Criminal Minds s09e09 Episode Script
Strange Fruit
How's this? MmmYeah.
Isn't that good? Yeah.
That's it.
I swear to God, I'm never running another marathon again.
You know, if a mugger was after me, I wouldn't be able to run away.
What was that? Stay here.
Mike? Mike.
Shh.
Hello? Cheryl! Call 911! My husband and I thought it was a bomb or something.
Just a busted water main.
Ah.
We're gonna have to get into their yard, too.
Are your neighbors home? Their cars aren't here, but I'm sure the Johnsons would be fine with you going back there.
I'll try their cells.
Are you sure you shouldn't say anything? Positive.
People think we're having an affair.
Can't we just say we're on assignment? No one can know.
What are you afraid of? The stares, the whispers.
Spence has been asking me questions.
Rossi's been onto us from day one.
Hello.
Good luck out there.
Thank you.
Where are you going? I got your text.
I love you very much, but you need to read more than just the first sentence.
The case is like 5 miles away.
What the hell happened? JJ will fill you in.
It's-- it's crazy town.
Water and power company was digging in the backyard, found the remains of two bodies.
How long have the Johnsons lived here? upstanding citizens.
Husband's the block captain, the wife's on neighborhood watch.
There's no indication of how long the bodies have been here.
We're waiting for the M.
E.
to arrive.
Forensics will tell us how long they've been down there.
Where's the family now? The husband and son work at the father's construction company.
They're on their way back home right now, and Mrs.
Johnson's inside the house.
I'm going to go talk to her.
How is she? Wishing we were Publishers Clearinghouse.
There he is.
Charles! Mrs.
Johnson.
Charles, tell these officers that we don't know anything about dead bodies in our yard.
What are you talking about? They think we're killers.
Can I help you gentlemen? Thank you, officer.
Yes, sir, I'm Agent Hotchner with the FBI.
I need to talk to you.
About what? Lyle?! Lyle? Lyle! Lyle! Down off the wall! Turn around slowly and let me see your hands.
Please, don't shoot.
We just want to talk to you, Lyle.
I didn't do nothing.
I understand.
I just want to talk to you.
"The universe doesn't like secrets.
It conspires to reveal the truth to lead you to it.
" Lisa Unger.
What's going on? Whose bodies are those? Ma'am, that's what we're trying to find out.
And you think I have anything to do with it? I have to read to the seniors at the convalescent home in an hour.
You're not gonna make it today.
Why'd you have to separate us? We didn't kill those people.
Lyle only ran because he was scared.
Scared of what? You! The governmentâs gone mad.
First they got wiretapping, then they got stand your ground.
Now they got the feds showing up at normal folks' home for no damn reason.
Lyle, I told you, this is standard procedure.
The remains of two bodies were found in your yard.
That has nothing to do with us, and as soon as you figure that out, I'm gonna sue you guys for emotional distress.
I can tell from the pelvic and hip measurements that both victims were female.
What about their ages? The hardening of the sternum puts them both in their early 30s when they were killed.
What's your interrogation strategy? Well, we'll start with distinguishing between the distress of having the bodies found in their backyard and the stress of being brought here.
Ok, that's smart, but how are you gonna test that? Put them under additional stress and then give them good news.
The innocent ones will show some release in their demeanor and the guilty ones won't.
They'll still be holding on to some terrible secret.
Thank you.
Ok, Mrs.
Johnson, why don't we just start at the beginning.
How long have you guys lived in that house? Uh35 years.
It's a big home for such a small family.
Have you ever had any tenants? No.
Just me and Lyle and Charles.
It was a fixer-upper for my husband.
He's a contractor.
He loves working on the house.
So do I.
I do the same thing.
How many times have you redone the kitchen? At least 3 times.
Did the, uh, upstairs bathrooms twice.
Did your family ever help with the renovations? My wife's a real Martha Stewart.
She changed the curtains in the bedroom 4 times, repaired her sewing room at least, what, 8? And how about the yard? Uh, Tina wanted to put a pool back there, but we, you know, we wouldn't have the time to use it.
You always lived at home, Lyle? I tried living on my own for a little bit, but it didn't work out.
And when was that? It was an SRO.
Full of rejects and roaches.
And that's why you moved back home? I like living in a house better.
Is that a crime? You like having a backyard? Who wouldn't? What do you do back there? Smoke weed.
Hang out with my gang, you know? Do you take care of the yard? Oh, yes, sir.
I mow the lawn, sir.
Now, you want me to mow your lawn, sir? Have you been able to determine approximate time of death yet? Well, the degree of decomposition and bone pitting suggests these women were killed about 10 years ago.
Do you know what killed them? Like I thought, they were beaten to death, but there is one other thing.
That was Blake.
They've established that the bodies were two approximately who were buried That makes them Lyle's age.
Do we have I.
D.
s? They're working on DNA.
Garcia, start working on a list of missing persons and people who moved out of the area at the time.
Already typing.
Was there any signature? The condition of the pelvic bone suggests mutilated genitalia.
If we can get the names of the women and establish Lyle knew them, then it's game on.
Or game over.
Did you ever have any parties at the house, Lyle? No, sir.
I sure don't, sir.
Really? A man your age who's lived in the same house his whole life has never had a get-together or a party? That's what I said, sir.
What about dates? Oh, a little, sir.
Is that ok, sir? I need all the names of the women that you dated who may have come back to the house.
What if I don't want to give them to you? What are you gonna do? You gonna make me Sir? Why do you feel so powerless, Lyle? Powerless, sir? It would explain why you took your power back by mutilating your victims' genitalia.
Mutilation? What are you talking about? You think I killed those people? I think you tortured them and you buried them in your backyard.
You're tripping.
Did you become enraged because they wouldn't have sex with you? Or did you kill them because you couldn't get it up? You son of a bitch.
You son of a bitch! That's enough.
