Criminal Minds s04e15 Episode Script

"Dahmer, lake and ng, "debardeleben, bardella, and others.
"At the core of these criminals is a need for control.
"Killing was an act that provided a release "so sexually satisfying "that they were compelled to repeat the fantasy "with multiple victims again and again.
"It is this continuum of violence that we will explore in deviance: the secret desires of sadistic serial killers.
Signed copies of agent david rossi's edition of his bestseller are on sale tonight.
I find your career so fascinating.
What's it like to interview serial killers? Well, it's never boring.
Is that what you enjoy most about your work, looking evil right in the eye? No, it's putting killers in jail.
You know what gets me are the wives who swear they had no clue their husband was a serial killer.
How can you be married to one and not know? Theresa, would you mind calling up my car service? Not at all.
Uh, you'll excuse me? Sure.
Agent rossi.
Hi, uh hi.
Hi.
I'm a big fan.
There's not gonna be a quiz.
I saw you taking notes.
Oh, no, it's just for my own edification.
Agent rossi, are you or anyone in your department investigating the recent spike in homicides in cleveland? Not that i'm aware of.
There's been an uptick in homicides by 11% this quarter, the average uptick hasn't surpassed 5% in the past 10 years in cleveland.
I'm guessing you're studying criminology.
I am.
Sir, i think there's a serial killer here.
Well, have the police issued a statement to corroborate that? I filed an inquiry downtown.
Um, nobody's called me back.
But, uh, i know that the coroner's office hasn't been as busy since, like, the butcher of kingsbury run in the 1930s.
Well, what kind of homicides are we talking about here? Ok, uma man was shot in a park, a prostitute was found with her throat slashed, a couple was found shot in their car, a woman was killed in a burglary.
Do you know what 3 things profilers look at to link serial crimes? Victimology, modus operandi, and signature.
Good.
So were the victims similar? No.
Was the m.
o.
Consistent? No.
Was the signature consistent? Not that i know of.
Then there's no obvious reason to suggest that the spike in violence was due to a serial killer.
I see your point, sir, but i really you're bright.
You obviously have a passion for this, and the bureau is always looking for good people.
So if you get a reply from the police, or even for career advice, i'm available.
Ok, thanks.
It was an honor to meet you.
Keep studying, and don't stop until you find all the answers yore looking for.
I won't.
Excuse me.
Get back! It's ok.
Get back! Uh oh, hey, it's ok.
It's ok.
Look, i'm not gonna hurt you, ok? I live in the neighborhood.
What's your address? Look, if i was gonna hurt you, i wouldn't have said "excuse me.
" Ok? Are we cool? What the hell, man? You scared me.
I'm i'm sorry.
What are you doing here? I was just walking home from the liquor store and i saw you snooping around.
What about you? So you heard what happened here? Yeah.
Poor woman.
All the neighbors are freaking out.
I can't believe i didn't even know her name.
Kayla james.
She was raped, too.
Can't believe this happened on my street.
No, it's not just your street.
There's been a lot of murders lately.
Really? Yeah, it's uncharacteristically high for our city.
You with the police or something? I'm just investigating a few cases.
Gosh, all of a sudden, all these random, violent murders.
Something weird is going on here.
What do you mean by weird? Agent rossi.
Yes.
I'll be right down.
Agent rossi? I'm detective dan brady.
We found your card on the victim.
Any idea what happened here? "I never teach my pupils, "i only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
" Albert einstein.
She was found by a woman walking her dog this morning.
Dog wouldn't stop barking.
I just talked to her last night.
I never asked her name.
Zoe hawkes.
That's her car right there.
These keys were still in her pocket.
Car alarm was still activated.
There was no sign of a break-in.
She had pepper spray but didn't use it? I don't know, maybe she didn't get the chance.
Nobody saw or heard anything? No.
We went door to door.
There were no witnesses.
There was blunt-force trauma to her head, signs of strangulation.
Murderer asphyxiated her with the scarf she was wearing.
Do you have any idea what she was doing snooping around this case? You keep talking like i know something.
What case? The resident of this house, kayla james, was murdered and raped 3 days ago in a burglary-homicide.
I think there's a serial killer here.
