This episode is based upon the true crimes of Olga Rutterschmidt and Helen Golay, who successfully conspired to convince 2 homeless men in Los Angeles to sign off on life insurance policies before causing their deaths in staged hit and run accidents. Their convictions happened just a few months before the air date. Unlike the fictional characters, they took out almost 20 insurance policies, and stood to collect several million dollars before they were caught.
After Johnson confronts Flynn about his sending flowers to the victim, he asks her if she ever had a case she just couldn't let go of. As it would turn out, she would in a few months encounter Philip Stroh, a serial killer who would become an obsession of hers until the series' finale three years later.