Leave him.
We're just getting started, Lyle.
Lyle seemed pretty happy.
In the eighties he did, but to be honest, from 2000 on, he's barely in here.
It's like he's practically invisible.
Maybe his parents suspected he was a killer and subconsciously started distancing themselves from Lyle.
Isolation coupled with homicidal ideation would have made him even more reclusive.
Well, Lyle looks good for it.
He ran, got physical, he's the same age as his victims.
He has the strength to carry out the crime.
And has access to the yard.
You going to jump back in there? No, I think we should let him sit.
JJ, let's pull his school records, talk to neighbors, teachers, anybody we can find.
I'm on it.
Ah, come on, thereâs gotta be something.
A guy capable of this kind of brutality has got to have a pretty sketchy record.
MmHuh--creepy bingo.
Before Lyle worked for his dad, he worked at a variety of fast food establishments, and he was either warned or written up every month.
Ok, so he has an inability to deal with authority.
Raising a kid like that would have been hard.
I remember when I gave birth to Lyle.
My heart sank whey they told me I'd had a boy.
You wanted a girl.
This country is not too kind to black boys.
Emmett Till, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin.
So you were concerned about Lyle's safety.
Virginia's still the south, Agent Rossi.
I'm concerned about a lot of things.
Has Lyle ever given you reason to fear him? Are you suggesting he's a monster? A stereotype? Well, from his work record and our interview with your son, it appears he has a bad temper.
He could be hardheaded, get angry over the smallest thing.
Can you give me an example? He'd snap for no reason at all.
Would he get physical? Did he ever hit you or threaten you? One time, he-- he threw a TV at my head.
It wasn't at her head, it--it was near her head.
Well, how did your son's anger get out of control? It was one incident.
It doesn't mean anything.
Well, did this happen during his adolescence? How was he in school? Well, he'd raise his hand and the teacher wouldn't call on him, you know? He'd ask a girl out, she'd laugh.
And what would he do when things got like that? Well, he'd sit in his room alone and sulk.
Well, maybe he was depressed.
Black people don't have time to be depressed.
Did he ever try therapy? Or medication? Charles is against it.
Why? You think slaves had Prozac? No.
They got out there, they worked.
So if your son has mental issues, you think he should just push through them.
You're damn right.
If Lyle isn't hanging sheetrock, he's laying hardwood floors.
I have that boy out there from 6 a.
m.
to 9 p.
m.
every day.
He hasn't had the time or the energy to kill anybody.
I made sure of that.
He's picking his cuticles and rubbing his hands incessantly, which means he's holding something back.
So Garcia found out Lyle had a sealed juvie record.
Turns out he kicked his neighbor's dog to death.
What have you got? We just got the DNA results back from one of the female victims.
Her name is Mary Ann Beck.
She went missing 10 years ago.
She's also a high school classmate of Lyle's.
Did they know each other? Can't tell.
We haven't found a direct connection to the house yet.
All right, tear his room apart.
If Lyle's got secrets, we need to know what they are.
What are you thinking? Well, his initial reaction, he looked guilty.
But he's so antagonistic and he's not even trying to cover.
He's intentionally trying to push your buttons.
All right.
Let's go get a couple of earwigs and send you two back in there.
We need to determine whether he knows Mary Ann Beck.
If you're gonna put me in jail, just put me in jail.
I wasn't gonna put you in jail.
You gonna put him in jail? We just needed to ask you a few more questions.
So Do you like blondes or brunettes, Lyle? I don't know.
Why? You know, people think blondes have more fun, but sometimes, not so much.
You know her, Lyle? Never seen the girl.
She was in your senior class.
That was a long time ago.
Yeah, and she also lived a couple blocks from the burger place you worked.
A lot of people live near there.
Yeah, but not people who look like her.
That long blond hair, pretty smile, sparkling eyes.
She's not my type.
I think you dated her and her dad got mad.
What are you talking about? We dug her up from your yard.
You're lying! She's not dead! No, Lyle, you're lying.
I'm gonna ask you again.
Did you know Mary Ann Beck? No.
Lyle would have kept his secrets close to him, easy for him to have access to.
Probably while he was in bed.
This We should get this to forensics.
Look at this.
Mary Ann Beck.
He lied.
Hmm.
It was filled in 1991.
Let me see.
It's testosterone.
My uncle used to take this.
Lyle could have been using it to bulk up.
If he was still taking it 10 years ago, it could have pushed him over the edge and caused him to beat Mary Ann to death.
You're full of crap, Lyle.
We found testosterone in your bedroom and pictures of you and Mary Ann.
We know what you did.
You dated her and when she wanted to break up with you, you couldn't take it.
Oh, please, that's--that's not what happened.
And you took the pills why? 'Cause you couldn't get it up, is that what happened? No, you don't understand-- You hit her and then the rage took over.
No, I didn't.
No! And you beat her! You beat her till she stopped moving.
You were so angry that you mutilated her and then you buried her.
And every day you look out that window, you know what you did.
Stop saying that! Just admit it, Lyle! You beat this girl and you killed her.
You did.
Fine! I did it! Dr.
Reid.
What's up? We got another one.
This one looks like a male.
So let's get this straight.
The first person you killed was Mary Ann Beck.
That was That's right.
And you killed the second woman but you don't remember her name.
That's what I said.
We just found another body, Lyle.
I did that, too.
Ask him if the third victim was male or female? And at that time, did you kill a man or a woman? A guy.
So you beat him and mutilated his genitals? Do you want me to draw you a picture? You don't have to.
Because we don't believe you, Lyle.
I did it.
I told you.
The females were killed but the man we dug up out of your backyard was killed 35 years ago.
You would have been 5.
So what? You may have seen the kill, Lyle, or even heard it, but you didn't do it.
You didn't do any of this.
Where's my son? He's not coming.