And don't stop until you find all the answers you're looking for.
I won't.
This is henry wearing the booties my mom knitted him.
I can't get over his cuteness.
Oh, and this is him wearing the customized leather jacket auntie penelope got him.
When he grows up, he's gonna be a rebel.
Is this david rossi, the famous bestselling author david rossi? What are you doing? You're not supposed to be calling when you're on annual leave.
I think my a.
l.
Just ended.
What do you mean? Garcia, cleveland police is sending you some files.
Get jj to distribute them to the team right away.
Yeah.
What are we looking at? I don't know yet.
Just see if the team can find a connection with these crimes.
I'll call you back in a few hours.
Yes, sir.
She had a notebook with her last night.
I saw one in her car.
Can i take a look? It may be evidence, but i don't see why not.
Have you been to her house yet? I'm headed there now.
I have to notify the next of kin.
Now, if you get a reply from the police, or even for career advice, i'm available.
Thanks.
It was an honor to meet you.
Sheila hawkes? Yeah.
Hi.
I'm, uh, detective brady with the cleveland police department.
This is agent rossi with the fbi.
May we come in? Why? It's about your daughter.
That that's that's one of her journals.
Has something happened? Yes.
She was murdered.
I am so sorry.
Mrs.
Hawkes.
Here, let me help you.
Oh, no! No! Where did you find her? She was in a house in east cleveland.
We think she may have been visiting a crime scene.
God i told her to stop doing that.
I tolder that was too dangerous.
Where where is she now? She's at the coroner's office, and i can take you to see her when you're ready.
Ok.
Now.
Right now.
I have to go right now.
Mrs.
Hawkes, would you mind if i stayed behind to look in her room? She was so excited to meet you.
You're like a a hero to her.
Mrs.
Hawkes.
Let me take you downtown now.
Come on.
I'll, uh, i'll send a car for you.
The crimes are within a 7-le radius.
Well, that's something.
Yeah, but the neighborhoods are all completely different.
They range from poor to rich, industrial to residential.
The physical locations are dissimil, but the operating zone's well-defined.
Ok.
I'm in.
I see you.
In your web browser for search history.
Check out her home page.
All right, so the first thing she looks at when she opens her computer is a crime column.
Probably to stay current on her stues.
Can you see what she worked on last? Voila.
These are the most recently opened documents she created.
Looks like she was compiling empirical data about homicide trends in cleveland.
Do you think she knew the killer? I don't see any notes indicating suspes.
Well, dave, she's a criminology student.
She's been taught to analyze statistics and apply theory, not investigate killers.
Let's talk about what we know.
All right.
Victim one travis bartlett was last seen at a gay bar.
He was shot at night in a park.
Victim 2, lily nicks, a her throat was slashed.
Victims 3 and 4, june appleby and troy wertsler were shot in their car at a parking lot outside of a movie theater.
And victim 5 was a kayla james, killed in her home.
She was bound, suffocated with a bag over her head, evidence of rape.
And then the sixth victim was zoe.
Victimology, weapons used, and c.
o.
d.
Are all different.
It's hard to imagine it's even the same unsub.
It can't be a coincidence that zoe goes to kayla james' house and gets murdered.
All right, let's say it is the same killer.
Does anybody see a pattern well, maybe.
Ok, the first crime, he shoots the victim.
The second crime, he rapes a woman and slashes her throat.
That's more personal.
And the third crime, he escalates to killing two people, and the fourth, he escalates even more by raping a woman, binding her, and suffocating her.
So if it is the same unsub, you could argue that there's a progression of violence with every kill.
It could be anger excitation offender getting more daring with each crime.
I think i got something here.
Look at this.
The slashes in the prostitute's throat they're all shallow, unsure cuts.
The kayla james crime scene telephone cord, rope, and duct tape were used.
It's like he couldn't decide how to bind her.
So without a gun, he's sloppy, inexperienced.
The young couple shot in the car that crime scene remind you of anything? Yeah, they were shot with a .
44 bulldog, just like the son of sam used on his victims, which were also young couples in parked cars.
It might be nothing, but you're right, there is a parallel there.
With the second victim, it's hard not to think of jack the ripper.
