04x05 - Catching Out

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Criminal Minds". Aired: September 2005 to February 2020.*

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The cases of the BAU an elite group of profilers that analyze the nation's most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again.
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04x05 - Catching Out

Post by bunniefuu »

MODESTO, CALIFORNIA

What can I get you?

I'll take a brownie.

No, the big one in the corner.

Dessert for breakfast?

Must be a special occasion.

I just got some good news.

Care to share?

Nope, don't want to jinx it.

Ok. I can understand that.

Congratulations.

My mom always says to make time to celebrate the little victories.

I like that.

Maybe I should take your mother's advice and get something sweet with my coffee.

Oh, yeah? What are you celebrating?

I'll think of something.

They must love you here.

What do you mean?

You throw out your first cup of coffee and then you get back in line for more.

So, either you love paying for bad coffee, or you did all that just to talk to me.

You got me.

Have a nice day, derek.

So wait, she knew your name?

I don't know how I could forget a face like hers.

You've been with so many girls that you can't remember all their names?

Oh, come on, are you surprised?

This has never happened to me before.

It hasn't happened to me before either.

Well, it can't happen to you.

You have an eidetic memory.

Besides, you only got one name to remember.

Ok.

Six victims have been k*lled in a series of burglar/homicides all over central california.

In order... Bakersfield, fresno, chico and, two nights ago, alan and brenda paisley in sacramento.

Big area. Are we sure it's the same unsub?

His dna was found in all the homes.

They hadn't connected it because he crossed jurisdictional lines.

The head of the sacramento field office has established a multi-agency task force And he wants us to run point.

Looks like we got a lot of investigators on this one.

We'll streamline it if we need to.

You should know that they've already named him the ""highway 99 k*ller." we'll deal with that when we get there.

He targets 1 to 2-person households.

He kills the victims while they sleep.

Blunt force trauma with objects found at the home.

Multiple bashes to the head.

After he kills the victims, he ransacks the homes for valuables.

Which is not unusual for a nighttime burglary-homicide.

What's unique about this unsub is that after he kills them, Apparently he sits down to dinner in their homes.

They found his dna all over the food and the table.

Are these burglaries that turned into homicides or homicides that turned into burglaries?

Between the two offenses, it seems the primary motivation is homicide.

Otherwise, he would have just stolen the items and fled.

But he stays there for hours.

He eats their food, he tries on their clothes, he showers, he even sleeps in their beds.

It's like goldilocks became a serial k*ller.

They've got plenty of dna, but they found no fingerprints.

He doesn't take their cars.

So, how does he get there?

No witness reports of strange cars on the street.

No prints, no g*n, no noise, no car, no witnesses.

This all adds up to prior experience.

There's a record on him somewhere.

And until we find it, he's moved on to another town.

Which could be anywhere.

Criminal minds Season04 episode05 Catching out "Plenty sits still. Hunger is a wander."

Zulu Proverb.

So, four homes in about five weeks.

The first one at the beginning of september in bakersfield.

Then fresno a week later.

Chico eight days after that.

Then he changes direction, heads south to sacramento at the end of september.

These crime scenes are spread out over 400 miles.

I mean, how many serial K*llers move around like that?

Not many.

Of the ones who do, we categorize them into two subgroups.

In one model, he's an itinerant homeless person, someone who's been displaced.

With the second type, their occupation allows them to travel.

He could be k*lling while on business.

A truck driver make sense?

Long-haul truck driver bruce mendenhall shot his victims And disposed of their bodies at truck stops, across at least 4 different states.

But mendenhall targeted mostly high-risk victims.

Prostitutes and hitchhikers, he picked up right off the highway.

A truck driver's " M. O., " he'd use his rig for getaway.

Somebody would have noticed a tractor trailer parked in the neighborhood.

How about someone in corporate sales?

They still travel.

Or computer professionals.

They travel to install software.

Or someone in real estate.

Like a land assessor.

They just discovered a new m*rder. In modesto.

He went south again.

Right, when we land, reid, jj and I will go to task force headquarters.

The 3 of you...

Modesto.

We're going to log some miles on this one.

Task Force Headquarters SACRAMENTO, CA

I'm agent liman.

Hi, agent jareau. These are agents hotchner and reid.

We reserved this room for you.

Who named him this?

Travel Pattern:"Highway 99 k*ller"

I did.

I'm gonna go get started on that memo.

I'm gonna help you.

I figured he's on highway 99, why not call him the "highway 99 k*ller"?

I got C. H. P.to beef up presence all over highway 99.