He couldn't have confessed to any damn murder.
I want to see him.
Do you remember the Central Park jogger case? Yeah.
The whole country remembers that.
You remember how law enforcement got those kids to confess to something they didn't do? What about it? Well, we train law enforcement now to identify and prevent false confessions.
We found a body near your shed, belonging to a man who was killed 35 years ago.
Now, your son Lyle was just a toddler then, and your wife doesn't pick up anything heavier than a gardening hoe, and the personal nature of these crimes tells us there was just one offender.
You.
And only you.
So, how do you want to play this, Charles? You want to tell me what happened? Nothing happened.
Unless you figure out something happened.
Charles doesn't sleep here.
I know, because he sleeps back here.
The guy's nostalgic.
Clearly high school was important to him.
What's odd is that he has trophies all the way up to 11th grade, and then nothing in his senior year.
Hmm.
Look at this.
He's taking testosterone, just like his son.
It could be for age related loss of vitality, wanting a boost in his libido.
He and Tina aren't sleeping together, though.
You know.
Lyle's bottle was from 1991 and there are only a few pills taken.
Lyle could have been taking them from his father.
Mr.
Johnson's more likely the one with the chronic issue.
Why was your husband taking testosterone, Mrs.
Johnson? Was it for sexual reasons? You and Charles sleep in separate rooms.
You don't know what we do.
He snores.
And why are you asking me? So you are sexually active? That's none of your business.
Do you know if he was seeing someone else? You ought to be ashamed.
Ma'am, women were murdered and sexually mutilated, and then buried in your backyard.
We didn't do nothin'.
We didn't do nothing.
We didn't do nothin'.
You notice the phrasing? Well, they're from the south.
No, it sounds like she reacting to something that someone else did.
This could be about retaliation.
That would explain Charles' obsession with the past.
Did you like growing up in Virginia? I didn't know any different.
What did your parents do? My mother was the help and my father was the butler.
But there were good times, right? You liked baseball.
We found negro league memorabilia in your house.
You're a Josh Gibson fan.
Yeah.
"A home run a day, boost in my pay.
" Yeah, I like Satchel Paige myself.
Um, "don't look back.
Something might be gaining on you.
" He also said, "the only change is that baseball "has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal.
" What did you think when the leagues finally integrated? I was happy, of course.
Well, then, how did you feel when you found out that your son was dating a white girl? I told Lyle to get rid of these.
So you did know about them.
Is that why you killed her? You didn't want to see your son dating a white girl? You don't know me.
You killed Lyle's girlfriend and buried her in your backyard.
I did not.
I think we're gonna be here a while, Charles.
I'm getting hungry.
You? How are those missing persons reports going? Any I.
D.
on the other woman? No, nothing yet.
All right, find out everything you can about Mary Ann Beck.
We need to see if we can connect her to those two victims.
Yes, sir.
So Why did you mutilate Mary Ann's genitalia? I didn't mutilate anything.
And you cut the other girl, too.
And the guy.
Sexual punishment across gender lines is pretty different.
I think that somewhere down the line, a man and a woman each made you question your sexuality.
You despise both sexes.
If that were the case, I wouldn't be living with my son and my wife.
Well, that's just part of your facade.
Those people in your backyard are victims of your rage.
Rage? What do you know about a black man's rage? You know nothing.
Come on, Lyle.
You gotta help me out here.
Please, just leave my dad out of this, ok? Nothing can justify what he did to those women, those people.
Why are you covering for him, Lyle? He killed and mutilated your girlfriend.
No.
I did that.
You said she wasn't your girlfriend.
She was.
She was, you know.
What have you got? M.
E.
's office rushed the DNA test and got an I.
D.
on the man found near the shed.
Good.
I'll have Garcia find out who he is.
Well We identified the guy in your yard.
Uh, James Moses.
You know a James Moses, Charles? Only Moses I know parted the Red Sea.
Well, James Moses was friends with Mary Ann Beck's father Karl Beck.
Do you know Karl Beck? I told you I don't know any Becks.
Well, these two guys belonged to a little group called the Cleanse.
You ever hear of the Cleanse, Charles? Sounds like one of those new age diets.
No, they were a klan chapter in your town back in the sixties.
When did you graduate high school? '63, '64, something like that? Maybe.
What about it? Well, they were pretty active back then.
You see the picture I'm painting? It's a little abstract.
I think you killed James Moses 35 years ago.
And you wanted to kill Karl Beck as well, but he was already dead.
So when your son started dating his daughter years later, you killed her instead.
What do you think about that, Charles? I think, uh You're fishing.
And I hate fish.
How's he doing? I think he's making progress.
I'm surprised none of them have lawyered up yet.
Tina and Lyle haven't because they know they're innocent.
Charles is a sociopath.
He thinks he can talk his way out of it.
Tell me about your run-ins with the klan, Charles.
I never ran.
Well, did they stop you at a traffic light or approach you in a bar? I know what it was like back then.
Oh, you know what it was like? The guy who saved my life in Vietnam was black, as was my second wife.
Brown sugar.
I'll be damned.
I bet you phone-banked for Obama.
No, I was too busy putting guys like you away.
Where you from, Dave? Long Island.
Your I-talian from Long Island can be as cold-blooded as aa klansman from Virginia.
You ever used the n-word, Dave? I'm sure I did.
The same guys who called me wop and dago.
Everyone I knew back then used that language.
So what? Maybe one day some black people sit in the front of the bus in Floral Park and you start throwing some punches.
We've already found Maybe some colored folks sit next to you at Stango's back in the day, and, you know, you get pissed off, you start throwing punches at 'em.
You're evading, Charles, and that suggests guilt.
Oh.
You go by that logic, you ain't too innocent your damn self.
There was this one time.
Here we go.
I was in the ninth grade, and there was this black kid on the baseball team with me.
I knew it.
Break out the peanuts.