The obvious similarity being it's a prostitute whose throat was slashed.
Kayla james was bound, tortured, raped, with a plastic bag over her head like btk.
What about victim number one? Garcia, what neighborhood was he found in? At a park in the kingsbury run area.
Zoe reminded me last night that cleveland's most famous serial killer was the butcher of kingsbury run.
He found his victims in gay bars, shot them, and dumped their body there.
Travis bartlett was last seen at a gay bar, and his body was found in kingsbury park.
So these are copycats of famous serial killers? He's a serial killer studying serial killers.
See you in cleveland, dave.
Hey, dave.
Guys.
We're in that room.
Coffee's brewing.
We'll get started on the evidence boards.
Detective brady's our point.
I'll let you all introduce yourselves.
Jj.
Can you help me out with something? Sure.
This has to be confidential.
I know it may seem farfetched, but copycat killers are not entirely uncommon.
This one happens to be copying several different killers.
But if he's trying to be the butcher of kingsbury run, why didn't he cut up and mutilate the victims like the real guy? That was 7 weeks ago.
He was just getting started.
Beginning killers are often frightened of the crime itself.
They're more interested in getting it over with as quickly as possible and fleeing the scene.
He was just using the butcher's ruse as a way to lure the victim to be alone with her.
And by the time he killed kayla james 3 days ago, he'd progressed.
He came very close to copying all of the btk's m.
o.
He's reading, learning, borrowing from others because he doesn't know who he is yet.
And because of this, we think he's young and impressionable, maybe even a student.
Someone probably enrolled in criminology classes.
Our technical analyst is going through names of local students right now.
Up to this point, changing his m.
o.
Has prevented investigators from linking the crimes.
That's why we need to work quickly.
You're sure about this? It's not a coincidence that all of these random, violent murders in a localized area are copycats of serial killers.
It's as if all the worst serial killers have converged on cleveland.
Every time he plans to kill, the murder weapon, the m.
o.
, and the victimology will all change.
Detective, will you let your team know we're ready to give a preliminary profile.
Sure.
I gotta go.
Hotch.
I'm gonna step out for this one, clear my head.
Ok.
Garcia found 3 male students enrolled in criminology classes with felony records.
Good.
We'll interview them.
I don't think we need to.
One of them is studying abroad, the other 2 are back in jail on other charges.
Tell garcia to check enrollment in online and correspondence courses, see if we have any luck with tse parameters.
You guys handle the profile? Yeah.
Everything ok? Everything's fine.
We have 6 homicides in a Now, this small zone indicates that's he's a geographically stable offender.
This type of offender is characterized as young, socially immature, of average intelligence, with psychopathic personality traits.
They also usually live alone and have an antisocial nature.
A serial killer's first murder is very telling.
This unsub's first murder, he chose the m.
o.
Of cleveland's own butcher of kingsbury run.
The butcher isn't as well known as other famous serial killers, but he is a local legend.
And because he picked the butcher to be first, we believe he's a native of cleveland and probably grew up hearing stories of the butcher.
This is someone who is obsessed with serial killers.
His computer will be filled with research on them.
He'll have abundant images of murderers on his computer and possibly even snuff films.
He uses these like pornography.
The provide some sort of sexual release.
I think he went back to relive his crime.
When zoe showed up, she became a victim of opportunity.
It's the same theory we arrived at on the plane.
He strangled her with her own scarf.
He didn't plan it.
I think she surprised him.
I told her not to stop until she found the answers she was looking for.
I didn't think she would go to a crime scene.
Her mom said it's something that she does all the time.
She probably would have gone anyway.
But it's because of what i said that she was encouraged to go there last night.
Dave, what are you doing? She came to me and i dismissed her.
Try not to personalize it.
I was the last one she talked to before she was murdered.
How is this not personal, aaron? Ok.
It's personal.
That doesn't change how we go about finding her killer.
We know that violent criminals develop a siature over a series of crimes.
If he's young, he probably hasn't even figured out what his is yet.
Find the signature, we can link the crimes.
He probably monitoring the news, seeing if the police have connected them yet.
We can use that.
We can utilize the media.
And i think i know o we can talk to.
