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Donald Housman is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "The Ring". Housman is the killer of his fiance, Kelly Sommers, on September 11, 2001, burying her murder among the deaths of thousands of people during the twin towers attack in New York City.
He's portrayed by Thomas McCarthy.
Biography[]
Housman was a software designer and a control freak in his relationships with women. He stalked Kelly's activities online by hacking into her devices. It was through this he found out she was having an affair with Bradley Hagen, a married lawyer and senator's son. Housman confronted her and beat her to death in a rage. As the World Trade Center was being hit by the hijacked commercial planes, Housman cut off Kelly's arm and left it at Ground Zero to frame the terrorists for her murder. The rest of Kelly was buried in a sandlot in the projects, two young shoplifters finding a year later, reduced to bones. Housman, by that point, began dating Leah Stanton, whose online activities he also stalked. He also used insurance payouts for Kelly's death to spoil himself and Leah.
Hagen was originally suspected of the murder and taken to trial, Housman being subpoenaed to testify. He was shown photos of Kelly's arm and the contents of her evening bag at Ground Zero by Hagen's defense counsel, which Housman put up an act of resurfaced grief over. A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn realized the truth once she remembered Housman said he has saw Kelly in the morning, with an evening bag, which proved he was lying. His surveillance of his partners' activities were discovered, as were his purchases from his insurance payout. When confronted in Leah's presence, Leah was horrified, so Housman panicked and thought he could keep her by confessing to everything. Leah fled, and Housman, stunned from being caught and losing everything in that moment, was asked by E.A.D.A. Jack McCoy if he had an attorney. Housman was later tried and imprisoned for Kelly's murder.
Trivia[]
- Housman and Kelly's murder are inspired by multiple real-life criminal cases:
- The disappearance of Sneha Anne Philip, an Indian-American physician who went missing during 9/11, her disappearance long being argued as either coming from the terrorist attacks or having other explanations.
- The Disappearance of Michele Anne Harris, whose husband Cal was tried on suspicion and acquitted, as he turned to another woman shortly after Michele's disappearance, as well as sold her belongings.