The evil Gloria Stanfield
Gloria Stanfield (Sherilyn Fenn) is the main villainess from "Deception ," episode 4.02 of Law & Order: SVU (airdate October 4, 2002). She is the wife of Lawrence Fuller, stepmother of his son Kyle and the biological mother of Chloe Fuller.
Backstory & Introduction[]
She is an esteemed actress who married the wealthy widower Lawrence Fuller. At some point she had given birth to their daughter Chloe. Gloria initially did not get along with her stepson Kyle who was born from Lawrence's late first wife. Over time, they got on better terms and the family seemed happy.
In the beginning of the episode, Chloe fell behind in school and SVU were called when Chloe drew some odd pictures. Among these pictures included one of Chloe crying. She revealed that her reasons stemmed from apparently finding her mother in bed with her older half-brother Kyle. This alarmed the detectives and they took Chloe to the hospital for bruises. Her father Lawrence had come to pick her up and was told about the accusations. He initially attempted to defend his wife but started to consider after being questioned if they've ever been alone or she's been overly affection with Kyle. He permitted the detectives to look into any of the theory but took his daughter home.
When interviewed both Kyle and Gloria denied the accusations, but the housekeeper believes she saw them kissing and Kyle's peers noted with her beauty it wasn't farfetched. Eventually, the very idea cause Lawrence to lash out at Gloria. The two got into a heated argument at the school, where SVU were called to deescalate. Both parties were questioned, and Gloria stated that Lawrence was angry that she was planning to divorce him but he clarified that he was really angry at what could've been doing to his daughter if she was really abusing his son. Because of this hectic scene, the detectives have no choice but to remove the kids from both parents.
Much later, Lawrence is found murdered with both Kyle and Gloria looking like suspects. Because of his baseball bat had his blood on it and belonged to Kyle, he was arrested. Gloria bailed him out in the two went to Virginia, where they eloped and were found in bed by SVU who were able to track them. The sight of them together disgusted the detectives but because Kyle was legal age they could not charge her but were able to charge Kyle for violating bail. Due to them being married spousal privilege, it became hard for SVU for to question them.
Soon Gloria is apparently sexually assaulted and discovered pregnant with the father being unknown. The assailant is revealed to be Frank Barbarossa. He is also revealed to be Lawrence's true murderer and DNA test reveals the father of her child. When brought in, he voices that he and Gloria had a consensual relationship, that she lied to him that Lawrence was abusive, and she actually orchestrated him to murder her husband. They even note she kept his DNA safe to frame him for being a loose end.
SVU soon realize that Gloria was mainly after money and noted that because Kyle had a substantial trust fund that she was likely after it. The detectives theorized that once he is released, she was planning to have him killed as well to get the inheritance and live a wealthy life.
Climax and Arrest[]
SVU later visited Kyle at Rikers, awaiting release and inform him he was not the only man Gloria was with. They also tell him that he’s not the father of her baby by bringing out DNA results and state Gloria was using him. ADA Cabot promises not to charge the horrified Kyle if he testifies against her and she also gives a plea deal to Barbarossa should he testify.
The detectives find Gloria outside the clinic to get an abortion. They confront her and she is still confident that they have nothing to charge her with before SVU reveal Kyle is with them. She casually greets him and tells Kyle that the baby is not something that they can deal with. However, his eyes have already been opened by the detectives and he reveals he knows he is not the father while stating he would've done everything just to make her happy but now, he's finished with her. Kyle promptly hands Gloria the divorce papers and vows to testify against her. Horrified by this, Gloria begged Kyle to reconsider however he angrily refuses and sarcastically referred to her as “Mom”. After Kyle walked away SVU were finally able to put Gloria under arrest for crimes of statutory rape, murder facilitation, and false incrimination. They then proceeded to haul her off in cuffs.
Gloria was found guilty and ultimately executed for her crimes while Kyle and Chloe went on to live with other relatives.