SPOILER CENTRALTHE WHOLE STORY.

EPISODE

17. Shibboleth

Detectives Goren and Eames fear they are facing a past fugitive serial killer who has re-surfaced after a half-naked woman is found murdered in a similar manner used by the taunting "BBJ" killer whose spree began 16 years ago and then abruptly halted. As forensic evidence points to a troubled young man, Goren believes the police might have arrested the wrong suspect -- or at least not the one responsible for the initial slayings.

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

Office worker Phoebe Morton ( Melissa Hickey ) dies by bondage strangulation while her killer calls 9-1-1 and has a shibboleth, a particular articulation of "T" words. Goren and Eames realize that Morton is one of five women murdered by a serial killer known as Body By Jake (B.B.J.) between 1989 and 1992, but who has been inactive since then. Their investigation of abuse victims leads them to parolee Keith Durbin ( Paul Sparks ) who displays the same shibboleth as in the 9-1-1 call. He is arrested and is questioned before a Grand Jury and appears guilty but Goren is not convinced he is a killer.

They question railway worker Frank McNare ( Kevin Conway ) at the subway station which connects the murder victims and discover he is father of Durbin. He has the same shibboleth as his son, who as a boy saw a photo of woman bound and semi-naked in his father's car, and they charge McNare with the murders.

Credits

Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 4. HTML formatting and reference markers removed.

Original text and revision history

Content license