David Walker

David Walker was a copycat serial bomber who appeared in Season One of Criminal Minds.

Background
David is an antiquities dealer. In his early twenties, he spent four years in prison for a series of forged checks. After being released, he established a business and opened a store which sold maps, coins, and historical documents with most of the inventory being fake.

Won't Get Fooled Again
When he started promising his customers antiquities he didn't have time to forge, Walker got into debt. One of his clients, Barbara Keller, found out about the fake coins Walker had sold her. If she had outed him, all his forgeries would have been discovered. So, Walker plants a bomb to kill her. He then sets off other bombs in order to throw the police off his track.

Walker's bombs are exact duplicates of those made by Adrian Bale, the Boston Shrapnel Bomber, who is responsible for the deaths of six FBI agents from Gideon's former unit. When Walker sends an innocent man with a necklace bomb to the police station, Hotch and Elle confront Walker, who blows himself up. Gideon then tries to make a deal with Adrian Bale. Bale leads the bomb squad through disabling the bomb until there is just one move to make - cut the red or blue wire. Bale tells him to cut the red wire. Gideon hesitates and then tells the bomb squad to cut the blue. The timer stops and Bale goes back to jail. When Elle asks Gideon how he knew, Gideon answers that Bale had said, given the opportunity of pressing that button, he'd have no choice.

Modus Operandi
Walker perfectly copied the M.O. of Adrian Bale, right down to the delivery system and the color of the ink written on the packages the bombs were delivered in.

Profile
Bombers are typically non-confrontational. If they, for example, bump into someone, they'll apologize even if it wasn't their fault. David was profiled to be highly organised with above average intelligence. He probably has a job that requires skill and allows him to have his own workspace, like a furniture maker or a jeweler. He doesn't necessarily have a background in explosives. Also, he is not like a typical bomber who gets release from the explosions but simply a murderer who uses bombs as weapons.

Real-Life Comparison
Walker was possibly based on forger-turned bomber Mark Hofmann, while the bomb collar he placed on Chicu Reddy was apparently inspired by the Brian Wells case.

Known Victims

 * Barbara Keller
 * Gil Clurman
 * Jill Swenson
 * Emily
 * His unnamed wife
 * Chicu Reddy
 * Aaron Hotchner, Elle Greenaway, Officer Worthy, and three unnamed policemen

Appearances

 * Season One
 * Won't Get Fooled Again