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1
We're almost ready
for you, Dr.
Reid.
Just a few questions.
Are you having one of
your headaches right now?
Yeah, I am.
How long have you had it?
UmNot really
that long.
I don't know.
Can you be more specific?
Uh, maybe 2 days.
And the lights
hurt your eyes.
Any hallucinations?
No.
Hey, you ok?
Yeah.
Why?
You're never late.
Have we started
the briefing yet?
Just about to.
Then I'm not late.
Oh.
Yeah.
Attention, intrepid
BAU adventurers.
The land of Bermuda shorts,
white leisure suits,
and sansabelt slacks
requests your presence.
- Arizona.
- Vegas?
- Please.
- Palm Springs.
I was going to say Miami,
but point well made
about the dizzying
number of locales
with unfortunate
fashion tendencies.
Here we go.
Shells in the eyes
and mouth.
You don't see that
every day.
Not even in Miami.
found with a
A decapitated cat?
All were found
within a mile
of each other in a mostly
Latino neighborhood in Miami
called Allapattah.
Eduardo Guzman, homeless.
He was shot to death 7 days ago.
Yanira Espinal, ***,
bludgeoned to death
And then Victor Cabrera,
he was an unemployed janitor.
He was slashed
with a machete yesterday,
as was his cat.
You know, considering the
homeless man lived in that alley,
all of the victims essentially
were killed in their homes.
This took some time.
In the open.
You know, cowrie shells
and ritual offerings
are common to a number
of Afro-Caribbean religions.
But the upside-down cross
looks like satanism.
The first two victims
had fingers missing,
but on this one,
he took both hands.
All of this
could have been religious?
This could have specific
religious meaning
or it could just be part
of the unsub's signature.
Either way, his
timetable's accelerating.
We have a day, maybe 2,
before the Miami P.
D.
Has another body
on its hands.
Original Air Date on January 19, 2011
?
"No man chooses evil
because it is evil.
He only mistakes it for
happiness, the good he seeks.
"
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
The first victim was frail
and an easy target,
and yet the unsub shot him
from behind and at a distance.
By the second victim,
the unsub chose
not to use
a gun anymore.
He got up close and personal.
increase in confidence.
By the third victim,
he was comfortable enough
to use a machete.
But still from behind.
So he's not invested
in watch his victims suffer.
Which fits what the M.
E.
said
about the mutilations
being postmortem.
So we're back around
a religious ritual.
Reid?
Hmm?
Anything helpful?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um
The Afro-Caribbean
syncretic religions began
with slaves, who mixed
their traditional religions
with Catholicism in order to
camouflage them.
The elements
in this altar
Look to me like Santeria.
It's a yoruban-based religion
developed in Cuba.
Practitioners
worship orishas, deities
that roughly correspond
with Catholic saints.
And what about the shells?
Let's see.
This is Ellegua,
the deity of the crossroads,
a trickster and the impartial
enforcer of justice.
So, is the unsub sacrificing
the victims to him?
None of these religions
openly call for human sacrifice,
only animals.
We need to determine
whether these killings
are part of
an existing ritual.
Or whether he's using religion
to cover his own
psychopathology.
The last victim used to frequent
a local community center.
It might be a good way
to get some background.
Good.
Take Reid with you.
Prentiss and I will go
to the last crime scene.
Dave and Seaver,
get set up with the P.
D.
This the line?
Hmm?
Uh, for coffee.
Sorry.
Oh, no.
No,
I'm just thinking.
Aren't you always?
Yeah.
Hey, what's the weather
like in Miami right now?
I don't know exactly,
but my guess--75 and sunny.
Hey, what's the matter
with you?
You're not gonna give me
a bunch of facts
about the area
and the demographics?
The Allapattah neighborhood
is named after
the native American word
for alligator.
There you go.
There's the kid I know.
All right,
This can't be it.
Excuse me, sir.
Do you know where
the community center is?
It's down there.
This is Seminole Alley.
Reid, you all right?
Yeah.
I'm fine.
A lot better
than that goat.
Yeah, you got that right.
You see a lot of animal
sacrifices, Detective?
Roosters,
goats, even possums,
but, uh,
a cat is new to me.