Hang on, slow down.

We're going to distribute a memo to all the investigators, retracting the name.

I don't understand.

Gary ridgeway, the green river k*ller, Was burying the bodies of his victims in the remote woods outside seattle.

Investigators never thought to look there Because they were too busy only looking in the green river area.

All due respect, we're not finding bodies in remote woods.

These are five homes in cities connected by one major highway.

But by calling him this, you are detrimentally influencing the investigation.

And you're establishing a relationship in the minds of the investigators with only this highway.

Point taken. Fire number one put out. Anything else, sir?

Are these people all involved in the investigation?

Yes, they are.

That's too many.

What?

It's our experience in task force situations that excessive personnel can be counterproductive.

These people have come from far away.

They've been on the case long before you.

I understand that, but in order to function effectively this task force Needs a focused headquarters free from the congestion of auxiliary personnel.

These officers will be much more helpful in their hometowns.

Are we in agreement?

I'll start sending people home.

Thank you.

All right, listen up, guys.

How'd he take it?

He'll get over it.

MODESTO, CALIFORNIA

I'm detective daniels.

How are you doing?

Agent morgan.

Agent rossi. Agent prentice.

This way.

You see something?

It's what I don't see. What I don't hear.

There's no dogs barking.

No sign for an alarm system.

No system.

They have outdoor lights.

Neighbors said they weren't on.

This house has the three basic things that a burglar looks for.

No dog, no alarm and definitely no lights.

Tells us the unsub's patient enough to find a house that's vulnerable.

There's the neighbor.

I'll talk to her.

Nail polish remover?

I think so.

He get under the sink?

How'd you know?

I've seen this kind of thing before with burglaries When the criminal is a substance abuser.

Oftentimes they huff household cleaners, just so they can get high.

What was his point of entry?

Laundry room through an unlocked window.

Explains where he found the m*rder w*apon.

Serious overkill.

He's k*lling with rage.

How does a man with such rage calm himself down enough to make coffee and eggs?

He's disorganized, picks an opportunistic w*apon at a crime scene, strikes with rage...

Organized enough though, to follow a ritual after he kills.

Cools off. Cleans up, goes through their things, eats.

Intense rage followed by a long period of calmness spent inside the house.

Is that unusual?

Very.

Can you explain what he does with his clothes?

His clothes?

Did you happen to notice any strangers in the neighborhood last night?

No. Nothing like this has ever happened around here.

When was the last time you spoke to or heard from the sullivans?

I saw larry this morning on the balcony when I went out to get the paper.

And what time was that?

About 5:30 am.

Mrs. Nelson, are you sure you saw someone up there this morning?

Well, it was still dark out, but yes, I'm sure.

Why?

Your neighbors died around 1:00 am.

When we found the deceased, the shirt was placed over his chest.

The pants over his legs.

This is the first time we're hearing this.

Look at his clothes, rossi, the dirt stain.

Why would he cover up the body?

He wears their clean clothes, sleeps in their nice bed, And then puts his dirty clothes on the male victim's body.

This might be some form of transference.

Transfer of what?

By symbolically dressing mr. Sullivan in his clothes, he's equalizing their status.

Mr. Sullivan has all these things and he doesn't.

This guys got a problem with his station in life.

He can't bring himself up on his own, So he makes himself feel better by destroying others and living their lives.

That might be why he stays so long.

He needs that time just so he can feel at home.

And pretends this is all his.

He's playing out his fantasy.

Given this behavior, the dirty clothes, the cheap drug choice, I'd say we're looking for someone who's homeless.

How does a homeless man move about the state like this?

I have one idea.

Yeah?

Reid, are you in front of a map?

Yeah, I am now.

I think I know how the unsub's getting around.

Do you see tracks linking bakersfield to sacramento?

He's hopping trains.

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

The guy we're looking for is using freight trains to get around.

He targets homes within a mile of the tracks.

Bulls and 'bos don't usually cross paths.

Bulls and 'bos?

They call rail cops bulls.

We call them 'bos, as in hobos.

You're saying you rarely see hobos around here?

I see them plenty.

But to tell you the truth, I'm nothing more than an armed scarecrow.

They see me coming, they get the hell away.

Their biggest problem is with each other.

You mean turf disputes?

You get two of them in one boxcar, it usually gets ugly.

So, if a 'bo jumps off one of these trains in a new town, Is there someplace he goes first?

The jungle.

That's what they call the camps.

Local one's a couple of hundred yards that way.