I knew homicides were up, but nobody said anhing about a serial killer.
Why do i get a visit from the b.
a.
u.
? you're paula mcconnell, cleveland's number one source in crime news.
You're detailed, you have a following.
He's reading you.
We need you to write that the police have found his signature.
You can help us by explaining what his signature is in your article.
It's a killer's personal stamp, his distinctive touch that he leaves at the scene of every crime.
Well, i've been doing this for 18 years.
And i know what a signature is, honey.
We just really need you to be detailed about this.
We're speaking directly to him.
Through my column.
He's doing something, a behavioral impulse he feels compelled to do.
But a need-driven act to get a sexual release that's specific to his psyche.
This repetitive behavior at each crime scene will lead us to him.
Let me take a stab at it.
Yeah, reid.
Uh, they just found another body.
They're bringing him up right now.
Teenagers found him a little over an hour ago.
It's petechiae in the whites of h eyes.
Judging from the bruising, he was probably strangled with a wire.
Is this r guy? It's gotta be.
A jogger doesn't get garroted every day.
Whatever signature he left was probably washed away in the water.
Well, who's he mimicking now? Bike path rapist altemio sanchez comes to mind.
He trolled bike paths near buffalo garroting his victims.
It looks like he copied everything except for the rape.
Strangulation's a repetition of his last murder of zoe.
First time he's repeated himself.
Zoe's murder was spontaneous, though.
He didn't plan it.
He acted on instinct and did what came naturally to him.
Maybe what came naturally felt good to him and he wanted to feel it again.
If he's starting to repeat a pattern, he may have found himself.
Zoe hawkes.
H-a-w-k-e-s.
Very good.
I'm danny.
I want you to call us if you have any questions at all.
We're gonna take great care of her.
Ok? You're all set.
Um, do i pay the bill here? No, ma'am.
The bill's been taken care of by an anonymous donor.
See anything else in there? Just the notations of an observant student.
I've been thinking, though.
Zoe got all of her information from the newspapers and from paula mcconnell's column.
There's no way she could have known about every homicide in the city.
Well, not every homicide's reported in the papers.
So how do we know the unsub didn't commit more murders than the ones noted in her journals? We don't.
We can check missing persons and see if anyone was last seen in the unsub's operating zone.
What? Well, a young person's mind is so active yours, zoe's, and i imagine this unsub's, too.
I think when he get him, he'll be curious.
He'll ask questions.
Rossi, heads up.
She knows.
Did you do this? I don't need or want your money.
I have taken care of my daughter for 22 years, and she is still my responsibility.
I don't need any help from you.
You didn't even know her.
I'm sorry if i've offended you.
Just leave us alone.
All right.
We found another body.
East cleveland.
Strangulation marks.
This was recent.
The bruises on her neck are still reddish.
No other obvious signs of trauma.
Well, this isn't a bike path like the last one.
Which serial killer is he mimicking now? I don't think he is mimicking anymore.
He's starting to show consistency.
I think he's developing his own style.
Has anybody touched her? No.
They have instructions to wait for us and the m.
e.
Where's he? Dr.
Edwas! Here he comes.
Hi.
Agent hotchner.
Um, could you take a look at this spot on her forehead? Hmm.
That's strange.
Let me swab it and get it back to the lab.
Thanks.
Something's causing his frenzy.
Could be a drastic change in his life.
Something he lost control of.
Or it could be something he gained control of.
Like himself.
If he's finally defined himself as a strangler, he may just be practicing, perfecting his style.
He may have awakened.
The coroner just called.
Preliminary tests confirm acetyl alcohol on the homeless woman's forehead.
He sterilized it? Why would he do that? Maybe he did something to her forehead, used an alcohol wipe to remove evidence.
Well, if that's the se, it certainly wasn't necessary to the crime.
This could be part of his signature.
We should look at other victims to see if he did something similar.
Y evidence on the last victim was washed away in the water.
And all the other bodies were either buried or cremated.
Except for one.
I know you don't want to see me, but please hear me out.
We need zoe's body to go back to the coroner's office.
Zoe's murderer left a clue on her body.
There's a chance we can find him from this clue, but we have to examine her again.
All i want to do is put her to rest.