He turned the victim's
crucifix upside down.
Well, he brought the shells
and the *** weapon with him.
He must have brought
gloves, too.
The only fingerprints they
found belonged to the victim.
Older, organized.
Yeah, except
he left a footprint.
That's something only
an inexperienced unsub would do.
It's almost as though he planned
this whole thing very carefully,
but then reality was nothing
like his imagination.
That throws him off balance
and he makes a mistake.
But he is getting used to it.
Each kill is more precise
and well-executed.
The first killing, he had
to saw to take the finger off.
He made sure he brought something
sharp enough this time.
Right.
He knows what he needs
to bring with him
and what's already here.
He's been here before.
There's no signs
of forced entry.
The victim let him in.
These chalk designs
on the floor--
they were made before
the blood spatter,
and they're not smudged
at all.
And no sign of a struggle.
Maybe the victim chose
to be part of the ritual.
After the ***, the unsub
turned the victim's body over.
His face was clean,
so he wiped the blood off.
Remorse?
Or he feels conflicted
about harming the victims.
They may represent
somebody to him.
These shells--
they look like
"see no evil, speak no evil.
"
He's symbolically
silencing his victims
so they can't tell anyone
about him.
By posing the bodies,
he is sending a message.
He may not want the victims
to see or hear him,
but he wants somebody to.
Victor was
my best friend.
We were like brothers.
We're sorry for your loss,
Mr.
Mercado.
He was sick for a long time,
but he was finally
feeling better.
He was sick?
His men's part, down there.
The cancer.
Where was he being
treated?
No, no, no.
No doctors.
They don't do nothing
but make you worse.
Throw radiation on you,
poison you.
He did his cleaning
every day.
That's why
he was feeling better.
What do you mean
by cleaning?
He clean his head,
his body.
But he got one of
the saints mad.
Maybe he forgot
to feed Ellegua.
¿Terminaste?
Si.
Tuti.
I must go.
Excuse me.
You run this place?
I don't talk to cops,
unless you got a warrant.
Well, one thing's for sure
is this community
does not trust
outsiders.
They barely trust insiders.
And none of the residents
are gonna want to tell us
what's ritual and what isn't.
Garcia?
Hey, Garcia.
Where you at?
I'm
I'm here.
I'm right--
I'm right--I'm right here.
I'm always right here.
All right, listen, we need
you to find us and expert
on Afro-Caribbean religions,
someone outside of the community
who might be willing to talk.
If he or she exists, yours
truly will find him or her.
Yes.
Thanks, Garcia.
So not only do all the victims
know the unsub,
but they participate with
him in a consensual ritual
before he kills them.
He poses the bodies after death.
He wants them to be found.
The question is, who is he
trying to communicate with?
And what's he trying to say?
Aah!
The Professor has
a morning class,
but he'll be with you
shortly.
Thank you.
I've never seen a first
edition "Tractatus" before.
Yeah, Hotch.
We got another one.
Well, that didn't take long.
Jimmy Mercado, friend
of the last victim.
Jimmy Mercado?
Wait a minute.
Reid, isn't Jimmy Mercado
yeah.
The shaved ice man?
Hotch, we just interviewed
this guy yesterday.
All right, so anyone talking
to us could be at risk.
We'll send photos.
Mercado was killed?
Psychopathic hubris.
This unsub's success
is making him feel invincible.
Hi.
Sorry I'm late.
The lady that called said you're
investigating these murders
we've been seeing on TV.
Awful.
Just awful.
So, how can I be
of assistance?
We were hoping you could
help us analyze these.
They're difficult to look at
even when you're used to them.
Well
You have several different
religions manifesting here.
Most of the elements are from
Santeria healing rituals,
but the upside-down crucifix
and the chalk drawings--
they're from
a much darker religion.
Unbaptized Palo Mayombe.
This is a significant change
in the unsub's M.
O.
He subdued the victim
in the hallway
prior to dragging him
in here.
It doesn't suggest
a consensual ritual.
He wanted the victim to know
exactly what was coming.
And he took the head
as well as the hands.
Not exactly.
He took the brain.
And what is that?
His tongue.
Just when you think
it can't get any worse.
And that?
Is that a dog?
