Criminal Minds/Natural Born Killer

Natural Born Killer
Season 1, Episode 8
Airdate	November 16, 2005
Written by	Debra J. Fisher & Erica Messer
Directed by	Peter Ellis
← 1x07 The Fox	1x09 → Derailed
Criminal Minds — Season One

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Natural Born Killer is the eighth episode of the first season of Criminal Minds.

Starring: Mandy Patinkin (Jason Gideon), Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner), Lola Glaudini (Elle Greenaway), Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan), Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid), A.J. Cook (Jennifer "J.J." Jareau)

Guest Starring: Patrick Kilpatrick (Vincent Perotta), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Gonzalo Menendez (Josh Cramer), Francesco Quinn (Michael Russo), Joe Sikora (Jimmy Baker), Val Lauren (Frederick "Freddy" Condore)

Co-Starring: Larkin Campbell (Detective), Robert Machray (Ray), Deborah Geffner (Neighbor)

Plot Overview

An undercover cop named Jimmy Baker is made by a detective while visiting a bar with his contact, a low level mobster named Freddy Candore. Candore's aunt and uncle are found dead the next day from overkill, with the uncle showing signs of extended torture. The bathtub shows evidence of being filled with blood, suggesting that a third person was dismembered as well. A few blocks away a homeless man finds a garbage bag with Freddy Candore's body parts in it.

Initially brought in because of the nature of the crimes, they are asked to pass the investigation over to Organized Crime Division Agent Cramer. Ignoring this as they suspect the killer is better caught with their method, they continue on. Following on known associates of Freddy, they find Jimmy Baker has a made up rap sheet because of the psychologically inconsistent criminal record. Searching his residence, they find a police issued weapon registered to an undercover cop. Agent Cramer confronts them on searching for the weapon and they decide to join forces as Agent Cramer desperately wants to recover his undercover man.

By leaning on Condore's boss, a mobster named Russo, they suggest that killing civilians will draw attention. Monitoring him remotely, Russo calls for a meeting with the killer later that night. Russo's known associates include Vincent Perotta, who has a matching juvenile record but no records after he became an adult. The list of unsolved crimes in the surrounding states that match the torture MO suggests he may have been responsible for 100 deaths.

That night, they arrest Perotta at Russo's business after he nearly kills Hotchner. In interoggation, he isn't very receptive and an outburst by Agent Cramer confirms Perotta's paranoid suspicious that there was an undercover agent. Following the lead that Perotta shows no records in the system as an adult, they track down his father's residence where Perotta has been impersonating his father for record's purposes. There they find Jimmy Baker, under threat of being consumed by rats but still alive.

Notes

• Profile: Male, intelligent, organized, methodical, paranoid psychotic with unflinching use of torture. Coming from an abusive past, he is normally very organized but was thrown off kilter by having to kill a woman as his mother was equally abused by his father as he was.

• Victims: Over the span of 30 years, it is suspected that Perotta killed over 100 people including his father.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• During Hotchner talks with Perotta, he indicates he may have come from an abused past.