Zoe chose to study criminology because she believed in bringing criminals to justice.
Can't guarantee the evidence hasn't been compromised.
The mortician hadn't touched her yet.
Even so, she's been transported more times than i'd like.
Don't want anyone to get their hopes up.
Just make sure the evidence gets to quantico quickly.
East cleveland homicides, first quarter to date January 22 prostitute murder, downtown at 5th and main.
January 9 man shot at kingsbury park.
February 15 kayla james.
Lived alone.
First home invasion february 8 murder young couple shot in park.
No apparent motive.
Investigate.
Why are locations different? Page 47, rossi's book: there are no coincidences.
Garcia, you got something? Yeah, the boys in the lab found trace amounts of saliva on zoe's forehead, enough for a dna sample.
So we got a codis match on eric ryan olson, did 2 1/2 years for attempted sexual assault and was paroled 6 months ago.
We thought for sure he'd be a student.
Uh, that's 'cause he was.
While he was in the slammer, he took independent correspondence classes in forensic science and criminology from an out-of-state school.
Call the team.
Let's get a search warrant.
Yeah.
Clear! Clear! Reid, check the computer.
Detective, we should talk to the neighbors, find out where he goes, where he might be on a week night.
Aaron.
He's reading my books.
Reid, anything? Al's alehouse.
That's like 5 miles away.
It's on the schedule for tonight.
Have a good night.
See you tomorrow.
He was alone at the bar.
When did he leave? Like 10 minutes ago.
Did he talk to anyone? Linda.
He left right after she did.
Thanks.
Got it, hotch.
Manager says he may have followed one of the waitresses out of the bar.
She walks home through cedar park.
We just passed cedar park.
Fbi! Get off the girl! Get off the girl! Ok, it's ok.
Stay down! Stay down! Get off me.
It's all right.
Wait, wait, wait.
Hold on.
Get off me! Stop! We're trying to help you.
He's my boyfriend! Didn't see that coming.
How could she not know? Kenneth bianchi's girlfriend had no idea he was one of the hillside stranglers.
Just like btk's wife.
What do we know about her? Her name's linda jones.
No criminal record.
They met online 6 weeks ago.
No, he can't be this guy.
We found his dna on a murder victim.
What? We also think he's responsible for the murder of 7 other people over the last 7 weeks.
Two of his victims were raped.
I think i'm gonna be sick.
Ok, ok.
Against my counsel, my client would like to talk to agent rossi.
We talked about him being curious, asking questions.
If he thinks he knows you, he might open up.
I'll keep him talking.
Good.
Agent rossi.
Big fan.
We have some information that would be of great interest to you.
My ears are burning.
My lawyer here explains that i'm being charged with 8 murders and that i'm probably looking at the death penalty.
I have one very important question for you.
Are you sure it's just 8? What? We checked missing persons.
Since he started killing, in east cleveland neighborhoods.
We can't rule out any of them as his possible victims.
He marked pages on several serial killers.
We don't know which ones he tried to copycat.
We're screwed, then.
The d.
a.
Is gonna have to offer him a deal.
The d.
a.
Doesn't have to give him the option.
That's easy for you to say.
You get to go home tomorrow.
What do i tell the families of the missing? Sorry, no idea? Detective, we're not gonna leave until we can give you and the families some closure.
And how are you gonna do that? Hotch.
Reid.
I need something, anything that might show where he was trolling for more victims.
Once the d.
a.
Gets here, we have a lot to talk about.
What do you think you're gonna get out of this? I don't know.
We'll see.
You don't have to say anything else, eric.
You got to speak to him.
Now let's just wait for the d.
a.
I don't know how to break it to you, kid, but you don't have a card to play here.
We're 3 steps ahead of you.
Oh.
Really.
We've already considered the possibility that you killed other people.
We knew you were young, wanted to experiment.
It was likely you would copycat as many serial killers as possible to figure out who you are and what you liked.
So let me ask you a question.
How do you know you haven't told me already where the other bodies are buried? We've been through everything.
He marked up rossi's books.
Check the bookcase.
Maybe he was scouting for locations to commit more murders.
Pictures.
What? Framed photographs in his hallway.
Nothing else nothing else is framed.
