Lawrence Coleman

Lawrence Coleman is an abductor and indirect killer who was the dominant half of a two-person abduction team that appeared in The Bunker.

Background
Little is known about Coleman's past aside from the fact that worked as a civil engineer and became obsessed with the Doomsday Clock in his adult years, even setting up a website called "Prepper Coleman's Blog" dedicated to the topic. He came to believe that some sort of apocalyptic event was inevitable and took to internet chatrooms to reach out to others with similar views, with whom he discussed preparing for this event. Sometime in or prior to 2012, he came into contact with a woman named Irene Jacobs, who held beliefs identical to Lawrence's own, through one of these chatrooms. Irene had the deed to acres of land just outside of Culpeper, Virginia that was also the site of an underground bunker used by the government as a strategic command center until its discontinuation in the 1990s. Upon learning of this, the two embarked on a mission to ensure the survival of themselves and the human race.

This plan included abducting pregnant teenage patients Irene treated through her work as a substance abuse counsellor whose children would serve as the citizens of their post-apocalyptic society followed by high-functioning professional women that could cater to the basic needs of both the mothers and children. In preparation, Coleman started to stockpile food, water and weapons, among other supplies. He also purchased chloroform to use in the abductions. They set the plan in motion on October 16, 2012, by abducting sixteen-year-old drug addict Chrissy Miller and later that week, a runaway named Kylie Prichard. They then took Dr. Roberta Childs, an obstetrician that could care for the pregnant women while captive. Coleman and Irene managed to brainwash them into accepting their beliefs as their own and, although Childs did attempt suicide twice while captive, both Chrissy and Kylie gave birth to healthy children, a son named Joe and an unnamed child respectively, who were also taught the group's ideology. Over the next five years, they went on to abduct six more women in total and successfully brainwash all of them. Eventually, Coleman stopped living in his house and a few months prior to The Bunker, he abruptly quit his job, relocating to the bunker and dedicating all of his time to his and Irene's survival plan.

The Bunker
At the start of the episode, Coleman and Irene abduct a chef named Allie Leighton as she leaves the restaurant where she works. Bringing her back to the bunker, when Irene and Dr. Childs attempt to introduce Allie into the cult, she tries to escape but Lawrence seals her in a room before she can and appears in front of her wearing a hazmat suit. Meanwhile, Allie's disappearance is connected to four of the duo's abductions, which leads to the BAU being asked to investigate. During Irene's tour, Allie resists again but is apparently drugged and examined by Childs. During the exam, she condemns what is being done by the three and this causes Childs to attempt suicide again. Despite best efforts, Childs dies so Coleman trips an alarm and Irene comes running. He then says "We have to get rid of her". They then dispose of the body and abduct Paige Burrell, a pediatrition, to take Childs' place. Coleman is seen incapacitating Paige on a recording made of the abduction. At the bunker, Lawrence and Irene argue about Childs' death with Irene criticizing the way they disposed of her body but Coleman expresses only anger at the 'betrayal' to their mission and how Irene wrapping the body in a blanket was "more than she deserved". They briefly talk about the apocalyptic event before looking at a camera monitoring Paige. Bringing Paige on a tour of the facility, a less-than-enthused Coleman asks Chrissy to gather the other women and the children. When the entire group enters the room, Coleman introduces Paige to "her patients".

Later, Lawrence comes across Allie and Paige, who have taken Irene captive at knifepoint. He and the women have a brief arguement in which Lawrence states that the world is "imploding" and "beyond repair. Then an alarm is triggered, alerting Lawrence that Reid and JJ have entered the bunker through its escape hatch. Irene tells him that he needs to get the rest of the group to the second level. Lawrence agrees but then starts to leave. When Irene pleads for help, to Irene's dismay, he replies "Do what you want with her" before walking away. He returns to his control room and sees the two agents on one of the monitors as they make their way through the bunker. They soon enter the same corridor he had previous trapped Allie in and Coleman seals them inside. Allie, Paige and Irene find them as well just before Coleman appears in the adjacent room. Reid orders him to release them all but Coleman only mocks him. Then JJ recognizes Chrissy and tells her that her sister, Joanna, has been searching for her. Coleman responds "Don't listen to any of their lies" and tries to maintain control over the group. JJ shows Chrissy a photo Joanna gave to her and tells her what her sister had said to her about Chrissy's interests and a neighbor named Parker, who she had been friends with. When Reid tells the women what had happened to them, Coleman maintains that the agents are lying. Finally, JJ asks about Chrissy's son and deduces that she named Joe after her sister. Chrissy furiously turns to Coleman and asks "How could you do this to us?". Irene mirrors Coleman's betrayal and shouts "Do what you what with him!". Chrissy then hits Coleman with a large flashlight, knocking him unconcious and Irene surrenders the code to unlock the door, freeing the agents. Afterwards, Reid arrests Coleman and he is last seen being escorted to a police car by him and Alvez.

