenage daughter. Both seem far too interested in what their tenant is doing with his time.
Benson and Stabler investigate a female student's murder at a local college. When they develop two suspects on the basketball team, they experience resistance from the college, which is trying to preserve its reputation and its chance at an upcoming championship.
The murder of an 8-year-old boy leads to a case involving the rights of a convicted child molester who has served his sentence and has returned to society.
A killing leads to a case in which the murderer is someone who stalks his victims...and Benson (Mariska Hargitay) finds that she's a target.
The investigation of the killing of a Wall Street stock analyst involves illicit financial dealings and sado-masochism.
After being raped by an intruder, a waitress (Tracy Pollan) reports the crime...and has to deal with its aftermath.
The investigation of a gay man's murder, following a party in his apartment building, involves an ex-con and his brother.
The investigation of a multimillionaire's killing involves bisexual infidelities and a number of Russians.
The investigation of a judge's murder involves blackmail, sexual favors, and a convict's wife (Kathryn Meisle), who was a battered spouse.
Faced with the expiration of a statute of limitations, the staff tries to find a rapist involved in three assaults that occurred five years earlier.
The detectives of Special Victims Unit team with the 27th Precinct to investigate a salesman's murder, leading them to a politically influential family. When the case goes to court, McCoy finds the matriarch to be a formidable opponent.
After two teens are caught in connection to an assault and robbery of an elderly woman, it's apparent that the attack was committed by someone else.
The daughter-in-law of the leader of a religious group is found strangled in a New York hotel room. The suspects include a colleague and a thief.
A teen's claim that she was assaulted by a man who befriended her on the Internet leads to a case involving pedophilia.
A forensic psychologist (Audra McDonald) is called in to help apprehend a serial rapist who preys on women in the subway.
A TV newswoman's on-air discussion of her assault leads to a case involving two fatal bombings.
After a piano teacher is arrested for pedophilia, the detectives want a long-time student to testify against him.
Detectives try to help a woman who claims that she was "trapped in a situation she cannot escape from."
