Vincent Stiles

"Yeah, I'll show you a sick, deranged coward, you ignorant son of a bitch."

Vincent Styles was a serial killer/arsonist who appeared in Ashes and Dust.

History
Vincent worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative and harbored a resentment towards businessmen, whom he thought were more successful than him. About three weeks following his divorce, he joined the Earth Defense Front, an environmental activist group mostly infamous for setting fire to the objects of their protests. Stiles didn't know the EDF's true motives and believed them to be an arsonists' club. Wanting to fit in, he decided to use fire as his weapon of choice when he decided to become a serial killer, targeting men who worked for a rival company of the EDF'S that was guilty for supervising Leaking Underground Storage Tanks, acronymed LUST, not because they worked for said company, but because of his resentment towards businessmen. This resulted in the death of the Jarvis family; three weeks later, Stiles killed the Cutler family.

At this point, the BAU were called in and made the connection between the fires and the victims, proven when Stiles killed Thomas R. Dunleivy (who also worked for a LUST-guilty company) and his two children. As a result of the murders, the terminally cancer-sick local EDF leader, Evan Abby, shut the chapter down. He also blamed the unsub for his actions, labeling the arsonist a "sick, deranged coward" among other things. Enraged at being talked about in this manner, Stiles threw a Molotov cocktail at the first businessman he saw on his way home. When given the profile by Hotch, Evan identified Stiles as the unsub. Evan then contacted Stiles himself, told him he was planning to start a benzene-fueled fire at a vacant lot, and that he needed his help. His vanity appealing to him, Stiles agreed to help with the intention of shooting Evan at the site. When the two met again, Evan had doused a basement floor with benzene, making it impossible for Stiles to fire his gun as the shot would cause the air to ignite and immediately kill them both. After he put the gun down, Evan brought out a lighter, having already called the fire department in order for them to contain the fire. As he was dying anyway, Evan turned on the lighter, setting off the fire and killing himself and Stiles, whose protective suit couldn't stand the temperature of the benzene fire.

Modus Operandi
Before attacking a family, Vincent would seal all exits, turn off the water, douse the interior with kerosene, and light it. He wore a protective suit with an oxygen tank in order to be able to watch his victims burn. When he killed Greg Ballou, Vincent used a Molotov cocktail he brought along.

Profile
Vincent was profiled as being a highly intelligent, underachieving 35-45 year old white male with a severe narcissistic character disorder. Nothing in his life works for long. If he was married, he's now divorced and he's not able to keep a job for long. He craves admiration, but he lacks respect or concern for people, not for their feelings and especially not their safety or lives. He feels entitled to do as he pleases. He both resents and yet expects others to care for him. He most likely lives with some female relative whom he exploits as very few male relatives would tolerate his behavior. His arson suit is expensive, suggesting he is employed, but, given his personality, it's impossible for him to work closely with others in an office environment. This, combined with the info on his car, suggests that he is some sort of traveling salesman who works for a company that's too big to notice that he's a sociopath.

Known Victims

 * The Jarvis family
 * Matthew Jarvis
 * Sue Jarvis
 * Two unnamed daughters
 * The Cutler family
 * Dennis Cutler
 * Charlotte Cutler
 * Paul Cutler
 * The Dunleivy family
 * Thomas Dunleivy
 * Brad Dunleivy
 * Katie Dunleivy
 * Greg Ballou
 * Evan Abby

Appearances

 * Season Two
 * Ashes and Dust