The plot is inspired by a real-life incident in which detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) interrogated and arrested one of their own detectives named Stephanie Lazarus on camera in 2009 for a 1986 cold case in which she fought, shot and killed her ex-lover's new wife, Sherri Rasmussen, out of jealousy. Then, she staged the crime scene to look like a burglary. A few days later, she went to a police station in a different city and reported her gun as stolen, even though she disposed of the gun so it couldn't be traced. The detectives at the time were fooled into thinking that the victim was killed by two Hispanic male burglars, who were never apprehended. Lazarus remained with the department and rose up the ranks from police officer to detective over the years. DNA testing didn't exist in 1986, so no work was done on a swab taken from a bite mark on the victim's body until many years later. The test proved that it was Lazarus' DNA, and it helped convict her of first-degree murder at her trial in 2012. She is serving a 27-year sentence at California Institution for Women in Corona, California. In 2023, Lazarus finally acknowledged killing Rasmussen but also that she hadn't intended to kill the victim, making it appear as if it was manslaughter.
This is the first Dana Lewis based episode in which Detective Stabler does not appear. It is also her first episode in which none of the main characters are shot or otherwise injured.
FBI Agent Dana Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden) has appeared in several SVU episodes throughout the series.
Danny Pino played the main character in Cold Case - Kein Opfer ist je vergessen (2003) for many years.