Hilary Barclay is a woman who castrated a man named Horace Gorman, who had held her captive for months, which resulted in his death.
History[]
Hilary struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, which distanced her from her mother, antiques curator Juliet Barclay, who hated her being a "junkie" when she'd constantly try to find finances for her habit and was too unruly for Juliet's taste.
When she was a young adult, Hilary was kidnapped and held captive by Gorman for months, but was released one night when Gorman was done with her. Juliet and even Benson, the detective with her statement, never believed her because she was drunk, Benson personally prejudiced due to her mother Serena's alcoholism. Hilary got herself sober at NA meetings and sent a letter to Juliet telling her the great news, but she never saw justice for a few years.
Eventually, Hilary encountered Gorman on the subway and castrated him to stop his crimes, as Gorman targeted other women as well; the genitals were left with the homeless in the tunnels to divert suspicion from her. When Juliet found out, she later stabbed Gorman to death at one of his hideouts, briefly framing Benson because she was first on scene following a hunch alone. Juliet told the Special Victims Unit that she was solely guilty, which resulted in them arresting her. However, during the trial, Hilary took all the responsibility, which led to Juliet's full acquittal and Hilary's arrest.
Later, video evidence proved that Hilary was at a coffee shop at the time of Horace's murder, but did castrate him earlier, and that her mother was also guilty. However, Juliet was immune due to the standards of double jeopardy, which Hilary was content with, because her mother was free and Gorman wouldn't torture more women. (SVU: "Control")