Jason Corley is a domestic abuser and the assailant of Emily Newton, a family friend of Lieutenant Anita Van Buren. The precinct took on the case of Newton's suicide, which was provoked by Corley horrifically disfiguring her.
History[]
Corley would often abuse ex-girlfriends, including severely beating one but leaving her too scared to testify. Emily Newton would be the next woman Corley would terrorize, but she suffered the worst yet: in a fit of rage, Corley threw drain cleaner in Emily's face, burning and permanently scarring it. Horrified by her look and traumatized by the excruciating pain of the assault, Emily went from depression to eventually killing herself by hanging while she was hogtied.
Anita Van Buren immediately recognized her, telling Emily's mother, Christine Hill, the news herself and swearing to catch Corley. Corley kept getting off by jumping through the legal hoops, so the police tried a different approach. Enlisting his current girlfriend Justine, they set up a sting in hopes she'd coax him into a confession while they were seemingly alone in her apartment.
They got his confession a different way: Emily's grieving sister Callie stormed into the apartment and splashed Corley, causing the livid abuser to lash out at Callie and confess while posthumously insulting Emily and their family. Police immediately arrested him and dragged him out before it got any worse. Van Buren asked Callie what she threw at him, and she revealed it was only vinegar, before the two women console each other.
Corley was livid about the impromptu scam, but it was still enough for a charge. The woman Corley beat in Colorado also agreed to testify and paid for her own flight and legal expenses. Jack McCoy told him and his council, Terrence Putney, if he didn't take a deal of 25 years, he'd serve 45.
Corley irately accepted the deal and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Putney didn't fight it, citing his own two daughters out of sympathy. (L&O: "Acid")