CSI character Catherine Willows based on Yolanda McClary of Cold Justice

TNT’s real life crime drama Cold Justice premiered Tuesday night to strong ratings as it brought in nearly 3 million viewers. The two stars of the show are prosecutor Kelly Siegler and retired crime lab expert Yolanda McClary. If history is any indication, it might have been predictable that Cold Justice would do well because, as it turns out, McClary has a direct link to a long-running and extremely popular TV character.

Kelly Siegler of Cold Justice made famous during her prosecution of Susan Wright

TNT’s reality show Cold Justice, premiering tonight, features two seasoned professionals who venture across small-town America to lend their expertise to try and resolve unsolved violent crimes. The concept has the makings of a hit and when you add in Dick Wolf’s (Law & Order) name as an Executive Producer, hopes are high for the show. The idea is the brain-child of prosecutor Kelly Siegler. She’s a Texas legend whose fame was ignited during the high-profile 2nd-degree murder case of defendant Susan Wright in 2003. Siegler prosecuted Wright, who was eventually found guilty of murdering her husband after she tied him to their bed, stabbed him over 200 times and buried him in the back yard. To drive home the visual, Siegler actually brought in the original blood stained mattress, had a male colleague tied to bedposts and straddled him while making a stabbing motion with a knife. See rare footage of that courtroom drama as well as additional information about the hard-nosed lady who rarely loses.