Fans of Law & Order will be familiar with the “ripped from the headlines” cases based on real crimes — but on Homicide: New York, the new docuseries from the mind of Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, every twist, turn, and harrowing detail is real.
From the officers tasked with cracking the case, to the intense grief experienced by those left in the wake of a violent crime, to the complicated process of bringing perpetrators to justice, the new five-episode series from Wolf Entertainment alongside Alfred Street Industries shares law enforcement’s recollections of some of their grisliest cases. As one officer puts it in the series, “Every single case takes a little piece out of your soul.”
“In New York, homicide detectives are divided between north and south Manhattan,” executive producer Adam Kassen told Netflix. The NYPD is massive. You can work in that department and not actually know somebody for years. All the folks on the show know each other — they either worked together loosely or were connected somehow. And that was what we started with, a group of folks that were connected, that cared about their cases.”
Homicide: New York features five different stories, from the 1997 stabbing murder of a man in Central Park to the 2001 Carnegie Deli massacre –– in which five people were found shot in an apartment above the restaurant. Homicide: New York features interviews with the NYPD, as well as survivors, friends, and families of the victims.
“You can read what happened [in these cases] on Wikipedia, but you don’t get the human side of the story,” executive producer Jane Lipsitz told Netflix. “You don’t have the context of the victim’s families and friends. That obviously is a huge part of it, and really creates some emotional connection for the audience.”
Read more about each Homicide: New York episode below.
In 2001, the authorities are called to an apartment located directly above Carnegie Deli, an historic eatery popular with tourists in Manhattan’s theater district. Five victims have been shot, execution-style — four of them are found with binding at the wrists and ankles. The shooting occurred at the apartment of Jennifer Stahl, a background dancer in the movie Dirty Dancing.
On the night of her murder, Stahl was drinking wine at home with friends Stephen King, Charles “Trey” Helliwell and his girlfriend Rosemond Dane, and Anthony Veadar, Stahl’s hairdresser. The doorbell rang, and two armed men entered the apartment and attempted to rob Stahl. Moments later, Stahl and her four guests were all shot. King and Helliwell died on scene, Dane was injured but survived, and Veader’s injury was minor enough for him to call 911 after the intruders fled. Stahl died after being taken to the hospital for her injuries.
Homicide: New York recounts EMTs’ efforts to save the lives of those who survived the initial shooting, as well as the work of NYPD Lieutenant Roger Parrino and death investigator Barbara Butcher as they attempt to figure out who committed this heinous crime — and why. Eventually, Sean Salley and Andre "Dre" Smith were each found guilty of three counts of second-degree murder, four robbery counts, and two weapons counts in connection to the shooting.
In the middle of the night, Michael McMorrows’ body is found floating in the lake in the middle of Central Park. By the time NYPD homicide detective Rob Mooney arrives on the scene the next morning, the press is already swarming and the pressure is on to figure out who’s responsible for the gruesome slaying. When local teenage girl Daphne Abdela tells police that her boyfriend slayed the victim, her account results in arrests for both of them. Now Mooney is tasked with getting to the bottom of what happened in the park that fateful night in order to build a case against the true perpetrator of this heinous murder.
Thanks in part to Mooney’s work, Abdela and her then-boyfriend, Christopher Vasquez, were arrested for McMorrow’s murder. Abdela pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a plea deal, and Vasquez was later found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter. Both teens were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. They were both released from prison in 2004, after serving six years.
Eridania Rodriguez is a 46-year-old woman who works the evening shift as a cleaner in Manhattan’s Financial District. During the summer of 2009, Rodriguez arrives to begin her shift and seemingly vanishes. When a co-worker contacts her family to see if she’s returned home, her family frantically rushes downtown to see if they can find her — but to no avail. When the NYPD arrives, they find that by all accounts, Rodriguez never left the building. Police search the building, and find Rodriguez’s body in an air duct. Her death is a source of confusion for both police and family, as none of them can think of anyone with a motive.
Eventually, a lead emerges: It’s discovered that maintenance worker Joseph Pabon, who had a history of violent behavior against women, works in the same building as Rodriguez. The DNA found under Rodriguez’s nails is a match for Pabon, and police arrest him.
In 2012, Pabon was sentenced at least 25 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2034.
When Howard Pilmar, the owner of an office supply company in Midtown Manhattan, is found stabbed to death in 1996, the police begin to suspect that it was members of Pilmar’s own family — his wife and brother-in-law, specifically — who conspired to have him killed. As his loved ones descend into further distress and internal strife, NYPD lieutenant Roger Parrino works tirelessly to determine who killed the beloved entrepreneur.
The discovery of an unknown female victim in the staircase of a building in East Harlem leads the NYPD to piece together a spate of related cases throughout the neighborhood over the course of several years. A serial rapist and murderer is targeting young Black and Latina women, and the longer it takes for police to track him down, the more a community remains at risk.
Homicide: New York is a production of Wolf Entertainment alongside Alfred Street Industries, with executive producers Dick Wolf, Tom Thayer, Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Nan Strait, Dan Volpe, and Adam Kassen. The series premieres on March 20, followed by Homicide: Los Angeles later in 2024.
Watch Homicide: New York on Netflix now.
