Carl Buford

Carl Buford was a pedophilic serial killer who appeared in Profiler Profiled.

History
Carl Buford managed the Upward Youth Center in Chicago, Illinois, earning several awards for his work with local children. He was in fact a pedophile who would molest some regular visitors, among them Derek Morgan, who became close to him after his father had died. He was responsible for getting Derek's small criminal record expunged. Morgan kept the abuse a secret for several years, until Profiler Profiled. In the episode, Carl killed his third known murder victim, Damien Walters. Before that, he had killed a boy in December 1991 and another in 2002, both remaining unidentified to this day. After Damien Walter's murder, Chicago Detective Stan Gordinski, who had been antagonizing Derek for years after arresting him during a brawl, arrested him again, this time on suspicion of all three murders, using a profile submitted to him by Gideon a few months earlier as evidence. Upon hearing of Derek's arrest, the BAU went to Chicago to try and exonorate him.

As the questioning of Derek went on, the team questioned Carl. Upon the discovery that Derek didn't like talking about him, despite having been helped by him so much in the past, Hotch connected the dots and went to the Youth Center, which Derek had gone to after escaping his cell. He confronted Carl, who at first claimed Derek was misremembering and denied any guilt. After eventually admitting, since the statute of limitations meant that he couldn't be charged with molesting Derek, he argued that Derek could just have said "no". Gordinski, who had overheard the the conversation, arrested Carl, who asked Derek for help. Derek simply replied "You go to hell" and watched him being hauled off.

Modus Operandi
Carl would make sure the kids he molested would have a lot to lose if they told anyone. He would take some of them, including Derek and a local kid named James Barfield, to his private cabin and go skinny dipping with them, eventually rubbing up against them. Carl has apparently only killed three children. He killed them by strangling them with his bare hands, later placing their bodies in some secluded area. His exact reason for killing them is not specified, except for Damien's murder which was intended to frame Morgan for all three murders.

Profile
The profile made by Gideon based on the first two murders said that the killer was a 25-35 years old black male with knowledge of the area. He's non-threatening to children, either because he knows them or is normal enough not to scare them. He probably has a criminal record. The way the first body was placed gently on a mattress instead of just thrown on the ground suggests feelings of guilt within the killer, meaning he will probably revisit the scene of the crime or even the victim itself. The killer would probably try to injecy himself into the investigation and try to keep tabs on it.

Known Victims

 * Has presumably molested many children
 * Derek Morgan (molested)
 * One unidentified black child in 1991 (strangled)
 * One unidentified black child in 2002 (strangled)
 * Damien Walters (strangled)
 * James Barfield (molested)

Appearance

 * Season Two
 * Profiler Profiled