He had a chihuahua.
Does that mean anything
to you, Professor?
Santeros don't sacrifice
house pets,
but there are Palo Mayombe
rituals that use dogs.
Palo is a secretive religion.
Very hard to research.
Mine will be the first
academic work on the subject.
Earlier you called it dark,
but aren't all the African-based
syncretic religions amoral?
I mean, it can be used
for good or evil
depending on
the practitioner, right?
They're nature religions.
Nature knows no right or wrong,
only balance or imbalance.
So what makes Palo darker
than other religions?
All the others achieve their
goals by pleasing the orishas.
Palo is the only one that
harnesses the spirits of the dead
to accomplish its ends.
This is an Nganga,
the primary tool of a Palero,
a Palo priest.
Now, at its core
is the Nkisi,
the spirit of the deceased
who inhabits it.
Many Paleros believe that the
fresher the brain in the skull,
the more powerful
the Nganga is.
So what are you saying, this
actually calls for a human sacrifice?
No, no, no, not at all.
Usually a fresh brain
means digging up
a recent grave
or getting one
through donation.
I've never heard of a Palero
killing to obtain one.
Well, this may be a first.
Does anything look
out of place to you?
Outside of the human head,
it all seems fairly traditional.
Well, he cut off
the victim's tongue
and put it in a dish.
Does that have some kind
of ritual meaning?
It may be a sacrifice to
Ellegua to silence informants,
people who talk to outsiders, but
usually you use a cow tongue.
Let me ask you this.
All of the victims
either had hands
or fingers removed.
That's not good.
He maybe be building
an Nganga to Kadiembempe,
the deity that some call
the devil.
It requires finger bones
from 7 different corpses.
So far, he only has 4.
We believe that our
unsub is a lone male.
There is no evidence to suggest
more than one individual
at any of
the crime scenes.
He is behaviorally young,
probably between 17 and 22.
Behaviorally?
If he spent time in jail
or been institutionalized,
he could be
chronologically older.
Those lost years
retard behavioral age.
He's part of
the community,
most likely
Hispanic or black.
We believe that he uses some
sort of religious connection
to get close
to his victims.
Either Santeria
or Palo Mayombe.
Obviously this is a very sensitive
issue within the community.
He may be a practitioner whom people
trust and rely on for healing.
Instead, he uses their
vulnerability to prey on them.
He's highly organized
in his planning,
but then impulsive
in his execution.
Indicating that his emotions
take over once he gets started.
This tell us that while
he may think
that he has an objective
reason for the killings,
he actually has a compulsion which
is the real reason behind them.
And this has resulted in a rapid
escalation of his M.
O.
and his timeframe.
He's become more efficient
and more violent.
This makes him unpredictable
and even more dangerous.
He focuses on victims who
are fragile and vulnerable
and then creates
relationships with them.
You need to look for someone
who has close access
To people in need.
He may work in a government aid
office or a community center.
Talk to me, Garcia.
His coworkers will describe him
Girl genius does it again.
According to the sign-in logs,
all of the victims were patrons
at that soup kitchen
you visited yesterday.
Huh?
You know I love you, right?
What's not to love?
Bye.
He will have become
moody and preoccupied,
maybe even exhibited
flashes of temper.
Because of the age
of his victims,
we believe he may have
been abused as a child
and is taking revenge
on parental figures.
Look for someone who's been
in the juvenile system
or in foster care.
Thank you.
Laroye!
Laroye!
Laroye.
Laroye.
Laroye.
Laroye.
Laroye!
Aah!
We're with the FBI.
We're not here to cause any trouble.
But, sir, please
put that knife down.
This is a House of God.
You have no right
to be here.
We just would like
to ask you some questions.
We'd appreciate it
if you came with us voluntarily.
We're not here to create
a spectacle.
I will go with you.
Laroye!
Ok, your bad boy
grew up in foster care.
He did 15 years
in Apalachee Correctional
for attempting to ***
a police officer.
He was also a member
of a violent street gang
known as Los Machetes.
Subtle.
Damn.
They like to
cut off the hands
and sometime the heads
of their victims.
Can you get us some crime
scene photos to look at?
I'll get someone on it.
Anything else, Garcia?
