The title "Felonious Monk" appears to be a subtle reference to Jazz musician Thelonious Sphere Monk.

(Grissom shines his flashlight on the monks and sighs.)
Gil: Gunshot to the head. Times four.
Sara: Gold statues ... money trees ... that's a lot of loot to leave behind.
Gil: This wasn't a robbery. This was a hit.
(They continue to survey the room. Nick leans down and examines the bodies. Grissom finds a symbol scratched into the wall.)
Gil: Five years ago, West Vegas ... German tourist took a wrong turn, ended up dead. This "placa" was sprayed across the windshield of their rental car. It's the Snakebacks.
Sara: Gangbangers? At a Buddhist Temple?
Nick: Stippling around entry.
(Grissom and Sara turn around to look at Nick)
Nick: Close range. Looks like they were shot one at a time. How do you get one vic -- let alone four-- to sit still while you put a bullet between their
eyes?
Gil: They were praying.
Nick: Yeah, for mercy.
Gil: For whoever was shooting them.

Det. Ray O'Riley: What can you tell me about the victims?
Ananda: We came from Thailand to share Buddhism here in Nevada.
Det. Ray O'Riley: But you didn't share the last couple hours together. Where were you?
Ananda: I was at the bank. We're raising money to build a school. I was making a deposit.
Det. Ray O'Riley: Where are the other monks?
Ananda: On a retreat. They come back tomorrow.
Gil: May I ask a question? This is a high-crime area. Have you had any problems here before? Like break-ins or burglaries?
Ananda: The past ... is in the past.
Gil: True. But sometimes, it leaves its fingerprints on the future.

David Suddhara: Forgive me. English is my second language.
Det. Ray O'Riley: I understand you fine. So, you're the part-time cook here? (David Suddhara nods.) How many days a week do you work at the temple?
David Suddhara: Three.
Det. Ray O'Riley: You have a key?
David Suddhara: No need. The door is always open. I told the monks...
Det. Ray O'Riley: Too trusting. In this neighborhood, yeah. They ever have any problems with gangs?
David Suddhara: Couple months ago I saw spray paints on the back wall. Gang signs. I wanted to file a police report, but Ananda ... told me not to.
Det. Ray O'Riley: Why not?
David Suddhara: I told you...
Det. Ray O'Riley: "Monks are too trusting."

(Nick holds out the bagged nudie magazine
in front of him.)
Nick: Interesting reading for a man of the cloth. That monk had it in the bottom of his desk drawer. (He puts it aside.) And he was the guy handling the money. You hide one thing from your brothers, then maybe he was hiding more.
Sara: Yeah, but just 'cause you're stashing trash doesn't make you a killer.

Al: All were shot in the third eye, the sixth chakra, vortex of consciousness. I was a gray's anatomy man, until I lost my legs. I started getting phantom pains no drug or exercise could control. I began studying the chakras.
Gil: Well, I do know that the seven chakras correspond to the body's seven energy centers.
Al: Each has a color and a vibration.
(Standing next to one of the bodies, Robbins points to the part of the monk's body he's referencing.)
Al: Muladhara, the root chakra, keeps us in the physical world. Svadisthana, seat of sexual energy.Manipura, melting pot of spiritual and earthly desires. Anahata, the loving heart. Visuddha, where feelings are given expression. Ajna, the third eye. Saharsrara, the crown connecting the mortal human to the timeless universe.
Gil: Let's go back to the third eye.
Al: Ajna, the hub of higher consciousness.
Gil: If someone were threatened by that consciousness, that would be a logical target, yeah?
Al: Hmm, there's a very good chance your killer's a Buddhist.

Nick: Bullet from vic number three on the left. Lans and grooves align perfectly.
(The two matching bullets are side by side.)
Gil: Well, we've got ourselves a murder weapon.
Nick: Well, we've got more than that. Sara and I found prints off the rifle.
Gil: And?
Nick: Well, I'll give you a hint. He's bald, he wears a robe and he likes his coeds bodacious.
Gil: (sighs) One survivor, one suspect.
Nick: And a whole lot of bad karma.

Nick: Placa was carved into the panel with a straight-edged blade. Nondescript. Not much to work with. What's unusual is the placa itself.
Gil: Bangers tag homicides all the time.
Nick: Yeah, but after those German tourists were killed the Snakebacks were pretty much wiped out. The cops really came down hard on those guys. Twenty-seven members were put away for ... for murder and weapons possession, drugs, you name it. According to the gang unit, they've been out of business about a year.
Gil: So we're looking at a Warhol.
(Nick's brow furrows as Grissom looses him with the reference.)
Nick: Hmm?
Gil: Well, it's not a real soup can. It's a painting of a soup can.
Nick: Not a gang member, uh ... wannabe?
Gil: Except, if you want to be in a gang, you can be.

Nick: No, thanks. We're here about the murders at the Buddhist temple off crystal peak drive.
Peter Hutchins Jr.: Yeah, I heard about it.
Gil: I heard that, uh, some of the local business owners weren't very happy with the members of the temple.
Peter Hutchins Jr.: The monks? Well, they didn't speak English and that bothered the other customers. And it's kind of hard to sell beer, sandwiches or videos when the monks didn't partake in any of those things.
(Peter Hutchins Sr., walks out from the back to the front to listen to Grissom and Nick)
Peter Hutchins Sr.: Those monks changed the whole feel of this neighborhood. I'm not surprised at any of these murders.
Gil: Your name is ... ?
Peter Hutchins Sr.: Peter Hutchins, Sr.
(Sara walks into the coffee shop.)
Peter Hutchins Sr.: You know what? I've owned this shop for 20 years. Suddenly, these holy robers move in here and business takes a nose-dive. And I don't care what they say. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with the economy. Good night, Las Vegas; Good Morning, Vietnam.

Thelonious Monk, who is almost certainly the inspiration for the punning title, is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians, and is a founder of the sub-genre of jazz called "bebop".