EPISODE

4. The Faithful

Goren and Eames investigate the death of a Catholic church sexton, Morris Abernathy. They begin to suspect Kevin Donovan, a thieving drug addict who works at the church, until he is found murdered in his apartment. As Goren and Eames delve into the church's business, they uncover the embezzlement of money from the collection funds, and believe it was by Abernathy who tried to frame Donovan. When they realize someone performed last rites over Donovan's body, the detectives are led to a priest who has been trying to keep a twenty-year-old secret hidden.

Description credits

Description source · Content or data license. Source formatting adapted for this entry.

THIS ENTRY’S STORY

The story

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Plot summary

Goren and Eames investigate the death of a Catholic church sexton, Morris Abernathy. They begin to suspect Kevin Donovan ( Alex Feldman ), a thieving drug addict who works at the church, until he is found murdered in his apartment. As Goren and Eames delve into the church's business, they uncover the embezzlement of money from the collection funds, and believe it was by Abernathy who tried to frame Donovan. When they realize someone performed last rites over Donovan's body, the detectives suspect a priest is responsible. They are led to Father Michael McShale ( Michael O'Keefe ) who they eventually discover had fathered Donovan with one Melanie Grasso ( Dana Reeve ) twenty years ago and had been embezzling church funds to support Donovan. He eventually killed his drug-addicted and violent son when he realized the youth had uncovered the address of his mother.

Credits

Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 1. HTML formatting and reference markers removed.

Original text and revision history

Content license