He was the runt and I was the second-smallest.
You get the picture? I got it.
Come on.
Well, one day the other guys get mad because he's playing with us Mm-hmm.
And they force me to shove him into a locker and keep him there overnight.
Did you do it? Sure I did.
If not, they would have done it to me.
Call him names? We called him every name in the book.
Uh-huh.
And then they made me pee on him in the locker.
You peed on him? They made me.
I didn't think it was funny at the time.
Oh, it's funny.
It is funny, all right.
I can't believe I did that.
Oh, I believe it.
I believe it.
And you know what's funnier than that? Is you think after telling me that, that I'm going to talk to you.
You know what you can do with your black wife and your black friend? You can kiss my black ass.
Hotch, we found a fourth body buried under Charles' shed.
The M.
E.
said based upon decomposition levels, it looks like this guy could have been killed around the same time James Moses was.
All right, keep us posted.
I will.
So that makes two man from way back and two women from I've searched the members of James Moses' and Karl Beck's klan chapter and I found a Mike Mills who was killed in a car accident quite some time before now.
He had a daughter Rachel Mills, and she was reported as missing 10 years ago.
Where did she live? In a neighboring town.
And I just pulled her dental records.
Which are a match to the other victim in the backyard.
When did her father die? From the car accident? So first Charles kills the two men, then years later his son coincidentally starts dating Mary Ann Beck and it triggers him to kill again.
When he found out her father was dead, he killed Mary Ann instead, then he did the same thing to Mike Mills' daughter.
That confirms your theory about a vendetta.
Let's find out if these men knew Charles.
None of them are in his yearbook.
Garcia, check other schools in the area.
Vegetarian hot dog with sauerkraut and pickles.
Karl Beck, Mike Mills, and James Moses all went to A.
J.
Burroughs high school, which is two towns over from where Charles went to school.
He graduated a year prior to them.
Garcia, check with their families and see if there was any sort of altercation or feud between Charles and these men.
None of the men's parents are still living, and none of them have any brothers or sisters.
What about half-siblings? Ok.
Ok.
Shazam! Karl Beck had a half-sister, Audrey Collins.
Did she go to Burroughs? No, but she's in Charles' yearbook.
So Charles and Audrey went to school together.
Garcia, check and see if she's still in the area.
Oh.
Audrey Collins died from cancer 35 years ago, exactly 4 weeks before the disappearance of James Moses.
She died and Charles started killing.
Which confirms our theory that Charles had two triggers-- Audrey's death, and 25 years later, seeing his son with Mary Ann Beck.
Garcia, find out everything you can about Audrey Collins.
She's the key to the case.
Look-- You don't have to explain, man.
No, you don't understand.
A locker? Really? You took a leak on the guy? I was working him, Derek.
But I'd like you to do something for me.
Ohh Ok.
Send the black guy in.
Huh.
I was wondering when they were gonna play that card.
Attention all FBI employees, will the one negro in the building please get to the sixth floor.
You finished? But then again You're not fully black.
Are you? Well, that's ok.
They say even one drop counts.
I want to ask you some questions.
No.
You tell that I-talian from Long Island to get his ass back in here.
This ain't a locker.
You can't just stuff me in here.
Lyle may have seen something when he was little, but neither he nor his mother knew this Charles.
I'm going back in there.
Hey, so, uh, I just spoke to Audrey's stepsister.
There was an incident.
Audrey wrote a letter.
Ah, there you are.
Thought you picked up your marbles and went home, hiding under the bed in shame.
What would I be ashamed of? It happened when I was a kid.
I'm different now.
People don't change.
Oh, I've changed.
Audrey Collins changed.
"Dear Charles, this is Audrey Collins.
Years ago I told a lie and destroyed you.
" You can't prove a thing.
Audrey Collins went to school with you, Charles.
So what? She wrote you a letter on her death bed, admitting she told a lie.
What was she lying about, Charles? I don't know.
Oh, you know.
It caused 6 klansmen to snatch you off the street that night.
She said you raped her, didn't she? I would never rape a woman.
No, you would just humiliate them and cut them up.
That's not what I did.
You're lying.
No.
No.
She lied.
Then what did she lie about, Charles? She was fooling around with a white guy on the football team, and, um When she came home past her curfew She said that I raped her.
What did they do to you that night? There he is.
That's him.
Get him! No! Get him up there.
Aah! Come on! They grabbed me Dragged me out into a field.
Let me go! Help! Get out of there! Get down! Shut up! You laid your hands on my sister! I'll lay my hands on you! I didn't do anything! Come on! Stop! We got a tree for you, boy.
Let me go! You're gonna fly tonight.
No! No No! No! No! No! Please! Hung me from a tree.
Cut me.
Where did they cut you? Where do you think? And that's why you take testosterone.
They castrated you.
I wanted a big family.
You killed all those people for revenge.
No, I killed out of hate.
Yeah.
Hate grew in me that night.
And hate vowed to pay them all back.
And Audrey's letter triggered this.
She ruined my life, she writes me a letter? And that's why you mutilated your victims.
They were lucky.
They were already dead.
What about the lives you destroyed? Your son's.
Your wife's.
I didn't do that.
Audrey.
All Audrey had to do was tell the truth at the time.
Not everyone has the guts to tell the truth.
Have you told Lyle that he's not your biological son? No.
And you better not! Please.
What difference does it make? You've already ruined his life.
He saw you murder someone at 5.
You killed his girlfriend.
You didn't have to pass along your genes.
You passed along your rage.
Is that what you really wanted to do? No.
Then make it right, Charles.
Audrey said that 6 guys dragged you into the woods.
We've only found You give me your full confession and I'll keep your secret.
Mm.
southern trees they're a strange brood blood on the leaves and blood at the root black bodies swinging in the summer breeze strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Come on, Rossi, shove him in there.
