Many of the best episodes of Law & Order: SVU include perps who do horrific things to other human beings. However, these are not easy to watch, and audiences often skip the most disturbing episodes on rewatch. While Law & Order: SVU deals with heinous crimes every week, several episodes stand out as being particularly hard to stomach thanks to villains so monstrous, they transcended evil.
10. Sheila Porter
Brooke Shields
Sheila Porter was more unstable than evil. However, she quickly became one of Olivia Benson’s worst nightmares. Sheila was Noah’s biological grandmother, who wanted a relationship with her grandson and was willing to do anything in order to obtain it. Benson was willing to let Sheila be part of Noah’s life, but that was not enough for her.
Sheila kidnapped Noah and pretended someone else had taken him while her back was turned during a trip to a department store. The creepiest part of this story was that Noah had no real understanding of what she had done to him and wanted to see her again after he was recovered.
9. Greg Yates
Dallas Roberts
Yates’ calm demeanor after arrest puts the DA’s office at risk of losing during trial.
Yates was likely based on several real-life serial killers. He was highly educated and soft-spoken, which lured women in. He had little conscience and killed a pregnant woman as well as several nurses. Yates’ calm demeanor after the arrest puts the DA’s office at risk of losing during the trial.
8. Hunter Mazelon
Sterling Beaumon
Hunter’s story is a particularly disturbing one. He is a teenage boy who rapes and murders several older women. This is heinous enough, but his backstory describes how his upbringing contributed to his becoming a serial killer as an adult. Shortly after being abandoned by his father, Hunter was abused by a babysitter.
His mother refused to press charges and wanted him to forget the abuse and move on. This neglectful attitude contributed to Hunter later acting out his anger toward women through the violent crimes he committed. The episode ends with Hunter being institutionalized, so he could potentially return and wreak more havoc in the future.
7. Victor Gitano
Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamonds Phillips excels at playing villains who have strong motives for their crimes. Victor Gitano was a particularly disturbing character who interfered with the relationship between Law & Order: SVU‘s Benson and Stabler.
This level of violence caused Benson and Stabler to question whether they had each other’s backs properly when in the field together.
Gitano threatened to slit Benson’s throat and later shot at Stabler. He also killed some children when Stabler failed to stop him in time. This level of violence caused Benson and Stabler to question whether they had each other’s backs properly when in the field because this creepy villain was able to attack them both.
6. Rob Miller
Titus Welliver
Rob Miller was the ultimate power player who thought he was above the law. He was a well-known, high-profile attorney who had an extraordinarily successful career until he was accused of rape. Defense attorney Nikki Staine identified him as the man who assaulted her at a policeman’s ball, but charges were dropped by the federal police.
Miller’s behavior escalated, making him even more creepy. He believed he could not get caught and murdered a teenager who witnessed him attending a sex party and attempted to intimidate Benson by stalking her and threatening Noah. Fortunately, Stone was able to set a trap for him, ending his reign of terror.
5. Lowell Harris
Johnny Messner
Lowell Harris was a prison guard who was raping female prisoners. This was disgusting enough, but he is most memorable because he attempted to attack Benson.
After learning about the rapes, Benson went undercover as a prisoner to find out who was attacking inmates. Harris cornered her and nearly raped her, but Stabler arrived in time to stop him. Until the William Lewis attack, this was Benson’s most traumatic moment and the closest she had gotten to becoming a victim herself.
4. Merritt Rook
Robin Williams
This episode of Law & Order: SVU demonstrated the late actor Robin Williams’ phenomenal talent. Although Williams was primarily known as a comedian, he was equally talented at drama and had played the grieving husband of a murder victim in Homicide: Life On The Streets. In Law & Order: SVU, however, he played one of his most disturbing roles.
Rook was also grieving, but twisted his pain into vigilante violence. He had begun his reign of terror at age 13, but stopped when he got married — and when his wife and baby died during childbirth, he returned to a life of crime with a vengeance. He used psychological manipulation to torment victims.
Rook’s knowledge of psychology, his grief, and his willingness to use a fake persona to intimidate victims made him a scary villain, especially near the climax of the episode when he recorded Benson screaming to torment Stabler. Rook fled while handcuffed and is presumed to have drowned in the East River.
3. Carl Rudnick
Jefferson Mays
Carl Rudnick was a medical examiner, so he was expected to be on Benson’s team in Law & Order: SVU. However, he was a classmate of Greg Yates, and after Rudnick’s first kill, Yates gave him advice on how to commit murder more efficiently and reduce his chances of getting caught.
Dr. Warner was a beloved character who could have been in danger because of him [Rudnick].
Rudnick was a serial killer who dismembered his victims after they were dead, but the scariest thing about him is that he was Melinda Warner’s boss. His position allowed him to manipulate autopsies and cover up his involvement, and Dr. Warner was a beloved character who could have been in danger because of him.
2. William Lewis
Pablo Schreiber
William Lewis is one of the most disturbing villains in Law & Order: SVU history. He was a serial rapist and killer who could charm his way out of trouble. Initially, he presented as a man with a dog who had witnessed an attack, and Rollins was the only one who was suspicious of him.
Lewis became an especially horrifying villain after he kidnapped and tortured Benson. When she escaped her bonds, she nearly killed him, only for him to try to claim she attempted to murder him. Lewis escaped from jail and tormented Benson again, but his final appearance ended with his suicide. However, Benson has had PTSD since his multiple attacks.
1. Henry Messner
Ethan Cutowsky
Henry Messner had no conscience or empathy. His story began with him pushing his sister down a flight of stairs as an “experiment” to see how badly she would get hurt. After a school nurse reported her injuries to the Special Victims Unit, the team tried to convince Henry’s parents that he needed help.
Henry’s family spent most of the episode denying that he had serious problems — even after he hid a knife under his pillow and attacked his mother when she tried to take it from him. Henry eventually was institutionalized after a killing spree (including the disturbing image of drowning a dog.)
Law & Order: SVU brought Henry back ten years later, after he was supposedly cured but killed his father, kidnapped his sister, and stalked Rollins and her family.
