06x12 - Corazon

[bunniefuu]

[Singing in Afro-Caribbean language]

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?

Um... Not 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.

[Distorted voices]

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.

3 victims, the last one 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 sh*t to death 7 days ago.

Yanira Espinal, prost*tute, bludgeoned to death 3 days ago.

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 k*lled 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.

? Criminal Minds 6x12?

Corazon
Original air date on January 19, 2011

?

Reid: "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 sh*t him from behind and at a distance.

By the second victim, the unsub chose not to use a g*n anymore.

He got up close and personal.

4 days is a rapid 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...[Clears throat]

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.

[Indistinct chatter, singing in spanish]

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, 5372 Seminole Street.

This can't be it.

Excuse me, sir.

Do you know where the community center is?

It's down there.

This is Seminole Alley.

[Speaking spanish]

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 m*rder w*apon 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 k*ll is more precise and well-ex*cuted.

The first k*lling, 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.

[Meow]

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 m*rder, 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?

[Talking softly to dog]

[Dog barking]

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.

[Cell phone rings]

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 k*lled?

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 k*lling 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.

Reid: Those lost years ret*rd 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

[cell phone rings]

To people in need.

He may work in a government aid office or a community center.

Talk to me, Garcia.

Prentiss: 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.

Prentiss: 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.

[Indistinct chanting]

[Responsive chanting in Afro-Caribbean language]

Laroye!

[Group responds]

Laroye!

[Group responds]

[Responsive chanting continues]

Laroye.

[Chanting continues]

Laroye.

Laroye.

Laroye.

Laroye!

Aah!

[Chanting continues]

[Chanting stops]

We're with the FBI.

We're not here to cause any trouble.

But, sir, please put that Kn*fe down.

[Kn*fe falls to floor]

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!

[Chanting continues]

Garcia: Ok, your bad boy grew up in foster care.

He did 15 years in Apalachee Correctional for attempting to m*rder a police officer.

He was also a member of a violent street g*ng 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...

Hotch: 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 k*lled 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 light... Is no good.

It gives you a headache.

That's got prison corners.

15 years inside makes an impression.

Is that blood?

[Door opens]

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.

[Chanting in Afro-Caribbean language]

[Tapping louder]

Eggun buruku ni ki ori baje ni iche paraldo tete tete!

[Continues repeating faster and louder]

[Door opens]

[Door closes]

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.

[Door opens]

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.

[Door opens]

Your helper, the kid that took over your ritual Elian.

When we brought you in here?

My associates just found sale-weight heroin in his room.

And an Nganga.

Where is he?

He's running.

Hey. Calm down.

Rossi: That was genuine.

Hotch: 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.

Garcia: Just small stuff-- shoplifting, loitering-- wait.

Uh, he was thrown in juvie hall for as*ault 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.

Rossi: 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 k*ller.

[Chanting]

Detective: We don't have time for this, do we?

If he ends with him helping us, yes, we do.

[Julio chanting]

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.

Morgan: 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.

Morgan: 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?

Morgan: Someone with enough intelligence and control to set up a very convincing trail.

Hotch: Somebody we've met.

He's probably been watching us all along.

Rossi: He began his k*lling for gain of some sort.

But his enjoyment of k*lling 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.

Prentiss: If Elian was angry with Julio, he may have been looking for another father figure.

Seaver: 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?

Hotch: 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 su1c1de when he went away to boarding school, and to make things stranger and sadder, after she d*ed, 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 su1c1de, 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.

[Cell phone rings]

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.

[Siren]

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 k*lled 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.

Julio: They are ghosts.

[Chanting]

Rossi: All of the victims were k*lled in their homes.

[Gate creaks]

[Door creaks]

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.

Hotch: Prentiss, is Reid out front with you?

No. No one's come out since you went inside.

Your g*n, please.

Toss it over there.

People like you and I don't need g*ns.

Like you and I.

Yeah. Men of intelligence.

[Muffled]

Oh, we're the same?

Shut up.

I think that there are some similarities.

I mean, uh, we both love books.

Books?

[Cell phone rings]

Ah.

[Ring]

He's not answering his phone.

[Grunting]

You shut up.

Shut up.

You know what?

I don't--I don't believe that you k*lled all these people just to sell a book.

Oh, really?

Elian will die of an overdose after k*lling his santero for his fingers.

It will all make sense to the police.

Hotch: Reid's vest?

Well, this is not good.

How are you going to explain me?

Elian will have k*lled 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

[Julio grunting]

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.

[Julio grunting]

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--[Laughs]

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.

[Julio grunting]

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--

[Grunting]

FBI!

FBI!

We're going to need an ambulance.

Elian's been overdosed with heroin.

Hotch: Get an ambulance.

Walker: 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.

Reid: "The best and most beautiful things in life "cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."

Helen Keller.