Show him how we do it.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south here is a strange and bitter crop and bitter
Isn't that good? Yeah.
That's it.
I swear to God, I'm never running another marathon again.
You know, if a mugger was after me, I wouldn't be able to run away.
What was that? Stay here.
Mike? Mike.
Shh.
Hello? Cheryl! Call 911! My husband and I thought it was a bomb or something.
Just a busted water main.
Ah.
We're gonna have to get into their yard, too.
Are your neighbors home? Their cars aren't here, but I'm sure the Johnsons would be fine with you going back there.
I'll try their cells.
Are you sure you shouldn't say anything? Positive.
People think we're having an affair.
Can't we just say we're on assignment? No one can know.
What are you afraid of? The stares, the whispers.
Spence has been asking me questions.
Rossi's been onto us from day one.
Hello.
Good luck out there.
Thank you.
Where are you going? I got your text.
I love you very much, but you need to read more than just the first sentence.
The case is like 5 miles away.
What the hell happened? JJ will fill you in.
It's-- it's crazy town.
Water and power company was digging in the backyard, found the remains of two bodies.
How long have the Johnsons lived here? upstanding citizens.
Husband's the block captain, the wife's on neighborhood watch.
There's no indication of how long the bodies have been here.
We're waiting for the M.
E.
to arrive.
Forensics will tell us how long they've been down there.
Where's the family now? The husband and son work at the father's construction company.
They're on their way back home right now, and Mrs.
Johnson's inside the house.
I'm going to go talk to her.
How is she? Wishing we were Publishers Clearinghouse.
There he is.
Charles! Mrs.
Johnson.
Charles, tell these officers that we don't know anything about dead bodies in our yard.
What are you talking about? They think we're killers.
Can I help you gentlemen? Thank you, officer.
Yes, sir, I'm Agent Hotchner with the FBI.
I need to talk to you.
About what? Lyle?! Lyle? Lyle! Lyle! Down off the wall! Turn around slowly and let me see your hands.
Please, don't shoot.
We just want to talk to you, Lyle.
I didn't do nothing.
I understand.
I just want to talk to you.
"The universe doesn't like secrets.
It conspires to reveal the truth to lead you to it.
" Lisa Unger.
What's going on? Whose bodies are those? Ma'am, that's what we're trying to find out.
And you think I have anything to do with it? I have to read to the seniors at the convalescent home in an hour.
You're not gonna make it today.
Why'd you have to separate us? We didn't kill those people.
Lyle only ran because he was scared.
Scared of what? You! The governmentâs gone mad.
First they got wiretapping, then they got stand your ground.
Now they got the feds showing up at normal folks' home for no damn reason.
Lyle, I told you, this is standard procedure.
The remains of two bodies were found in your yard.
That has nothing to do with us, and as soon as you figure that out, I'm gonna sue you guys for emotional distress.
I can tell from the pelvic and hip measurements that both victims were female.
What about their ages? The hardening of the sternum puts them both in their early 30s when they were killed.
What's your interrogation strategy? Well, we'll start with distinguishing between the distress of having the bodies found in their backyard and the stress of being brought here.
Ok, that's smart, but how are you gonna test that? Put them under additional stress and then give them good news.
The innocent ones will show some release in their demeanor and the guilty ones won't.
They'll still be holding on to some terrible secret.
Thank you.
Ok, Mrs.
Johnson, why don't we just start at the beginning.
How long have you guys lived in that house? Uh35 years.
It's a big home for such a small family.
Have you ever had any tenants? No.
Just me and Lyle and Charles.
It was a fixer-upper for my husband.
He's a contractor.
He loves working on the house.
So do I.
I do the same thing.
How many times have you redone the kitchen? At least 3 times.
Did the, uh, upstairs bathrooms twice.
Did your family ever help with the renovations? My wife's a real Martha Stewart.
She changed the curtains in the bedroom 4 times, repaired her sewing room at least, what, 8? And how about the yard? Uh, Tina wanted to put a pool back there, but we, you know, we wouldn't have the time to use it.
You always lived at home, Lyle? I tried living on my own for a little bit, but it didn't work out.
And when was that? It was an SRO.
Full of rejects and roaches.
And that's why you moved back home? I like living in a house better.
Is that a crime? You like having a backyard? Who wouldn't? What do you do back there? Smoke weed.
Hang out with my gang, you know? Do you take care of the yard? Oh, yes, sir.
I mow the lawn, sir.
Now, you want me to mow your lawn, sir? Have you been able to determine approximate time of death yet? Well, the degree of decomposition and bone pitting suggests these women were killed about 10 years ago.
Do you know what killed them? Like I thought, they were beaten to death, but there is one other thing.
That was Blake.
They've established that the bodies were two approximately who were buried That makes them Lyle's age.
Do we have I.
D.
s? They're working on DNA.
Garcia, start working on a list of missing persons and people who moved out of the area at the time.
Already typing.
Was there any signature? The condition of the pelvic bone suggests mutilated genitalia.
If we can get the names of the women and establish Lyle knew them, then it's game on.
Or game over.
Did you ever have any parties at the house, Lyle? No, sir.
I sure don't, sir.
Really? A man your age who's lived in the same house his whole life has never had a get-together or a party? That's what I said, sir.
What about dates? Oh, a little, sir.
Is that ok, sir? I need all the names of the women that you dated who may have come back to the house.
What if I don't want to give them to you? What are you gonna do? You gonna make me Sir? Why do you feel so powerless, Lyle? Powerless, sir? It would explain why you took your power back by mutilating your victims' genitalia.
Mutilation? What are you talking about? You think I killed those people? I think you tortured them and you buried them in your backyard.
You're tripping.
Did you become enraged because they wouldn't have sex with you? Or did you kill them because you couldn't get it up? You son of a bitch.
You son of a bitch! That's enough.
Leave him.
We're just getting started, Lyle.