Do you happen to have a vending machine in here?

Yeah.

Where are you?

I'm just off highway 99, the whole drive up from modesto, all I see are crops.

Just rows and rows of crops.

Farmlands. You can't see that from standard road maps.

The railway track runs parallel to highway 99 most of the way.

I think I'm seeing a lot of what the unsub saw.

Most of central california is one big valley, A flat basin completely surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides, Supported by rivers, lakes and aqueducts. It's ideal for farming.

Well, I don't know what it gets us, But I think we should at least factor it into the conversation.

I agree.

Go ahead, guys, I'm listening.

Garcia, I need you to look into small farm towns all over central california.

Track all unsolved homicides that involved nighttime burglaries In homes within a mile of train tracks.

Oh, you think there's more?

I don't know.

Let's get started.

I'd just like to reiterate that this unsub is not getting around on highway 99.

His travel is linked in close proximity to railway lines.

He's targeted 5 homes and k*lled 8 people in 6 weeks.

We're looking for a male, indigent transient between the ages of 25 and 45.

He's fit enough for the physical demands of train hopping, or "catching out" as they call it.

He'll be bruised from jumping on and off trains.

And he might also be beat up from just defending himself in any kind of turf wars.

He may look homeless, but he's taking clothing from his victims' homes.

So he'll be the only transient on the tracks in clean clothing.

The trains and the rail yards are his home.

And when he gets tired of these, he chooses a house to make his own.

He'll have a pronounced red, dry rash around his mouth and nose, What's commonly referred to as a "sniffer's rash." how do we know that?

He takes household cleaners.

And we believe he's abusing them as psychoactive inhalants.

Nail polish remover, glue, paint thinner, lighter fluid, whatever is the cheapest high available.

They're referred to as "tollyheads"

Because they derive a high from sniffing toluene, a chemical solvent.

Once inhaled, the effects are felt instantaneously.

We believe he's living out a fantasy in these homes.

The fantasy is that it is his house for the night.

He spends hours enjoying the comforts of his victims' homes.

Upon leaving, he takes clothing, money, jewelry, and small electronics.

If you get close to him, you won't miss him.

He will smell like a combination of human filth and paint thinner.

See that?

We're not looking for jesus today.

We're not with a church.

How about a favor for a favor?

Not interested.

Speak for yourself.

Y'all want some mulligan stew?

No, thanks. I'll pass.

We're looking for someone who's been burglarizing homes.

Wasn't me.

Wait. Y'all talking about texas?

He recently moved through modesto.

May have tried pawning off some electronics, some jewelry.

Oh, yeah, I remember him.

He sold me some nice diamonds.

He's just kidding.

This guy's jumping trains from city to city.

He breaks into people's homes and kills them while they're sleeping.

Do you still think it's funny?

What's your friend over there doing?

He's telling the next 'bo who comes around to watch out for cops.

Got a lot of symbols around here...

Like this one.

Can you tell me what they all mean?

Depends on how fast you can get me a bottle of whiskey.

And some more nutter butters.

He's kicking a lot today.

In the third trimester, there's an average of 30 fetal movements per hour.

Babies kick to explore movement and strengthen muscle.

Have you ever actually felt a baby kick?

You feel that?

Does it freak you out?

No, not at all. Why?

Does it freak you out?

Very much so.

Ok.
Hey, garcia.

Bad news alert.

Hold on one second. Guys?

What is it?

I had garcia look into all unsolved burglary homicides in central california, Paying particularly attention to small farm towns.

I found his dna in three more cities.

How did I miss this?

Small towns don't always link their evidence up to state or national dna databases.

It can happen when unsubs cross jurisdictional lines.

What are the cities, garcia?

Tehachapi, vacaville, and orange cove. All farm towns.

All super far away from highway 99.

Ok. Thanks, jj.

The unsub's k*lled in three other small towns we didn't know about.

Where do these murders sit in the timeline?

One of them was before bakersfield.

Small mountain town called tehachapi.

If that was his first, we need to find out what happened at that house.

You considering it?

Considering what?

Having baby geniuses one day.

Hello?

I've noticed in the cities, including the new ones we've discovered, There's a spike in the sales of certain crops during the time the unsub is there.

Last week of august, apples in tehachapi.

First week of september, tomatoes in bakersfield.

Second week of september, fall squashes in fresno.

So he's in town for a big harvest.

We have an unsub riding trains town to town during big harvests Who doesn't have a car or permanent residence.

Migrant farm worker.

Ma!

Pa!

Mommy!Mommy!