Modus Operandi
Lawrence and Irene abducted women as part of their plan to repopulate society and thrive in a post-apocalyptic world in two different stages. The first stage consisted of abducting pregnant teenage girls whose children would serve as the citizens of this new society. This was followed by the abductions of professionals who would help them cater to the medical, dental, educational and nutritional needs of the other captives. More specifically, in abducting Roberta Childs and Paige Burrell, an obstetrician and a pediatrition respectively, they aquired professionals specialising in prenatal care and the care of young children. They targeted pregnant teenagers with histories of substance abuse, whom Irene met through her job as a counsellor. She would learn of their pregnancies in their counselling sessions and relay that information to Lawrence before abducting them. It is unknown how they selected the professional women they abducted. However, it is possible they targeted them through their social media accounts as each woman had an active online presence prior to their abductions. They would wait until the women were isolated in some way, such as in a parking garage leaving their workplace or, as was the case with Diane Pearl, alone in their homes. When abducting Allie Lieghton, they also used a ruse to distract her. Irene would drive beside them while Lawrence would incapacitate them using chloroform and drag them into Irene's van. Because of his obsession with the Doomsday Clock, Lawrence would wait until a particular moment before grabbing them. In each case, the victim was abducted at the time corresponding to the current setting of the clock.

After abducting the women, they would transport them to the underground bunker on Irene's property and lock them in one of the bedrooms. After they regained conciousness and their resolve was weakened, they would indoctrinate them into the cult. Irene would appear, apparently as a sort of comforting figure, and give them a tour of the facility, which set an atmosphere similar to that of a mental institution. In the case of Allie Leighton, they apparently drugged her somehow. It is unknown if they did the same with the other captives, though this is unlikely. Afterwards, they would be shown a propaganda video prepared by Lawrence, featuring images of mass destruction ranging from tornados to nuclear blasts. In their vulnerable states, the women would have percieved his words as the truth and either stay with them voluntarily or because they felt that they had no other options. The abducted mothers-to-be would then pass the same apocalyptic beliefs onto their children, who were born during their captivity. When he tried to kill Reid and JJ, Lawrence sealed them in an airtight room lined with bomb-resistant glass and tried to suffocate them.

Profile
The unsub is abducting women based on the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic clock that indicates how close the world is to total destruction. Midnight on the clock represents a hypothetical global catastrophe, such as a nuclear war, and the number of minutes to midnight stands for how soon it can happen. Since a group of atomic scientists created the clock, the minute hand has been reset many times, a total of twenty-two. For the last five years, the clock has been subtlely ticking down and it was last set at two and a half minutes to midnight, which is consistant with the time the latest victim, Paige Burrell, was abducted: 11:57:30. The unsub's obsession with the clock is so great, he took the time to wait until that exact moment before taking her and the fact that he abducted a pediatrition means that the missing teenagers and their children are still alive. The times of the other abductions coincide with the times set on the clock in the past five years. This means the abductions are most likely the work of a doomsday cult.

The concept of preparing for the end is moving from the fringes of society into mainstream culture. They call themselves 'preppers' and their aim is to maintain a certain standard of living for themselves and other while riding out the apocalypse, whether it be nuclear or civil unrest. The victims are part of the unsub's prep to repopulate a new civilization in a post-apocalyptic world and the trigger was the clock starting to tick down five years ago was the trigger. The suicide of Dr. Childs, a long term captive, could cause descent among the rest of the group. Given this plus the proximity to midnight and the pressure from the investigation, the unsub may decide it is time to severe all ties to the outside world. It is vital that the unsub is found before this happens.

Appearances

 * Season Thirteen
 * "The Bunker"