Brownwyn Freed-Wilkins is the jury forewoman in William Lewis' trial, who eventually came to believe he was innocent. She eventually started helping serial killers escape from prison.
History[]
Freed is seen leaving the courtroom after being selected to be on the jury in William Lewis' trial. She witnesses the testimony of Detectives Tutuola, Rollins, and Amaro and they describe Lewis' crimes. When Lewis cross-examines them, however, he manages to shake her confidence in their statements and she looks at the detectives in contempt as he cross-examines them. Sergeant Benson then takes the stand and she testifies to everything that Lewis did and Freed looks at Lewis. When Lewis calls Viva Nuñez to the stand, she listens as Lewis uses her to bolster his case and Freed continues to listen. He then calls the doctor who treated him and listens to her explain that any one of his injuries individually could have incapacitated him and the force Benson used was excessive. When Lewis calls for a recess, she leaves to go home.
When she returns, she listens to Lewis grill Benson on the stand and uses everything she said against him. Freed begins to believe that Benson did beat Lewis excessively and that Lewis was innocent. When she was giving the jury's verdict, she conveyed that she and several members of the jury had serious reservations on Benson's conduct and delivers the verdict. They find Lewis not guilty on attempted murder and rape but find him guilty of assaulting and kidnapping a police officer. After the verdict is read, she eyes Lewis and then leaves the courtroom. (SVU: "Psycho/Therapist")
After the trial, she starts corresponding with Lewis, believing he is innocent of all charges. He eventually convinces her to smuggle Propranolol from her legal prescription in cupcake frosting to help with his anxiety attacks. He then uses the confusion to escape from the hospital. She is questioned by Fin and she expresses shock at his escape but still continues to believe he is innocent. She is charged with aiding Lewis' escape, but the charges are dropped because of political pressure to hide the corrupt prison system. (SVU: "Beast's Obsession")
After Lewis's suicide, Derek Strauss impanels a grand jury to try and indict Benson on murder and assault charges. He subsequently calls on Freed to testify. She tells the grand jury of how Lewis died four times on his ride to the hospital, and how she believes Benson beat Lewis excessively and sent witnesses away so they could not witness the beating, all painting the picture that Benson had a vendetta against Lewis. (SVU: "Post-Mortem Blues")
Freed is later seen in the courtroom gallery during the trial of M.E. Carl Rudnick as he testifies in his own defense when he is accused of killing Susie Frain, fiancée of Dr. Greg Yates, after she attempted to blackmail him. (SVU: "Criminal Pathology")
Freed eventually gets a job as a group counselor at Green Haven Correctional Facility, where Rudnick is imprisoned, to get close to him. In December, she marries a man named Kyle Wilkins and takes his surname to hide her true identity while she works at Green Haven. She eventually starts to bond with Rudnick. Rudnick eventually convinces her to help him escape, and she starts sneaking in supplies inside lasagna made in a deep dish for Rudnick to escape. When Yates figures out what she is doing, he blackmails Rudnick into bringing him along and threatening to kill her husband if she did not allow him to escape with Rudnick. After Yates and Rudnick escape, they kill two workers Rudnick paid off to help them. Freed meets up with them in her car and hands them more supplies, including women's clothes for Rudnick and a gun stolen from her husband. Rudnick dressed up as a woman and they drove through checkpoints while Yates hid in the back. Once they were clear, Yates and Rudnick decided to leave Freed behind. Yates told Rudnick to kill her but Rudnick fired a shot into the air, attacks her, throws her in the trunk of a car, and leaves her to die. After the police found her, she told them everything while arguing with Benson about Rudnick's character. She was arrested for her involvement in their escape, as well as being an accessory to the murder committed by Yates and is awaiting trial. (SVU: "Nationwide Manhunt")
Known Victims[]
- 2014, New York City, New York (all committed by Lewis):
- March 31:
- Officer Foster (snapped his neck and stole his gun)
- Unnamed nurse (raped and mutilated; survived)
- The Cole family:
- Janice Cole (mother; shot once in the head)
- Lauren Cole (eldest daughter; burned, raped, bound, and gagged; survived)
- Amelia Cole (youngest daughter; kidnapped, forced to drink alcohol, and bound; survived and was rescued)
- April 1:
- Danny Weston (shot once in the head and carjacked)
- Unnamed gas station clerk (assaulted; bound, gagged, and pistol-whipped)
- Martha Marron (intended to rape)
- Unnamed man (attempted, but survived; shoved down a flight of stairs and non-fatally beaten)
- Unnamed clerk (bound, gagged, and fatally shot)
- April 2: Sergeant Olivia Benson (held hostage, molested, assaulted, tortured, and forced to partake in Russian Roulette; was rescued)
- March 31:
- 2016:
- February 6, New York City, New York: Two unnamed electrical workers (necks snapped by Yates and Rudnick)
- February 7, Gloversville, New York:
- Unnamed female state trooper (raped and bludgeoned by Yates)
- Carl Rudnick (attempted; knees and ankles broken, eardrum stabbed, and left to die by Yates)
- The roadside shooting (committed by Yates):
- Unnamed male state trooper (shot in the head)
- Sergeant Mike Dodds (non-fatally shot)
- Detective Erin Lindsay (attempted; shot at, but missed)
- Unnamed man (shot in the head and carjacked by Yates)
- February 7-8:
- Pennsylvania: Unnamed motorist (assaulted and carjacked by Yates)
- Ohio: Unnamed motorist (assaulted and carjacked by Yates)
- Indiana: Unnamed motorist (assaulted and carjacked by Yates)
- February 8, Chicago, Illinois:
- The apartment massacre (four fatalities; committed by Yates):
- Kindra Komerda (bashed her head on the floor repeatedly)
- Carla Gorniewicz (slammed against the wall repeatedly)
- Adrienne Lewis (bludgeoned and hand cut off post-mortem)
- Sam Inniss (bludgeoned; died at the hospital)
- Penelope "Nellie" Carr (kidnapped by Yates; was rescued)
- Michael Williams (his father; assaulted, kidnapped, and hanged by Yates)
- The apartment massacre (four fatalities; committed by Yates):
Appearances[]
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2 seasons, 5 episodes):
- Season 15: "Psycho/Therapist" • "Beast's Obsession" • "Post-Mortem Blues"
- Season 17: "Criminal Pathology" • "Nationwide Manhunt"