Jason Nelson

Jason Nelson was a serial killer and pedophile who appeared in Season Eight of Criminal Minds.

History
Little is revealed about Nelson's early life or how he became a psychopath and a pedophile. Sometime in his adulthood, he started his series of rapes and murders, claiming the lives of at least four girls, including one Kelly Taylor, whose disappearance was pinned on Mark Logan, one of three friends who were with him at the time of the murder and actually participated in sexually assaulting her. Mark was sentenced to ten years in prison, which were spent being visited by Nelson and his other friends.

The Pact
After killing both Mark Logan and Paul Montgomery, one of the other men involved in Kelly's murder, Ellen Russel and Darlene Beckett, Kelly's mother, broke into Jason's apartment in the middle of the night and confronted him. Feigning remorse, Jason offered to take them to where Kelly's body was buried in exchange for his life. As the three of them drove to the burial site in Ellen's SUV, Jason revealed his true nature as he told the women how Kelly suffered in detail, then revealed that he'd been expecting someone to come for him ever since Mark and Paul were killed, and told his neighbor to write down the license plate numbers of any strange cars that showed up outside his place and report them to the police. Angered by his deception, Ellen pulled over and threw Jason out onto the pavement, intending to kill him, but was stopped by Darlene, who wanted to find Kelly's body so she could have closure.

Some time later, Jason told them to pull over again. When they got out of the car, Jason told them that he'd decided he wouldn't take them to Kelly's burial site unless they killed a random person, explaining he wanted Ellen and Darlene to know how he felt the day he decided to kill Kelly, and reminding them that the longer their trip took, the better chance the police had of finding them. Against Darlene's objections, Ellen opened fire on a passing motorist as they drove by, causing their truck to careen off the road and down a nearby hill. As the group continued on to Kelly's burial site, Jason taunted Ellen, accusing her of secretly enjoying shooting at a stranger for no reason. Ellen responded by threatening Jason, saying that she would kill him if he didn't lead them to Kelly's body soon.

Jason eventually led them to an open field at the base of a hill just off the road, claiming that he wasn't sure exactly where Kelly's body was since he'd moved it after learning his friends were dead. Eventually, he found the right spot, and Ellen handed him a shovel and ordered him to start digging. Eventually, Jason unearthed Kelly's skull. When Darlene asked him where the rest of Kelly's remains were, Jason told her he'd dismembered her body after killing her and buried it in different places all over the field, and said they'd have a lot more holes to dig to find the rest of her. Enraged, Darlene attacked Jason, beating him to death with the shovel before she and Ellen fled the scene. Jason's body was later found by Morgan and Rossi when they arrived at the burial site.

Modus Operandi
Nelson targeted young girls, abducting them when they were isolated and raping them before killing them. Because the bodies weren't found until the end of the episode, it is never revealed exactly how he killed his victims, but since Nelson alleges to have dismembered Kelly Taylor's body, it is possible they died this way. After killing them, he took jewelry or small articles of clothing as a trophy.

Profile
No official profile was made for Nelson, as the BAU were more focused on Ellen and Darlene. However, when examining evidence found at his apartment, they concluded that Jason was a clinical psychopath, incapable of feeling empathy but able to fake it in order to blend in.

Known Victims

 * Killed at least three unnamed victims prior to The Pact
 * Kelly Taylor
 * Unnamed motorist

Appearances

 * Season Eight
 * "The Pact"