I can tell you that Julio
did his time without incident.
He was released in 2003.
He regularly visited his parole officer.
There are no waves
in these crime waters
since he got out.
All right,
thanks, baby girl.
I shall await further
instruction.
This guy's been eyeballing
the mirror since he got here.
Let's see what he has to say.
Wait, Morgan.
I think maybe
I should go in first.
What?
Do you remember
at the community center,
he said he would
come with me?
If they already
have a rapport
You want Morgan
to come with you?
No, I'm all right.
Thanks.
Dave, you want to go to the soup kitchen
and check out his living space,
take Prentiss
and Seaver with you?
There was a teenager.
Looked like his assistant.
He took over when we left.
My name is Dr.
Spencer Reid.
Did you know these people?
They are my godchildren.
They all came to me
to be healed.
And you healed them.
You think I killed them.
The saints don't need
a human sacrifice.
That is a man's sickness.
Maybe it's not
about sacrifice.
Maybe someone needs body
parts to build a Nganga.
What do you know
about Palo?
This lightIs no good.
It gives you a headache.
That's got prison corners.
makes an impression.
Is that blood?
You wanted to see some
of what Los Machetes does?
That remind you
of your youth?
It's some pretty ugly
things to be involved in.
Did you help,
or did you just watch?
It looks like
a kid lives here.
Morgan said that Julio
had an assistant
during the ritual.
A teenager.
Look.
More blood.
It looks like the kid
had a side business.
Smack.
Is that what
you call religion?
What kind of man
does that to another man?
Not a man of faith.
And interesting hobbies.
Eggun buruku ni
ki ori baje ni
iche paraldo tete tete!
What the hell
was that?
I think I just witnessed
a classic case
of transpossession.
It's a form of
religious hysteria.
He wholeheartedly believes he was
being occupied by some form of deity.
He wasn't faking it?
Up close you can see
physiological signs.
His body actually changed
in response to the belief.
There have been a lot of
studies of this phenomenon.
There was one case where
an 80-year-old woman
was able to lift a grown man
above her head
when she believed she was
occupied by her Saint.
Detective, did you understand
what he was saying at the end?
Brother, look, I'm a
Puerto Rican Catholic
that grew up
in Orlando.
That wasn't any language
I ever heard.
I remember the words.
I'm sure he'll be able to translate them.
That I remember them?
You sure?
That you want
to go back in.
Yeah.
Is he all right?
Yeah, I think so.
But something weird was
definitely going on in there.
What happened?
You have no recollection?
I remember talking
about the lights.
You were talking
about lights,
and then you were
talking about headaches.
That was my Saint.
You're lucky Ellegua spoke to you.
What did he say?
Eggun buruku
ni ki ori baje ni.
You have bad eggun
on top of you
that's spoiling your head.
Iche peraldo tete tete.
Do a cleansing quickly.
What are eggun?
Spirits of the dead.
I didn't.
Why would you say that I--
well, why would
your Saint say
that they're
spoiling my head?
Now, that's a question
only you can answer.
Something's wrong.
Can you feel it?
Yeah.
4 people are dead.
I think maybe the fifth one
is safe with you in here.
No, he's not.
Someone's about to get hurt.
Listen with your heart,
not your head.
Your helper, the kid
that took over your ritual
Elian.
When we brought you in here?
My associates just found
sale-weight *** in his room.
And an Nganga.
Where is he?
He's running.
Hey.
Calm down.
That was genuine.
You sound surprised.
And he cares
about the kid.
Well, he's no psychopath.
No, but maybe the boy is.
Do we have a last name
for Elian?
Morales.
Prentiss, have Garcia
find out what she can.
Please, I gotta find him.
He's got nobody but me.
Do you think it's possible
that Elian is our Palero?
No.
No, he's a good kid.
Then why did he run?
He must be using again.
His mama and papa
were junkies.
I took him in,
got him clean,
taught him right from wrong.
Please.
I gotta find him
before he gets hurt.
The entire police force
is out looking for him.
He's of the streets.
He's gonna go so far under,
he'll be gone for good.
I'm your best chance
to find him.
Just small stuff--
shoplifting, loitering--
wait.
Uh, he was thrown
in juvie hall for assault
last month.