He left a shirt on his male victim again.

That's not all he left.

"modesto couple victims of highway 99 k*ller."

This was printed before we released to the press he's using trains to get around.

He's taunting us, telling us he's smarter than we are Because we got his mode of transportation wrong.

The more confident he gets, the more he's experimenting with his ritual.

The first few murders were 5 to 8 days apart.

This one was just one day since modesto.

If we don't find him soon...

Goldilocks will be sleeping in someone else's bed tonight.

His first m*rder.

We're trying to find out why it started here.

Mildred younce was 68 years old at the time of her death.

Lived by herself.

She would have been an easy target for a burglar.

She was k*lled in her bed just like the others.

But no signs of a break-in?

We think she may have left her windows open.

Who was your best suspect?

We found 17 sets of prints in there.

Most of them belonged to transients.

She was known to offer food in exchange for work around the house.

Hey, what would I find further down this road here?

Well, there's train tracks down there.

Rossi, not just train tracks.

This couple is hispanic.

The previous couples were caucasian.

He switched his victim profile.

I don't think he knows or cares what race they were.

I think this house was just an easy target.

Yeah?

So, we got something.

Jewelry stolen from the home in sacramento turned up at a pawn shop in modesto.

Garcia just sent you a picture from the security cam.

Yeah, I got it.

Employee said he was about 5'8", slight, late thirties, dark skin.

With a red rash around his mouth.

Circulate the picture, jj.

I'm already on it.

As it turns out, all the big farms set up housing camps for the workers during harvest.

But these camps are partly subsidized by the state, Thus they require id and a strict sign-in policy, Giving us a way to track migrants.

So, I called the camps and they're busy faxing me the lists I requested.

All right. Well, we need to see if any of these farm workers traveled the same route as our unsub.

Remember this one?

Yeah. Safe camp.

How do you know what all these signs mean?

We had a little help.

Rossi, safe water.

When it's not dry. Here's another one.

Oh, yeah, the train.

Catch you out here.

This is mildred younce's address.

Ok.

The cat means friendly old lady.

The "the" means she trades food or shelter for work.

At 718 maple.

So whoever knows this code knew mildred younce opened up her house to strangers?

If you wanted the house to yourself, The only thing standing in your way is a defenseless little old lady.

Yeah, jj. Go ahead.

Hey, morgan, there's an apple farm about three miles away from mildred younce's house.

Yeah. We saw it on the way over here.

Can you and rossi go there and see if they kept employment records?

Hotch wants a list of people who worked there the few days before mildred was k*lled.

All right. We're on our way.

Hey, update from headquarters.

Rossi and morgan are on their way to that farm in tehachapi.

I found a representative from the local housing authority, cesar jimenez.

He's expecting you.

Press release went out to the media with a photo from the pawn shop.

And I'm waiting to hear back from garcia about tracking migrants Who may have traveled the same route as our unsub.

Jj, what are we going to do without you when you go on maternity leave?

You think I'd just leave you hanging?

Does that mean you have a plan?

I don't know. You'll see.

I'm agent hotchner.

Cesar from the housing authority.

These are agents prentiss and reid.

Good morning. Good morning.

Thank you for meeting us here.

Does this man look familiar to you?

Hard to tell.

Have you had any complaints in the camps?

This man would show disruptive behavior.

He might be stealing things from other workers, starting fights.

He sniffs chemicals to get high.

Well, our facilities have a zero tolerance policy.

No drinking, no dr*gs, certainly no v*olence.

Anyone who cannot follow these rules would be kicked out.

Have you kicked anyone out recently?

The camps in this area are at full capacity.

We have to turn people away.

Thank you.

Mucho gusto.

If he's pawning the jewelry he's stealing to get money, Why is he still working in the fields?

Here's another question. Why is he circling the farm towns at all?

There are over 140,000 miles of tracks in this country.

He could go anywhere.

But he's still in california.

Something's keeping him here.

What is it?

Ok, mini-lesson.

Migrants travel and work in these groups and the groups are called cuadrillas.

Now, I have found one such cuadrilla that was in chico at the same time as our unsub.

And then I checked and they were in sacramento and modesto And vacaville at the same time as our unsub as well.

What about the first town?

I got employment records from the apple farm in tehachapi.

This cuadrilla last worked there two days before mildred younce was k*lled.

Now, here's the whammy.

An armando salinas checked in with this group in tehachapi.

But then, he falls off the map.

There's no sign of him in any of the camps.

Interesting.

Double whammy.