They look like originals.
Let me call you right back, hotch.
Ok.
I need to ask you about your sex life.
That's personal.
Your boyfriend's a serial killer.
Your relationship is no longer private.
I-it's completely normal to experiment with sex.
Ok.
It might be normal to have sex in a public park, but the other things? We were just role-playing.
Every couple has fantasies.
Did you ever think it was strange that your boyfriend has fantasies about strangling and raping women? Not women.
Just me.
Did hekiss you on the forehead, too? How did you know that? Now, were you sick much as a kid? I got strep throat every flu season.
Did you just profile that about me? Her name was zoe hawkes the girl you killed 3 days ago.
We found your dna on her forehead.
It'll never be admissible in court.
Her body was removed from a state facility and now, most people would ask what you did.
I know what you did.
You kissed her on the forehead.
What i what to know is, why? Why do you think someone would do that, agent rossi? Well, that's why i asked if you had been ill much as a child.
You see, you're slight, pale, sickly.
Most parents, they kiss their children on the forehead to see if their temperature is warm.
Now, my theory is that you, somehow in your development, warped that caring gesture into something perverse.
So, did you sit next to zoe to see if she got cold? Is that why you kissed her? That's a really interesting theory.
Make a great chapter in one of your books.
Yeah, reid.
I found pictures on his computer in a special folder he created.
They're scenic places in the city.
from his crime scenes.
There are more pictures of places i don't recognize.
All right.
Email them as soon as you can.
This guys getting off on those photos.
Then what does he need linda for? Did he have any other strange preferences in bed? No.
Did he ever role play by tying you up? No.
Are you sure? Yes.
I'm sure.
He liked he liked being an exhibitionist.
It was really the only way he could get excited.
What do you mean? Well, he didn't like having sex in bed.
So he just took me to public places.
Where? Do i have to tell you this? Please.
Ok.
The first time was at kingsbury park.
And then at a movie theater.
In the parking lot, in my car.
Did he ever take you to the second street bridge, off the bike path? Yeah.
That's where the jogger was killed.
He can only have sex with linda when he's revisiting his crimes.
If that's the case, what were the doing in the park where we picked them up? I need you to write down for me all the places he took you to have sex.
The d.
a.
's not gonna need to negotiate a deal with you.
Cedar park, edgewater channel, cuyahoga valley park, euclid creek.
We'll send units in the morning to search for the bodies.
How'd you find out? Eric.
Is it something that i did? You needed to revisit the crime scenes because it was the only way for you to get a gratifying sexual release.
But revisiting the scenes wasn't enough.
You had to capture it on film, put it on your computer, display it on your wall, so you could look at it every day.
Eric, we should talk privately.
This isn't over.
I always knew i'd end up back in prison.
Just a matter of when.
You can come interview me if you want.
I read in one of your books that's how you built your behavioral database, right? Maybe you can learn something from me.
I got a lot of questions myself.
I'll be honest with you if you're honest with me.
'cause the one thing that you always ask is the one that i don't undersnd.
Why? I have no idea why.
I see a guy walking down the street with a stupid look on his face and i want to bash him over the head th a bottl to me that's normal.
It's weird to me that no one else feels that way.
It's all i think about.
I can't stop.
This is not up for debate.
Cancel the rest of the dates.
Is everything ok? Why do people want to hear me talk about serial killers? Is it that entertaining? There'a public fascination with them.
Sometimes i wonder if my books are doing more harm than good.
My senior year at georgetown i was graduating, i did not have a clue what i was gonna do with my life.
And one day i was in the campus bookstore and you were there, promoting your second book.
Sat through your whole talk.
You never told me.
I asked you what it was you were most proud of, and you showed us a picture of a boy from charleston.
Brent roberts.
A neighbor took him.
He was found alive.
One of the few.
That night, i bought your book.
Applied to the academy the next fall.
I'll see you at the airport.
Austrian novelist marie von ebner-eschenbach wrote: "in youth we learn.
In age we understand.
" I hear you caught him.
We did.
Is he going to prison? For the rest of his life.
It doesn't make me feel better.
He's alive, zoe's not.
But she'd be pleased that you caught him.
I hope so.