Complainant was Julio Ruiz.
Tough love?
Charges were dropped.
Elian got out last week.
Which is when
the murders started.
Thanks, Garcia.
Yeah.
Elian's dependent on him,
so he can't get revenge
directly.
His rage against
Julio and his junkie parents
could be taken out
on the victims.
So, uh, the blood
on the head thing is goat.
But the pot that the kid
had has 4 human fingers
and parts of
a human brain in it.
And it's human blood on the sneaker.
And one more thing--
the tongue and the hands
were cut off antemortem.
The guy's torturing them now.
You know, you can't
protect him if he did this.
I'm not protecting him.
Then what are you
not telling us?
If you want to help Elian,
you're gonna have to give us
something that we don't know.
I'll ask the orishas
to help find this killer.
We don't have
time for this, do we?
If he ends with him
helping us, yes, we do.
The orishas are with us now.
Ok, we have 4 victims, all with cowrie
shells in their mouths and eyes.
Eleggua is called
to find justice.
Two of the victims
had fingers cut off.
One had both hands removed.
And one had its head left on the
scene, but the brain was missing.
They took the brain
and left the head?
The head was left
at the crime scene.
No, that is not Palo.
A Palero would not
leave the head.
He also left the tongue.
There is no use
in the religion
for a tongue that is
not pierced with needles.
It means nothing just to
put a tongue in a dish.
If it's not part
of the ritual,
then it's the unsub's
signature.
His psychopathy is showing.
So he's silencing someone
through his victims.
And he enjoys it.
He just didn't know it at first.
Elian is an angry child,
but he would not do this.
Please, let me find him
before it gets worse.
Thank you for your help.
Your head is spinning
because it's full of ghosts.
You think you can do this work
day in, day out
and you don't carry it
with you?
It's eating your soul.
Ghosts?
All right,
so what have we got?
A lot of evidence
pointing to Elian Morales.
Too much.
He fits the profile
perfectly.
Too perfectly.
Like every step was planned.
There are no fingerprints,
but a single sneaker print.
And that sneaker turns up
in the kid's room.
Maybe somebody's framing
Elian, but who?
Someone with enough
intelligence and control
to set up a very
convincing trail.
Somebody we've met.
He's probably been
watching us all along.
He began his killing
for gain of some sort.
But his enjoyment of killing is
beginning to disrupt his organization.
He's demanding attention.
Maybe that's his game.
Well, he got it.
From the media, from the public, us.
That's it--media attention.
But not for the killings,
for the religion.
Morgan, Professor Walker is about
to public a book on Palo Mayombe.
We showed him the photo of the
fourth victim's tongue in a dish
and he didn't say
it wasn't right.
I mean, he of all people
should have known
it didn't fit any ritual.
And that a Palero
would have taken the head.
But he wants us to believe
that Elian's a Palero
and that these are
religious killings.
And he did his research
in the community.
He'd be known
and accepted.
He knows the rituals
inside out.
Maybe he gave the idol
to the kid,
pretending to train him
as a witch doctor.
If Elian
was angry with Julio,
he may have been looking
for another father figure.
Elian was easy prey.
What better way to get publicity
than a series of murders?
Yeah, Garcia, get us
everything you can
on Professor
Walker's background.
Got that?
And his address.
Let's go.
We'll take the house,
Morgan and Reid,
take the office.
Elian.
Elian!
Walker's prep school did
a psych eval when he was 12.
He did not exactly fit in.
No surprise there.
And his mother
committed suicide
when he went away
to boarding school,
and to make things
stranger and sadder,
after she died, he spent
all of his vacations at school.
What kind of father doesn't bring his
motherless kid home for the holidays?
A crappy one.
His medical records
list a bunch of childhood
injuries,
including two spiral fractures
of the forearm
and one broken collarbone.
Well, two spiral fractures
are unlikely to be accidents.
Put that together
with the mother's suicide,
I think we're looking at
an abusive father.
Garcia, what can you
find out about the father?
- A lot.
- Like what?
He wrote 10 books,
all on African religions.
The Professor's in
competition with the father.
Yeah, and here's the kicker.
His son is mentioned
in this article
and that he's up for tenure
in the same field.
