This episode appears to be based on the 1998 Charity Miranda case. Charity's mother, Vivian, and a classmate, Serena Martin, engaged her in a two-hour exorcism because her mother believed that Charity had a demon inside of her. Charity died during the exorcism process, and to cover her death, her mother placed her in a plastic bag, leaving her at the bottom of the stairs.
Rosa Halasy says, "I went to Catholic school all my life. Then to a convent at Monticello." She pronounces Monticello like "Montasello", which is how the locals do pronounce it. Per the Village of Monticello's "Fun Facts": "The village was named after the residence of Thomas Jefferson, but is pronounced as 'mon-tah-sell-oh'."
Lennie says, "Maybe we can find someone in this dump who knows more than Miss Congeniality here." Benjamin Bratt will go on to play Eric Matthews in Miss Congeniality (2000).
Bill Camp (Barney Rade) also played the role of Denny Rogis in episode 14.20 Everybody Loves Raimondo's (2004).