Lyle seemed pretty happy.
In the eighties he did, but to be honest, from 2000 on, he's barely in here.
It's like he's practically invisible.
Maybe his parents suspected he was a killer and subconsciously started distancing themselves from Lyle.
Isolation coupled with homicidal ideation would have made him even more reclusive.
Well, Lyle looks good for it.
He ran, got physical, he's the same age as his victims.
He has the strength to carry out the crime.
And has access to the yard.
You going to jump back in there? No, I think we should let him sit.
JJ, let's pull his school records, talk to neighbors, teachers, anybody we can find.
I'm on it.
Ah, come on, thereâs gotta be something.
A guy capable of this kind of brutality has got to have a pretty sketchy record.
MmHuh--creepy bingo.
Before Lyle worked for his dad, he worked at a variety of fast food establishments, and he was either warned or written up every month.
Ok, so he has an inability to deal with authority.
Raising a kid like that would have been hard.
I remember when I gave birth to Lyle.
My heart sank whey they told me I'd had a boy.
You wanted a girl.
This country is not too kind to black boys.
Emmett Till, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin.
So you were concerned about Lyle's safety.
Virginia's still the south, Agent Rossi.
I'm concerned about a lot of things.
Has Lyle ever given you reason to fear him? Are you suggesting he's a monster? A stereotype? Well, from his work record and our interview with your son, it appears he has a bad temper.
He could be hardheaded, get angry over the smallest thing.
Can you give me an example? He'd snap for no reason at all.
Would he get physical? Did he ever hit you or threaten you? One time, he-- he threw a TV at my head.
It wasn't at her head, it--it was near her head.
Well, how did your son's anger get out of control? It was one incident.
It doesn't mean anything.
Well, did this happen during his adolescence? How was he in school? Well, he'd raise his hand and the teacher wouldn't call on him, you know? He'd ask a girl out, she'd laugh.
And what would he do when things got like that? Well, he'd sit in his room alone and sulk.
Well, maybe he was depressed.
Black people don't have time to be depressed.
Did he ever try therapy? Or medication? Charles is against it.
Why? You think slaves had Prozac? No.
They got out there, they worked.
So if your son has mental issues, you think he should just push through them.
You're damn right.
If Lyle isn't hanging sheetrock, he's laying hardwood floors.
I have that boy out there from 6 a.
m.
to 9 p.
m.
every day.
He hasn't had the time or the energy to kill anybody.
I made sure of that.
He's picking his cuticles and rubbing his hands incessantly, which means he's holding something back.
So Garcia found out Lyle had a sealed juvie record.
Turns out he kicked his neighbor's dog to death.
What have you got? We just got the DNA results back from one of the female victims.
Her name is Mary Ann Beck.
She went missing 10 years ago.
She's also a high school classmate of Lyle's.
Did they know each other? Can't tell.
We haven't found a direct connection to the house yet.
All right, tear his room apart.
If Lyle's got secrets, we need to know what they are.
What are you thinking? Well, his initial reaction, he looked guilty.
But he's so antagonistic and he's not even trying to cover.
He's intentionally trying to push your buttons.
All right.
Let's go get a couple of earwigs and send you two back in there.
We need to determine whether he knows Mary Ann Beck.
If you're gonna put me in jail, just put me in jail.
I wasn't gonna put you in jail.
You gonna put him in jail? We just needed to ask you a few more questions.
So Do you like blondes or brunettes, Lyle? I don't know.
Why? You know, people think blondes have more fun, but sometimes, not so much.
You know her, Lyle? Never seen the girl.
She was in your senior class.
That was a long time ago.
Yeah, and she also lived a couple blocks from the burger place you worked.
A lot of people live near there.
Yeah, but not people who look like her.
That long blond hair, pretty smile, sparkling eyes.
She's not my type.
I think you dated her and her dad got mad.
What are you talking about? We dug her up from your yard.
You're lying! She's not dead! No, Lyle, you're lying.
I'm gonna ask you again.
Did you know Mary Ann Beck? No.
Lyle would have kept his secrets close to him, easy for him to have access to.
Probably while he was in bed.
This We should get this to forensics.
Look at this.
Mary Ann Beck.
He lied.
Hmm.
It was filled in 1991.
Let me see.
It's testosterone.
My uncle used to take this.
Lyle could have been using it to bulk up.
If he was still taking it 10 years ago, it could have pushed him over the edge and caused him to beat Mary Ann to death.
You're full of crap, Lyle.
We found testosterone in your bedroom and pictures of you and Mary Ann.
We know what you did.
You dated her and when she wanted to break up with you, you couldn't take it.
Oh, please, that's--that's not what happened.
And you took the pills why? 'Cause you couldn't get it up, is that what happened? No, you don't understand-- You hit her and then the rage took over.
No, I didn't.
No! And you beat her! You beat her till she stopped moving.
You were so angry that you mutilated her and then you buried her.
And every day you look out that window, you know what you did.
Stop saying that! Just admit it, Lyle! You beat this girl and you killed her.
You did.
Fine! I did it! Dr.
Reid.
What's up? We got another one.
This one looks like a male.
So let's get this straight.
The first person you killed was Mary Ann Beck.
That was That's right.
And you killed the second woman but you don't remember her name.
That's what I said.
We just found another body, Lyle.
I did that, too.
Ask him if the third victim was male or female? And at that time, did you kill a man or a woman? A guy.
So you beat him and mutilated his genitals? Do you want me to draw you a picture? You don't have to.
Because we don't believe you, Lyle.
I did it.
I told you.
The females were killed but the man we dug up out of your backyard was killed 35 years ago.
You would have been 5.
So what? You may have seen the kill, Lyle, or even heard it, but you didn't do it.
You didn't do any of this.
Where's my son? He's not coming.
He couldn't have confessed to any damn murder.
I want to see him.