Hotch.
The Professor's not at this house.
You got anything?
No, there's no one
here either.
We're gonna look around.
Guys, neighbors reported a
disturbance at the soup kitchen.
Let's go, Reid.
There's nothing unusual
upstairs.
Reid's going through Julio's room
to see if we missed anything.
They found these
in the refrigerator.
Looks like
he dug those up.
Those weren't there
when we were here earlier.
They were planted
to make it look like
Elian completed
the ritual.
Which means the Professor's
ready to wrap this up.
Up till now,
all the victims
have been killed
in their homes.
It looks like the body
was dragged that way,
but the trail stops.
Walker laid that trail.
He wants us to think
that he took Julio
out the front door.
But, really,
he could be anywhere.
They are ghosts.
All of the victims
were killed in their homes.
Reid?
You really shouldn't
be here.
I'll check down there.
Reid!
Get inside.
You're a Professor
and you're very smart.
You're a lot smarter
than this.
Smarter.
Prentiss,
is Reid out front with you?
No.
No one's come out
since you went inside.
Your gun, please.
Toss it over there.
People like you and I
don't need guns.
Like you and I.
Yeah.
Men of intelligence.
Oh, we're the same?
Shut up.
I think that there are
some similarities.
I mean, uh,
we both love books.
Books?
Ah.
He's not answering
his phone.
You shut up.
Shut up.
You know what?
I don't--I don't believe that you killed
all these people
just to sell a book.
Oh, really?
Elian will die of an overdose after
killing his santero for his fingers.
It will all make sense
to the police.
Reid's vest?
Well, this is not good.
How are you going
to explain me?
Elian will have
killed you, too.
Have we not established
how ill he is?
He's been on a Palo rampage.
Everyone will want to learn
about the religion
That drove the boy crazy.
Will you shut up!
Wait a minute, Rossi.
That's the building
right out here.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I don't
believe that this is about a book.
And I don't think
that you do, either.
Excuse me?
I--I think it's more about
the abuse, the abandonment,
and the lack of attention
from your father.
That's enough.
You know what
the ridiculous thing is,
is that you--
You set up a paradigm where you
actually have to get caught.
Think about it.
If you get away with this,
your father will never know
that you did any of it.
What is wrong with you?
I'm sorry, it's just very
bright in here for me.
Please turn the lights off.
Bright?
The light--what are you--
just shut up! Just shut--
FBI!
FBI!
We're going to need
an ambulance.
Elian's been overdosed with ***.
Get an ambulance.
Don't hurt me.
You have the right to
remain silent.
Use it.
Do you think he'll come to see me in jail?
Do you think he'll visit?
My father.
Who?
He'll hear about this,
right? I'll be pretty famous.
Oh, he's gonna
hear about it, all right.
What?
You heard me calling.
You heard me calling.
That's why you came.
Julio, I found a photograph of
you in front of this building.
That's how I found you.
You don't really
believe that, do you?
That you just happened
to see a photograph?
This is Orula's Ide.
It will protect you.
I don't need it anymore,
but
You do.
What do you need
protecting from?
I have no idea.
Are you all right?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, I--I am.
I pretended to have a headache
in order to distract him.
Pretended.
Yeah, pretended.
That doesn't make any sense.
I'm not sure what
you want me to say.
So there's nothing wrong?
Well, your scans
are perfectly normal,
and there doesn't seem to be
any physical explanation
for your headaches.
Well, what do I do now?
Well, have you considered
Considered what?
A psychosomatic cause.
Psychosomatic?
It just means a mental
or emotional stress--
I know what psychosomatic means,
doctor, but it's not that.
Well, I think it's something
we should consider.
It's not--I'm not crazy.
Crazy? Dr.
Reid,
I'm not saying--
I have headaches.
I have intense sensitivity to light
because there's
something wrong with me
physically, not mentally.
It's not that.
That?
Listen, doctor, my mother's
a paranoid schizophrenic
who's been
institutionalized,
so I know very well what
mental illness looks like,
maybe even better than you,
and it's not that.
It's not.
"The best and most
beautiful things in life
"cannot be seen
or even touched.
They must be felt
with the heart.
"
Helen Keller.