Customs and immigration have a rap sheet on him for theft and as*ault And he's wanted in connection to some burglaries.

There's the record we've been looking for.

Triple whammy.

His fingerprints were one of 17 found at mildred younce's house.

Get us his photo and get jj to get it out to the media.

We're going to need the public's help.

Sending you his mug.

The group that he's been following, they checked into lockeford early this morning.

That's not far from you.

Good.......

I am........

These........

Please.....

Stop. Let them go. Let them go.

We're sorry to interrupt your evening.

But we've come here because we need your help.

We're......

Go ahead and read out the names of the men in the cuadrilla.

"ricky zaparilla, ruben garcia, "felix zapato, olman hernandez, "Roberto hernandez, arturo torres, tony guzman."

Sir....

Si.

It's his brother. Por favor.

When's......

A......

Do.....

Well.....

He........

He likes to know where I'm going.

Why does he have to follow you?

Why isn't he with you anymore?

He's not a good worker.

He got us fired from a big job.

My cuadrilla wanted him gone.

So you kicked him out?

Si.

Your brother has been following you ever since.

Burglarizing homes and k*lling people in every city.

Is that where he gets the money from?

What do you mean?

He's been leaving me money at the camps.

Does he know you're in lockeford right now?

I found this at the camp today.

Just-- un momento.

The killings started in tehachapi.

I think his brother rejecting him must have been a stressor.

Morgan and rossi made it here, they're with rail security.

Hotch and liman are patrolling neighborhoods.

Ok. I think it's time to get these guys going.

Excuse me. Could we have your attention, please? Everybody?

This is armando ruis salinas.

He is 38 years old, a mexican national.

We believe he is currently in the vicinity of lockeford and its outlying towns.

He'll only target homes within a mile of train tracks.

You'll be assigned search quadrants.

Think the way a burglar would.

Pay close attention to houses that have no exterior lights on, No security alarm signs or barking dogs nearby.

Let's go.

Are you surprised the police are looking for him?

He's my half-brother.

I wasn't around for him when he was young.

He's been in trouble all his life.

Was in jail in mexico.

I thought if he came to work with me, he would change.

I'm grateful to work.

But armando hated work.

Hated the camps.

Always complained he never had a nice bed to sleep on.

What if he's already inside a house?

Then we'll find more bodies in the morning.

When he was a kid, he slept on the floor.

In jail, he slept on the floor.

All he ever talked about was having a house of his own.

A bed to sleep on.

The suspect is considered extremely dangerous.

Authorities believe he is still in california.

The fbi is warning residents to lock all doors and keep all lights on through the night.

In other news, college tuition fees jumped a record...

Suspect seen fleeing the 400 block of pear blossom avenue.

All units respond.

Morgan, that's in your area.

I'm gonna send hotch for back-up.

I saw him run down toward the trains!

But I lost him.

There's over 100 freight cars on these tracks.

About a third of them are open boxcars.

That's where he'll be hiding.

Middle. I'll take south. You go north.

We don't think he's armed, but he is very dangerous.

We got a train, morgan.

Fbi! Stop!

I got him, rossi!

Hotch, morgan's chasing the unsub on a moving train.

They're heading south towards town.

I'm on it.

Come on. You're driving.

Get me up next to that train.

I'm so sorry.

"Beyond the east the sunrise, "beyond the west the sea, "and the east and west, the wander-thirst, that will not let me be."

Gerald gould.

You guys have plans tonight?

I was thinking about getting a burger.

Oh, I could eat.

Oh, hey, guys, I wanted to introduce you to someone.

This is agent jordan todd.

She'll be taking over for me while I'm on maternity leave.

Agent jareau's told me so much about you all.

You must be agent prentiss.

Yes. Nice to meet you.

Hello, dr. Reid.

And agent morgan.

Nice to see you again.

Nice to see you, too.

So this must be the good news.

This would be my brownie.

You two have met?

Briefly.

Well, agent todd comes to us from 7 years at counter-terrorism.

I'm really looking forward to working with the behavioral analysis unit.

We're starting her training now.

You're traing her right now?

Well, we're kinda running out of time. So...

Let me introduce you to the rest of the team.

Yeah. I'll see you all in the field... Team.

We're looking forward to it.

So, is there anything you want to tell us?

Nope.

Your forehead's sweating.

No, it's not.

Oh, he's avoiding eye contact.

His blink rate just sped up.

You know, guys, I don't think I want that burger too much anymore.

Oh, come on. You can't run from us.

Oh, watch me.
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