Do you remember the Central Park jogger case? Yeah.
The whole country remembers that.
You remember how law enforcement got those kids to confess to something they didn't do? What about it? Well, we train law enforcement now to identify and prevent false confessions.
We found a body near your shed, belonging to a man who was killed 35 years ago.
Now, your son Lyle was just a toddler then, and your wife doesn't pick up anything heavier than a gardening hoe, and the personal nature of these crimes tells us there was just one offender.
You.
And only you.
So, how do you want to play this, Charles? You want to tell me what happened? Nothing happened.
Unless you figure out something happened.
Charles doesn't sleep here.
I know, because he sleeps back here.
The guy's nostalgic.
Clearly high school was important to him.
What's odd is that he has trophies all the way up to 11th grade, and then nothing in his senior year.
Hmm.
Look at this.
He's taking testosterone, just like his son.
It could be for age related loss of vitality, wanting a boost in his libido.
He and Tina aren't sleeping together, though.
You know.
Lyle's bottle was from 1991 and there are only a few pills taken.
Lyle could have been taking them from his father.
Mr.
Johnson's more likely the one with the chronic issue.
Why was your husband taking testosterone, Mrs.
Johnson? Was it for sexual reasons? You and Charles sleep in separate rooms.
You don't know what we do.
He snores.
And why are you asking me? So you are sexually active? That's none of your business.
Do you know if he was seeing someone else? You ought to be ashamed.
Ma'am, women were murdered and sexually mutilated, and then buried in your backyard.
We didn't do nothin'.
We didn't do nothing.
We didn't do nothin'.
You notice the phrasing? Well, they're from the south.
No, it sounds like she reacting to something that someone else did.
This could be about retaliation.
That would explain Charles' obsession with the past.
Did you like growing up in Virginia? I didn't know any different.
What did your parents do? My mother was the help and my father was the butler.
But there were good times, right? You liked baseball.
We found negro league memorabilia in your house.
You're a Josh Gibson fan.
Yeah.
"A home run a day, boost in my pay.
" Yeah, I like Satchel Paige myself.
Um, "don't look back.
Something might be gaining on you.
" He also said, "the only change is that baseball "has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal.
" What did you think when the leagues finally integrated? I was happy, of course.
Well, then, how did you feel when you found out that your son was dating a white girl? I told Lyle to get rid of these.
So you did know about them.
Is that why you killed her? You didn't want to see your son dating a white girl? You don't know me.
You killed Lyle's girlfriend and buried her in your backyard.
I did not.
I think we're gonna be here a while, Charles.
I'm getting hungry.
You? How are those missing persons reports going? Any I.
D.
on the other woman? No, nothing yet.
All right, find out everything you can about Mary Ann Beck.
We need to see if we can connect her to those two victims.
Yes, sir.
So Why did you mutilate Mary Ann's genitalia? I didn't mutilate anything.
And you cut the other girl, too.
And the guy.
Sexual punishment across gender lines is pretty different.
I think that somewhere down the line, a man and a woman each made you question your sexuality.
You despise both sexes.
If that were the case, I wouldn't be living with my son and my wife.
Well, that's just part of your facade.
Those people in your backyard are victims of your rage.
Rage? What do you know about a black man's rage? You know nothing.
Come on, Lyle.
You gotta help me out here.
Please, just leave my dad out of this, ok? Nothing can justify what he did to those women, those people.
Why are you covering for him, Lyle? He killed and mutilated your girlfriend.
No.
I did that.
You said she wasn't your girlfriend.
She was.
She was, you know.
What have you got? M.
E.
's office rushed the DNA test and got an I.
D.
on the man found near the shed.
Good.
I'll have Garcia find out who he is.
Well We identified the guy in your yard.
Uh, James Moses.
You know a James Moses, Charles? Only Moses I know parted the Red Sea.
Well, James Moses was friends with Mary Ann Beck's father Karl Beck.
Do you know Karl Beck? I told you I don't know any Becks.
Well, these two guys belonged to a little group called the Cleanse.
You ever hear of the Cleanse, Charles? Sounds like one of those new age diets.
No, they were a klan chapter in your town back in the sixties.
When did you graduate high school? '63, '64, something like that? Maybe.
What about it? Well, they were pretty active back then.
You see the picture I'm painting? It's a little abstract.
I think you killed James Moses 35 years ago.
And you wanted to kill Karl Beck as well, but he was already dead.
So when your son started dating his daughter years later, you killed her instead.
What do you think about that, Charles? I think, uh You're fishing.
And I hate fish.
How's he doing? I think he's making progress.
I'm surprised none of them have lawyered up yet.
Tina and Lyle haven't because they know they're innocent.
Charles is a sociopath.
He thinks he can talk his way out of it.
Tell me about your run-ins with the klan, Charles.
I never ran.
Well, did they stop you at a traffic light or approach you in a bar? I know what it was like back then.
Oh, you know what it was like? The guy who saved my life in Vietnam was black, as was my second wife.
Brown sugar.
I'll be damned.
I bet you phone-banked for Obama.
No, I was too busy putting guys like you away.
Where you from, Dave? Long Island.
Your I-talian from Long Island can be as cold-blooded as aa klansman from Virginia.
You ever used the n-word, Dave? I'm sure I did.
The same guys who called me wop and dago.
Everyone I knew back then used that language.
So what? Maybe one day some black people sit in the front of the bus in Floral Park and you start throwing some punches.
We've already found Maybe some colored folks sit next to you at Stango's back in the day, and, you know, you get pissed off, you start throwing punches at 'em.
You're evading, Charles, and that suggests guilt.
Oh.
You go by that logic, you ain't too innocent your damn self.
There was this one time.
Here we go.
I was in the ninth grade, and there was this black kid on the baseball team with me.
I knew it.
Break out the peanuts.
He was the runt and I was the second-smallest.
