Based on the killings of Robert Hansen also known as the "Butcher Baker".
Emily Kinney, who plays 16 year old victim Haley Cole, was actually 26 at the time this episode was filmed. Emily frequently plays teenagers as she looks much younger than her age.
While it is not spoken, the film Haden and Benson are discussing at the beginning of the episode is The Artist.
Harry Connick Jr. plays an assistant district attorney. His father, Harry Connick, Sr., actually was a district attorney; he was elected D.A. in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1973 (unseating Jim Garrison, the character Kevin Costner played in the film JFK (1991)).
The inspiration for this episode (serial killer Robert Hansen) was also the inspiration for two episodes of Cold Case, in which Danny Pino starred prior to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.