Ian Coakley

Ian Coakley was a disabled serial killer and stalker who appeared in Season Four of Criminal Minds.

History
Not much is revealed about Ian's life prior to the events of Roadkill, except that he was married and worked as a mechanic for the army national guard. On September 28, 2007, he was driving his wife's car, a red two-door coupé, along Route 7 in Bend, Oregon, at night with his wife who was sleeping. At some point, he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. As a result, the car slid off the road, flipping over a number of times. Ian's wife died and he suffered a spinal cord injury which permanently disabled his legs. He received therapy, but the guilt he suffered caused him to reinterpret the whole accident as having been caused by a car similar to the one his wife drove. He eventually became emotionally and mentally disturbed, drawing alarming sketches of weaponized automobiles during his time at a psychological therapeutic facility. In 2009, he sought revenge on the imaginary driver, looking for red coupés on his way to work. Whenever he saw one, he would stalk the victims for a while and then sabotage their cars to set up an ambush in some secluded area on Route 7. Within two weeks, he killed two women, Maria Delgado and Shannon Makely, the latter's murder being the one leading to the BAU being called in to help the local police department find out was responsible.

Not knowing of the BAU's presence apparently, Ian begins to devolve, killing a man at a parking lot in front of a witness. The following night, he has a nightmare of his wife's death. Meanwhile, a man named Gil Bonner came to them, claiming responsibility for the car accident that set Ian's killing off. Apparently, he was driving home in the middle of the night and dropped his cell phone, picked it up, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. When he looked around, the car was gone. Believing he had killed someone, he kept the incident a secret, although it took its toll on his professional life. However, the profile eventually led them to Ian, who, at the time, was about to kill his fourth victim as he biked with several others. As he was about to run him over, Hotch drove into the side of his car, stopping him but leaving both himself and Detective Quinn injured while also taking them out of the case. Quinn confronted Ian with the truth, causing him to have a breakdown despite Hotch urging the detective not to, as Ian was dangerous. Ian, followed by Rossi and Morgan, sped towards a cliff in which he drove off, committing suicide. Seconds before his death, Ian had an image of himself holding his dead wife's hand but in actuality, he was cradling the bracelet she had worn before the crash. It's presumed that his remains as well as the crashed truck were eventually recovered and that Ian was buried alongside his wife. Gil Bonner was later exonerated, since the car accident he caused was completely unrelated to Ian and had resulted in some minor car damage, but no personal damage.

Profile
The unsub is a white male in his early 40s, who is driven by revenge, has military experience (apparently from either the U.S. Army or Marine Corps), and was handicapped as a result of an automobile accident that had occurred on Route 7, the same area where the unsub finds his victims. It is believed that he holds the driver of a red coupé responsible for the accident that caused him to become handicapped. This person is the object of his rage, but being unable to confront him or her, he is instead taking his revenge against surrogates. He may have gone to a local rehabilitation facility to recover from the accident. He would also have a lot of knowledge about car engines and hold a job where he is good with his hands, possibly like a mechanic.

Modus Operandi
Ian targeted people who drove red coupés and would stalk his victims for a while after finding them. When he killed them, he would repeatedly drive over them with his car, a black Dodge D100 pickup truck from 1979, customized to fit his handicap. His first two victims were killed on Route 7, the street they usually drove on; in the case of Shannon Makely, he sabotaged her car so it would break down somewhere secluded on Route 7, to which he then killed her after she got out of her car. After killing his victims, he would switch the grilles and license plates on his car to cover his tracks. The first two murders went without any witnesses due to the secluded areas where they occurred, but as Ian devolved, he began attacking his victims in more public places and with witnesses present.

Known Victims

 * September 28, 2007: Sheila Coakley
 * 2009:
 * April 19: Maria Delgado
 * April 30: Shannon Makely
 * May 1: Victor Costella
 * May 2:
 * Garret Burke
 * Aaron Hotchner and Detective Quinn

Appearances

 * Season Four
 * Roadkill