You get the picture? I got it.
Come on.
Well, one day the other guys get mad because he's playing with us Mm-hmm.
And they force me to shove him into a locker and keep him there overnight.
Did you do it? Sure I did.
If not, they would have done it to me.
Call him names? We called him every name in the book.
Uh-huh.
And then they made me pee on him in the locker.
You peed on him? They made me.
I didn't think it was funny at the time.
Oh, it's funny.
It is funny, all right.
I can't believe I did that.
Oh, I believe it.
I believe it.
And you know what's funnier than that? Is you think after telling me that, that I'm going to talk to you.
You know what you can do with your black wife and your black friend? You can kiss my black ass.
Hotch, we found a fourth body buried under Charles' shed.
The M.
E.
said based upon decomposition levels, it looks like this guy could have been killed around the same time James Moses was.
All right, keep us posted.
I will.
So that makes two man from way back and two women from I've searched the members of James Moses' and Karl Beck's klan chapter and I found a Mike Mills who was killed in a car accident quite some time before now.
He had a daughter Rachel Mills, and she was reported as missing 10 years ago.
Where did she live? In a neighboring town.
And I just pulled her dental records.
Which are a match to the other victim in the backyard.
When did her father die? From the car accident? So first Charles kills the two men, then years later his son coincidentally starts dating Mary Ann Beck and it triggers him to kill again.
When he found out her father was dead, he killed Mary Ann instead, then he did the same thing to Mike Mills' daughter.
That confirms your theory about a vendetta.
Let's find out if these men knew Charles.
None of them are in his yearbook.
Garcia, check other schools in the area.
Vegetarian hot dog with sauerkraut and pickles.
Karl Beck, Mike Mills, and James Moses all went to A.
J.
Burroughs high school, which is two towns over from where Charles went to school.
He graduated a year prior to them.
Garcia, check with their families and see if there was any sort of altercation or feud between Charles and these men.
None of the men's parents are still living, and none of them have any brothers or sisters.
What about half-siblings? Ok.
Ok.
Shazam! Karl Beck had a half-sister, Audrey Collins.
Did she go to Burroughs? No, but she's in Charles' yearbook.
So Charles and Audrey went to school together.
Garcia, check and see if she's still in the area.
Oh.
Audrey Collins died from cancer 35 years ago, exactly 4 weeks before the disappearance of James Moses.
She died and Charles started killing.
Which confirms our theory that Charles had two triggers-- Audrey's death, and 25 years later, seeing his son with Mary Ann Beck.
Garcia, find out everything you can about Audrey Collins.
She's the key to the case.
Look-- You don't have to explain, man.
No, you don't understand.
A locker? Really? You took a leak on the guy? I was working him, Derek.
But I'd like you to do something for me.
Ohh Ok.
Send the black guy in.
Huh.
I was wondering when they were gonna play that card.
Attention all FBI employees, will the one negro in the building please get to the sixth floor.
You finished? But then again You're not fully black.
Are you? Well, that's ok.
They say even one drop counts.
I want to ask you some questions.
No.
You tell that I-talian from Long Island to get his ass back in here.
This ain't a locker.
You can't just stuff me in here.
Lyle may have seen something when he was little, but neither he nor his mother knew this Charles.
I'm going back in there.
Hey, so, uh, I just spoke to Audrey's stepsister.
There was an incident.
Audrey wrote a letter.
Ah, there you are.
Thought you picked up your marbles and went home, hiding under the bed in shame.
What would I be ashamed of? It happened when I was a kid.
I'm different now.
People don't change.
Oh, I've changed.
Audrey Collins changed.
"Dear Charles, this is Audrey Collins.
Years ago I told a lie and destroyed you.
" You can't prove a thing.
Audrey Collins went to school with you, Charles.
So what? She wrote you a letter on her death bed, admitting she told a lie.
What was she lying about, Charles? I don't know.
Oh, you know.
It caused 6 klansmen to snatch you off the street that night.
She said you raped her, didn't she? I would never rape a woman.
No, you would just humiliate them and cut them up.
That's not what I did.
You're lying.
No.
No.
She lied.
Then what did she lie about, Charles? She was fooling around with a white guy on the football team, and, um When she came home past her curfew She said that I raped her.
What did they do to you that night? There he is.
That's him.
Get him! No! Get him up there.
Aah! Come on! They grabbed me Dragged me out into a field.
Let me go! Help! Get out of there! Get down! Shut up! You laid your hands on my sister! I'll lay my hands on you! I didn't do anything! Come on! Stop! We got a tree for you, boy.
Let me go! You're gonna fly tonight.
No! No No! No! No! No! Please! Hung me from a tree.
Cut me.
Where did they cut you? Where do you think? And that's why you take testosterone.
They castrated you.
I wanted a big family.
You killed all those people for revenge.
No, I killed out of hate.
Yeah.
Hate grew in me that night.
And hate vowed to pay them all back.
And Audrey's letter triggered this.
She ruined my life, she writes me a letter? And that's why you mutilated your victims.
They were lucky.
They were already dead.
What about the lives you destroyed? Your son's.
Your wife's.
I didn't do that.
Audrey.
All Audrey had to do was tell the truth at the time.
Not everyone has the guts to tell the truth.
Have you told Lyle that he's not your biological son? No.
And you better not! Please.
What difference does it make? You've already ruined his life.
He saw you murder someone at 5.
You killed his girlfriend.
You didn't have to pass along your genes.
You passed along your rage.
Is that what you really wanted to do? No.
Then make it right, Charles.
Audrey said that 6 guys dragged you into the woods.
We've only found You give me your full confession and I'll keep your secret.
Mm.
southern trees they're a strange brood blood on the leaves and blood at the root black bodies swinging in the summer breeze strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Come on, Rossi, shove him in there.
Show him how we do it.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south here is a strange and bitter crop and bitter